list stacking Archives - REsimpli

Tag: list stacking

The S.T.A.C.K. Framework: Stack Tax-Delinquent + Code + Vacant Lists, Dedupe, and Auto-Build Call Queues

Posted on by Sharad Mehta

TL;DR

  • This framework teaches real estate investors how to merge Tax-Delinquent, Code Violation, and Vacant lists into one clean, high-signal dataset — and then auto-build call queues inside REsimpli.
  • By combining these three distress signals, deduping at the owner/property level, enriching with skip tracing, and automating follow-ups through call and drip sequences, investors get more live conversations with fewer wasted dials.
  • S.T.A.C.K. = Source → Tag → Append → Clean → Kickoff
  • Stack first, then scale. Most investors scale bad data. We scale signal.

Why this framework matters

Every real estate investor has lists but few have systems.
Most teams pull Tax-Delinquent lists here, Code Violations there, and Vacants from another tool. They upload each to a CRM, blast them, and wonder why connect rates stay under 10%. The problem isn’t effort, it’s noise.

When you stack these lists the right way, noise turns into signal.
A property that’s tax-delinquent, vacant, and has a code violation is practically raising its hand saying, “Call me.” That’s the data gold REsimpli helps you uncover and act on instantly.

This guide walks you through The S.T.A.C.K. Framework — a repeatable, software-first system that takes your raw lists and transforms them into deal-ready, prioritized call queues:

  • Source: Pull Tax-Delinquent, Code, and Vacant lists from county or data portals (or inside List Builder).
  • Tag: Label by market, source, and recency window.
  • Append: Enrich with skip tracing (Skip Tracing) for phone numbers and emails.
  • Clean: Dedupe by owner/property, run USPS/NCOA hygiene, remove opt-outs.
  • Kickoff: Build ranked call queues, launch dialers, and enroll backups in drips — all in one platform.

It’s not theory. It’s an operating system for real estate investors who want to spend less time chasing cold data and more time talking to warm sellers.

“Speed beats volume. The right 100 calls out-convert the wrong 1,000.”

Why “Stacking” These Three Lists Wins Deals

Before automation, before dialing, before skip tracing — the biggest lever in lead generation is data quality. Stacking isn’t about adding more records. It’s about finding the overlap — where motivation compounds.

When a property appears on multiple distress lists, it sends a clear signal:
something’s wrong, and the owner’s likely ready to sell.

A Tax-Delinquent record means missed payments.
A Code Violation signals neglect or disrepair.
A Vacant tag means the property is sitting idle, burning costs.

Each one alone shows pain. Together, they scream opportunity.

And when you manage this process inside List Stacking, you don’t just combine spreadsheets — you create a live, dynamic intelligence layer that shows which leads deserve your first call.

Overlap = Signal: Why Tax-Delinquent ∩ Code ∩ Vacant Jumps the Line

Think of every list as a layer of motivation.
When a property shows up in all three, the probability of distress spikes. These triple-stack records consistently convert faster and cheaper than single-source leads.

That’s why the first rule of stacking is simple:

“If a record shows up on Tax-Delinquent + Code + Vacant, it gets called first.”

Here’s what each list contributes to the stack:

List TypeWhat It MeansWhere to PullSignal Strength
Tax-DelinquentOwner behind on property taxesCounty Treasurer / AssessorHigh – Financial Distress
Code ViolationsProperty cited for maintenance or safety issuesCity Code EnforcementHigh – Deferred Maintenance
VacantNo occupancy, USPS flagged inactiveUSPS, REsimpli List BuilderHigh – Owner Neglect

When these lists intersect, you’re no longer cold calling — you’re calling properties already in pain. That’s the power of list stacking.

Contact-Rate Math: Fewer Dials, More Contacts, Cleaner Data

Every bad record wastes time — wrong number, duplicate, owner moved, or someone else already bought it.
But once you dedupe and stack properly, your contact rate climbs fast.

Let’s put it in numbers:

DatasetContacts per 100 DialsCost per Deal (Est.)
Single-Source List8–12High
Double-Stack18–22Medium
Triple-Stack30–40Lowest

Stacked lists don’t just give you more conversations — they give you cleaner, faster ones.
That’s why teams using REsimpli’s unified data tools routinely see contact rates 2–3× higher than patchwork systems built on exports and Zapier zaps.

“One app. No duct-tape stacks. Pull, stack, skip trace, dial, and drip without exporting CSVs.”

The S.T.A.C.K. Framework (Step-by-Step)

The S.T.A.C.K. Framework is a repeatable 5-step operating system for building high-converting seller lists.
It’s built around one idea: stack first, then scale.
Most investors scale bad data. We scale the signal.

Below is the full breakdown:

S — Source

Pull three core lists that represent distress from different angles:

List TypeData SourceExport FormatMinimum Fields
Tax-DelinquentCounty Treasurer or Assessor portalCSVProperty Address, Owner Name, Mailing Address, APN, Delinquency Date, Amount Due
Code ViolationsCity Code Enforcement or Open Data PortalCSVProperty Address, Owner Name, Violation Type, Date Issued
Vacant PropertiesUSPS Vacancy Database, Utility Records, or REsimpli List BuilderCSVAddress, Owner, Mailing Address, Last Update

At minimum, your file should include:
Address, APN, Owner, Mailing Address, County, Source, Source Date, Last Activity, DNC Flag, Opt-Out Flag, Skip Trace Count.

Pro Tip: Export in UTF-8 CSV to avoid character mismatches during import.

Once imported, REsimpli’s List Stacking automatically identifies overlaps across lists and flags duplicates — no spreadsheets required.

T — Tag

Tagging is what turns raw data into a living, trackable asset.
Use consistent, human-readable tags to trace every lead’s origin and age.

Example naming convention:
TD|PHX|2025-Q3 → Tax Delinquent | Phoenix | Pulled in Q3 2025

Each record should carry:

  • Source Tag: TD, CV, or VAC
  • Market Tag: City, County, or Zip (e.g., PHX, MARICOPA)
  • Recency Tag: Quarter or Month of import
  • Activity Tag: Last outbound or inbound action

When REsimpli syncs these tags, every call queue, drip, and report becomes filterable by recency and source.

A — Append

Now it’s time to fill in the blanks.
Run a one-click skip trace inside REsimpli Skip Tracing to pull verified phone numbers and emails.
The system automatically adds them to the same record — no separate uploads.

Best practices:

  • Batch vs On-Demand: Batch for large lists (10K+), on-demand for daily leads.
  • Quality tiers:
    • 3+ verified phone numbers → high-quality contact
    • 1–2 valid phones → medium quality
    • 0 valid phones → push to Direct Mail fallback

Skip tracing inside REsimpli also auto-tags by match rate, giving you instant visibility into which leads are call-ready.

C — Clean

Cleaning separates professionals from amateurs.
Every dial, drip, or mail piece costs money — so you call clean data, not clutter.

Here’s the hygiene process every team should follow:

StepDescription
1. DeduplicateUse normalized Address + APN + Owner Name as the de-dupe key. REsimpli’s List Stacking automates this logic.
2. Address HygieneValidate using USPS CASS & NCOA. If you send mail, Direct Mail includes free NCOA cleaning.
3. Opt-Out / DNC CheckAutomatically suppress “Do Not Call” and owner-requested opt-outs. Never call them.
4. Bad Data RemovalDrop incomplete or duplicate rows; flag disconnected numbers.
5. Normalize OwnersMerge “John A. Smith” and “Smith, John A.” as one entity to avoid repeat touches.

Compliance first: Scrub against DNC/opt-outs. Follow TCPA and state wholesaling rules. Educational content only — not legal advice.

When you’re done cleaning, you’ll have one record per property, fully enriched, ready to dial or drip.

K — Kickoff

Now comes execution — turning your clean data into action.
Inside REsimpli, you can auto-build call queues, assign leads, and launch sequences in minutes.

Here’s the process:

  1. Queue Build: Create rules to prioritize triple-stacked leads (more below).
  2. Drip Enrollment: Auto-enroll uncontacted or low-score leads into Drip Campaigns.
  3. Speed-to-Lead: Enable instant callbacks for new inbound forms using Speed to Lead.
  4. Backup Channels: Use Direct Mail for leads with no valid phone match.

Within minutes, your list moves from static CSVs to dynamic call queues, synced across phone, SMS, and drips — all in one dashboard.

“One app. No duct-tape stacks. Pull, stack, skip trace, dial, and drip without exporting CSVs.”

Call Queue Logic

This is where your stacked data turns into action.
After you’ve sourced, tagged, appended, and cleaned, it’s time to prioritize who gets called first.

The rule is simple:

If a record shows up on Tax-Delinquent + Code + Vacant, it gets called first.

Stacked leads carry higher distress signals — and distress converts.
That’s why call queues in REsimpli aren’t just lists. They’re scored systems that push the right leads to the top automatically.

Below is the exact queue priority logic block used by advanced REI teams.
Paste this directly into your process sheet or internal SOP:

Queue Priority Score =

+3 if appears in all three (Tax-Delinquent + Code + Vacant)
+2 if appears in any two of the three
+2 if skip-traced & ≥3 phone numbers found
+1 if appears in one source only
+1 if owner-occupied = No (absentee)
+1 if last activity ≤ 90 days (recency tag)

−2 if DNC/opt-out

Then sort DESC by score; push top decile to manual dials; enroll the rest to drips.

This logic makes sure your most motivated sellers get human contact first — not lost in automation.
Inside REsimpli, once the list is sorted by score, it automatically pushes:

  • Tier 1 (Triple Stack): Manual dial first. Highest urgency.
  • Tier 2 (Double Stack): Send to dialer follow-ups or SMS-first outreach.
  • Tier 3 (Single Source): Add to Drip Campaigns or Direct Mail queue.

Example:

If a property is tax delinquent, code-violated, vacant, skip-traced with 3 numbers, and absentee, it instantly scores 9 points and enters Tier 1.
That lead should hit your phone team the same day.

Speed beats volume. The right 100 calls out-convert the wrong 1,000.

Scripts & Touch Plan

Once your queue’s ready, execution speed determines ROI.
Stacked leads have higher distress — which means you must sound informed, not generic. The tone should be empathetic but direct, acknowledging the signal without over-talking motivation.

Opening Line for Stacked Distress (Mandatory)

Every outbound rep should lead with this or a close variant:

“Hi [Name], this might sound out of the blue — I came across your property on [Street Name], and noticed a few updates on it recently.
I’m local, and I’m interested in buying properties that need some attention.
Is that something you’d consider talking about?”

This phrasing works because it’s:

  • Non-aggressive (doesn’t expose list source)
  • Neutral (“updates” instead of “violations”)
  • Conversation-focused, not script-focused

When you’re calling stacked distress (Tax-Delinquent + Code + Vacant), your goal isn’t to sell — it’s to verify intent and ownership clarity. Once confirmed, your CRM and follow-ups handle the rest.

3-Touch Fallback Plan

Even with high-signal leads, not everyone picks up the first time.
That’s why every REsimpli workflow should run this 3-touch fallback sequence before pushing a lead to automation:

  1. Dial: Manual or dialer call attempt (mark result).
  2. SMS: Send a short text immediately after a missed call:


    “Hey [Name], I tried reaching you about your property on [Street]. Is now a good time to chat?”

  3. Voicemail: If SMS is undelivered or ignored, drop a quick voicemail:


    “Hey, this is [Your Name]. I was reaching out about your property on [Street]. Call or text me back if you’re open to talking.”

If there’s still no response after 24–48 hours, the system should auto-enroll the lead into a drip follow-up.

Drip & Backup Automations

Inside REsimpli’s Drip Campaigns, your uncontacted or cold leads stay alive through scheduled SMS, ringless voicemails, and emails — without human effort.
For leads without valid phone numbers, trigger postcards or letters through Direct Mail, which includes free NCOA cleaning to prevent bad addresses.

“If a record shows up on Tax-Delinquent + Code + Vacant, it gets called first.”
Everyone else gets dripped, not dropped.

Call Team Tip:

Use Speed to Lead for every new inbound — especially from your website or forms.
The moment someone fills out a form or texts in, REsimpli auto-dials them within seconds.
That single setting can double your appointment rate.

For tone and cadence training, use REsimpli’s built-in call grading tools and review your reps’ approach. A simple reframe can mean one extra deal per week.

Want more sample dialogues?
Check out Cold Calling Scripts and Tips for Real Estate Wholesalers.

Metrics That Prove It Worked

You don’t need to guess whether your stack is working — your KPIs will make it obvious.
The S.T.A.C.K. Framework isn’t about feeling organized; it’s about producing quantifiable lift across your contact and conversion metrics.

Here’s what to track once your call queues go live in REsimpli:

MetricWhat It MeasuresTarget Range (after 4 weeks)Why It Improves
Contact Rate% of dials that reach a live person25–40%Stacked leads are cleaner and skip-traced; fewer bad numbers.
Appointment Set Rate% of live contacts that agree to an appointment10–20%Higher distress overlap = higher seller motivation.
Time-to-Live ContactAvg. time from list import to first real conversation<48 hoursSpeed to Lead calls new leads instantly.
Cost per DealAll-in cost (data, calls, drips) ÷ closed deals↓ 30–50%Less waste, fewer missed touches, tighter follow-up loops.

You’ll know your system’s working when your team starts talking to fewer people but closing more deals.

Example:

Before S.T.A.C.K.

  • 10,000 records → 800 contacts → 4 deals

After S.T.A.C.K.

  • 3,500 stacked records → 1,200 contacts → 6 deals

Same spend, 3× faster feedback.

How REsimpli Tracks It for You

You don’t need spreadsheets to measure progress.
REsimpli’s built-in KPI Dashboard automatically reports:

  • Dials vs. Contacts
  • Appointment Conversions
  • Call-to-Deal Ratios
  • Cost per Lead/Deal
  • Channel-level ROI

Those insights close the loop — from data to dial to deal.

“One app. No duct-tape stacks. Pull, stack, skip trace, dial, and drip without exporting CSVs.”

Mini Glossary

TermMeaning
APNAssessor’s Parcel Number – a unique ID for each property.
NCOANational Change of Address – USPS database for updated mailing addresses.
DNC/TCPADo Not Call / Telephone Consumer Protection Act – legal standards for outbound contact.
CASSCoding Accuracy Support System – USPS certification ensuring valid addresses.
StackingThe process of merging multiple distress lists (Tax-Delinquent, Code Violation, Vacant) to find overlapping high-signal properties.

⚠️ Compliance First

Scrub against DNC/opt-outs before dialing or texting.
 Follow TCPA and state wholesaling rules.
Educational content only — not legal advice.

Final Thought

Stacking is how serious investors separate noise from signal.
It’s the difference between chasing 10,000 cold records and working 1,000 that actually matter.

“Stack first, then scale.”With REsimpli, every piece — from List Builder to Skip Tracing, Speed to Lead, and Drip Campaigns — lives in one place. No exports. No duct tape. Just signal, speed, and deals.

A.C.C.U.R.A.C.Y. for Skip Tracing: How to Hit 60-80% Contactable Matches

Posted on by Sharad Mehta

Most real estate investors don’t lose money on bad deals that they lose on bad data.

You can pull thousands of records, pay for skip tracing, load them into a dialer… and still end up with half your calls going nowhere. Wrong numbers. Dead emails. Wasted minutes. Meanwhile, the investor who connects first, and connects often, wins the deal.

That’s where skip tracing accuracy comes in. Not the number of phone numbers returned, but the number of people you can actually reach. And while most teams hover around a 30–40% contactable rate, disciplined operators regularly hit 60–80% using a system built around process, not luck.

This guide breaks that system down into one simple framework, A.C.C.U.R.A.C.Y. used by top-performing REsimpli users to turn raw data into real conversations.

Each letter represents a part of the loop that drives consistency:

  • Audience & Address Hygiene
  • Coverage Depth
  • Compliance
  • Unification
  • Response Speed
  • Automation
  • Cadence
  • Yield

Together, they define how to structure your skip tracing, outreach, and follow-up operations to get more live connects per dollar spent.

Contactable Match Rate (explainer block)

Contactable Match Rate = # of leads with a confirmed working phone or email (live connect, SMS reply, or email engagement) ÷ total leads loaded.

Why it matters: Lists don’t pay until someone answers. A “matched” number means nothing until it turns into a conversation.

Skip tracing accuracy isn’t about the vendor; it’s about your system.

From how clean your lists are before tracing, to how quickly you respond after enrichment, every detail compounds your odds of getting a seller on the line.

By the end of this playbook, you’ll know exactly how to:

  • Diagnose what’s dragging your match rate down.
  • Build an internal process to improve it week over week.
  • Measure contactable yield like a true operator.

Let’s get into what skip tracing accuracy really means, and how to hit that 60–80% benchmark consistently.

What “Skip Tracing Accuracy” Really Means (and What It Doesn’t)

Most investors think skip tracing accuracy is about how many numbers you get back. It’s not.

If you send 1,000 property records to a tracing service and receive 3,000 phone numbers in return, that doesn’t mean your data is good — it means you just bought 3,000 chances to hit a working line. The real question is: how many of those actually connect?

The difference between “numbers returned” vs. “contactable matches”

Skip tracing vendors report a match rate based on how many phone or email results they append to your list. That’s not accuracy, that’s coverage. Accuracy starts when you verify those contacts through actual engagement.

A contactable match means you’ve confirmed at least one valid touchpoint

  • a live phone conversation,
  • a delivered and replied SMS, or
  • an email that opens and engages.

Everything else is noise.

Think of it like this: 

If 1,000 records yield 3,000 phones and you confirm 650 as live through connect or reply, your skip tracing accuracy (or contactable match rate) is 65%, not 300%. That’s the number that actually moves your deals forward.

Contactable Match Rate = Confirmed working phones/emails ÷ Total records loaded

And that’s the benchmark you can improve systematically, not by changing vendors every month, but by tightening the way you pull, clean, stack, trace, and follow up.

The 4 KPIs that move deals

Most teams track “calls made” or “numbers dialed.” The best operators track conversion physics, the small metrics that compound into deals closed.

Here are the four that matter most:

  1. Contactable % – The share of your list with a proven working contact (your real skip tracing accuracy).
  2. Connect % – Of those, how many turned into a live conversation?
  3. Appointment % – How many connects turned into booked calls or property visits?
  4. Cost per Contact – Total tracing + dialing spend divided by contactable matches (the real measure of efficiency).

When these four are measured weekly, you’ll spot bottlenecks before they become expensive. 

A low contactable % means your list or trace provider needs review. A weak connect % signals poor response speed or scripting.

Everything ties back to how precise and repeatable your A.C.C.U.R.A.C.Y. loop is.

A — Audience & Address Hygiene

Definition: Accuracy starts before you ever click “Skip Trace.” The cleaner and more targeted your list, the higher your eventual contactable rate.

Skip tracing is only as good as the data you feed it. A list full of outdated owners, missing ZIPs, and unstandardized addresses guarantees wasted traces and undeliverable calls. Before you enrich anything, you need a foundation of precision.

How to Do It

1. Pull only motivated segments.

Use a dedicated List Builder that filters by absentee status, ownership years, equity %, and property type. Avoid “everything lists” — trace only what’s likely to sell.

2. Standardize addresses.

Before uploading, run your list through USPS CASS or NCOA verification. This catches outdated owner moves and address typos before they multiply across databases.

3. Remove duplicates early.

If a property appears on multiple lists (say, absentee + code violations), merge by parcel ID or APN now. Every duplicate you trace inflates costs and skews match rates later.

4. Mark records missing key data.

Any entry missing ZIP, state, or owner name should be flagged for manual review. You can’t trace ghosts.

5. Set a hygiene cadence.

Rerun NCOA checks monthly. Owners move; data decays. The longer you wait, the lower your hit rate.

What to Measure

  • % of records passing USPS/NCOA check: Target 95%+ before tracing.
  • % of returned “bad numbers”: Should drop 10–15% after address cleanup.
  • Cost per usable contact: Downtrend = your hygiene system is working.

Pro tip: Most investors skip hygiene because it feels tedious — but that’s exactly why it’s a competitive edge. Every unverified address you trace is money thrown at the wrong door. Start your accuracy compounding before the trace, not after.

C — Coverage Depth

Definition: Skip tracing accuracy improves when each record is traced as deeply as possible — multiple phones, multiple emails, and verified owner lookups (even for LLCs and trusts).

You can’t connect with what you can’t reach. Shallow data (one number, one email) caps your ceiling long before your dialer ever starts. High-contact-rate teams focus on coverage per record, not list size — because 500 well-traced properties beat 5,000 weak ones every single time.

How to Do It

1. Use tracing sources with depth, not just speed.

Look for skip tracing systems (like REsimpli’s Skip Tracing) that return up to 10 phone numbers and multiple verified emails per owner. More channels = higher odds of a working contact.

2. Include LLC and trust lookups.

For non-individual owners, run entity resolution. Identify managing members, registered agents, or mailing addresses through public data or skip providers that handle corporate overlays.

3. Add alternate contact types.

Supplement phones with verified emails and social profiles (if available). SMS-only traces miss owners who reply by email first.

4. Segment results by confidence level.

Tier A (high match confidence) numbers first, Tier B later. This reduces wasted dials and prioritizes the data most likely to connect.

5. Re-trace stale lists quarterly.

Data ages. New phone connections appear every month. Refresh coverage on your most profitable list types instead of always buying new ones.

What to Measure

  • Average phones/emails per record: Aim for 6–10 phones, 2+ emails.
  • % of records with ≥1 confirmed working phone: 60–80% is realistic.
  • Cost per verified contact: Monitor drop as coverage improves.

Pro tip: Don’t confuse “bulk” with “depth.” A 100,000-record list traced shallowly can produce fewer real conversations than a 10,000-record list traced right. Quality contact coverage — especially with LLC and trust data — is the multiplier most investors overlook.

C — Compliance

Definition: Skip tracing accuracy means nothing if your outreach violates the law. Staying TCPA- and DNC-compliant protects your business and ensures your contact rate translates into legitimate conversations—not penalties.

Compliance isn’t just a checkbox—it’s a trust multiplier. Every call, text, or email you send must be permission-aware, scrubbed, and documented. Teams that systemize this once never have to fear fines or bad PR again.

How to Do It

1. Automate DNC scrubbing on every import.

Use REsimpli’s built-in DNC tagging to automatically flag numbers listed on national or state Do Not Call registries before outreach begins.

2. Respect scrubbed numbers, always.

Never call or text a scrubbed number—no exceptions. Tag and suppress them system-wide so they never appear in dialer queues.

3. Capture and honor opt-outs immediately.

When someone texts “STOP” or requests removal, REsimpli automatically records that event. Ensure your team never manually re-engages that record.

4. Centralize compliance logs.

Store DNC tags, opt-out timestamps, and consent notes under each contact record. If an audit ever occurs, your data trail will speak for you.

5. Train your team monthly.

Most violations happen from ignorance, not intent. Include a five-minute compliance refresh in every sales meeting.

What to Measure

  • DNC violation rate: Must stay at 0%.
  • Opt-out capture rate: 100% (every request logged and honored).
  • Percentage of records scrubbed pre-campaign: Track weekly to ensure automation runs consistently.

Compliance Note

Always respect DNC and TCPA rules.
Tag and suppress scrubbed numbers system-wide.
Capture and honor opt-outs on first request.
Compliance isn’t optional, it’s part of operational excellence.

Skip trace for free natively inside REsimpli, and route all results into Drip Campaigns automatically. This ensures every record gets contacted instantly without exports or manual uploads.

Pro tip: Investors who say “compliance slows you down” rarely last long. The pros bake it into automation once and move faster because they know every number dialed is safe, clean, and callable.

U — Unification (List Stacking & Dedupe)

Definition: Unification means combining every data source—tax delinquent, code violation, vacant, absentee—into a single, deduped, signal-rich master list before you skip trace.

Inconsistent data is the silent killer of skip tracing accuracy. If the same property appears on three lists under slightly different owner names or addresses, you’ll pay three times to trace the same lead—and burn dials chasing duplicates. A unified list creates one version of the truth for outreach, follow-up, and reporting.

How to Do It

1. Stack your lists before tracing.

Use REsimpli’s List Stacking feature to merge all your raw lists (absentee, probate, code violations, etc.) into one master file.

2. Dedupe by multiple keys.

Match records by parcel number/APN + address + owner name. This triple-check ensures you don’t trace the same property twice under different spellings.

3. Tag motivation overlaps.

When a property appears on more than one list, tag it as “High Signal.” Multiple motivators (e.g., tax delinquent + code violation) increase the likelihood of distress and deserve higher call priority.

4. Prioritize repeats in your queue.

After skip tracing, push “High Signal” leads to the top of your dialer or SMS queue. They often connect faster and convert at a higher rate.

5. Feed updates back weekly.

As new lists come in, stack and dedupe again. Fresh data doesn’t stay clean for long—maintain your single source of truth continuously.

What to Measure

  • Dedupe Rate: Track % of total records removed as duplicates (expect 5–15%).
  • Repeat Conversion %: Reappearing leads should close at 1.5–2× your average.
  • Cost per Unique Contact: Downtrend shows improved efficiency.

Pro tip: Every duplicate in your system is a leak—double tracing, double dialing, double spend. By stacking before tracing, you remove friction and turn skip tracing into a precision operation instead of a guessing game.

R — Response Speed

Definition: Response speed is how fast you reach out once a new lead or trace result hits your system. The faster you call or text, the higher your connect and appointment rates — and the lower your cost per deal.

Even perfect data decays by the hour. Every minute between enrichment and outreach is another chance for a competitor to get there first. That’s why top-performing investors obsess over “speed-to-first-touch.” It’s not about volume — it’s about velocity.

How to Do It

1. Trigger instant calls or texts on new leads.

Set up Speed to Lead inside REsimpli to auto-call or SMS new web, form, or campaign leads within seconds. Fast contact builds trust and captures intent while it’s fresh.

2. Use smart routing for inbound leads.

Send calls to available reps instantly — or use CallAnswer AI to respond when no one’s free. Never let a first touch hit voicemail.

3. Acknowledge every lead automatically.

An automated SMS acknowledgment (“Got your info, we’ll call shortly”) stops cold leads from drifting while your rep gets ready.

4. Aim for a 15–60 second first call window.

Industry data proves response within the first minute can double connect rates. Build automations backward from that SLA.

5. Grade and tighten response consistency.

Use CallGrade AI to evaluate how quickly reps pick up and how effectively they open calls. Small lags kill deals.

What to Measure

  • Median Time-to-First-Touch: Under 60 seconds is elite.
  • Connect Rate on First Attempt: Target 40–50%.
  • Appointment Rate per 100 Contacts: The truest test of your team’s reaction time.

Pro tip: You can’t buy “motivation” — you can only capture it faster than others. Speed is a controllable advantage. Automate it once, and every future lead benefits forever.

A — Automation (Drips & AI)

Definition: Automation turns skip tracing accuracy into actual appointments. It ensures every traced contact gets followed up — consistently, intelligently, and without relying on memory or spreadsheets.

Even the best list and fastest response mean little if you don’t follow up. Most sellers don’t respond on the first call or text. Automation keeps your name in front of them until they’re ready — across SMS, email, ringless voicemail, and even AI-driven conversations.

How to Do It

1. Set up multi-channel drips.

Inside REsimpli’s Drip Campaigns, build sequences that combine SMS, email, RVM, and follow-up tasks. Mix timing and tone — personal early, professional later.

2. Trigger drips automatically after tracing.

Once a list is enriched, push it into a “Skip Trace Follow-Up” campaign. Every new contact should immediately enter a pre-built sequence.

3. Use AI agents to scale conversations.

Let AI Agents like CallAnswer AI and Conversational AI handle inbound leads, grade calls, and auto-book appointments. They never forget or fatigue.

4. Score and route hot replies.

LeadScore AI inside REsimpli ranks which replies deserve manual attention first — saving reps from chasing cold texts.

5. Re-engage quiet leads.

Schedule 60-day and 120-day reactivation drips for unresponsive contacts. Many deals revive months after initial contact.

What to Measure

  • Reply Rate per Drip Step: Should improve 10–15% after automation setup.
  • Appointments per 100 Contacts: Core success metric for drips + AI synergy.
  • Follow-Up Completion Rate: Target 100%; automation should leave no lead untouched.

Pro tip: Automation isn’t about replacing people — it’s about giving them leverage. The investor who automates first contact, follow-up, and lead grading will always outpace the one who “reminds themselves to call back tomorrow.”

C — Cadence (Attempt Strategy)

Definition: Cadence is the rhythm and frequency of your outreach — the exact sequence of calls, texts, emails, and mail touches that turns skip tracing data into real conversations.

Most teams lose deals not because their data’s wrong, but because their follow-up is random. They call twice, send one text, and move on. High-yield investors use intentional, finite cadences that maximize contact attempts without crossing compliance lines.

How to Do It

1. Build a 21-day outreach rhythm.

Plan for 12–15 touches across multiple channels. Front-load the first week (3–5 calls) while motivation is hot, then taper into lighter drips.

2. Interleave channels.

Mix phone, SMS, and email. Some sellers respond only by text; others only by call. A blended cadence increases your odds without feeling pushy.

3. Drop a physical mailer mid-sequence.

Around day 7–10, send a postcard or letter via Direct Mail. It’s a subtle credibility touch that revalidates the address and stands out when digital messages fail.

4. Use “intelligent pausing.”

When you confirm a bad number or receive a “not interested,” pause automation immediately. Respectful disengagement protects your sender reputation and compliance.

5. Recycle cold leads with a longer cycle.

After 21 days of no response, push contacts into a long-term 90-day re-nurture drip — light touches that keep you top of mind without spamming.

What to Measure

  • Touches-to-Connect Ratio: How many attempts before a live reply (aim for 4–6).
  • Channel Contribution: % of connects from call vs. SMS vs. email.
  • Drop-off Rate: Where most leads disengage — fix bottlenecks there.

Pro tip: Treat cadence like a scientific experiment — not a guessing game. Small timing tweaks (e.g., shifting call #3 from afternoon to evening) can lift connect rates 10–20%. Consistency beats aggression every time.

Y — Yield (Track, Learn, Tighten)

Definition: Yield is your scoreboard — the percentage of traced leads that become contactable, and ultimately, profitable. It’s the single metric that reveals whether your skip tracing process is improving or leaking.

Most investors trace lists blindly, call until burnout, then move on to a new source. But without measurement, there’s no learning—and without learning, there’s no compounding accuracy.

How to Do It

1. Create a weekly scoreboard.

Track the core metrics that define operational success:

  • Contactable Match % = confirmed working contacts ÷ total records.
  • Connect % = live conversations ÷ contactable.
  • Appointments per 100 contacts.
  • Cost per Contact = total tracing + dial costs ÷ contactable.
  • Time-to-First-Touch (median seconds).

2. Segment by list type.

Compare yield for absentee, probate, tax-delinquent, and code-violation lists. You’ll quickly see which list sources deliver the highest ROI.

3. Refine by cadence step.

Measure replies per step in your outreach sequence. If step #3 (second call + SMS) converts best, double down there instead of extending the sequence endlessly.

4. Prune what doesn’t move the needle.

If a list or sequence fails to increase yield after two cycles, replace it. Operational discipline > emotional attachment to sunk costs.

5. Feed learnings back into the loop.

Every improvement in hygiene, coverage, or cadence compounds. Review results weekly, adjust monthly, and document changes inside your CRM so new team members can replicate success.

What to Measure

  • Overall Contactable Match Rate: Target 60–80% consistently.
  • Week-over-Week Improvement: 2–5% lift is realistic.
  • ROI by List Type: Highest yield = your top acquisition channel.

Pro tip: Skip tracing yield isn’t static — it’s a living system. The moment you stop tracking, your accuracy starts slipping. Treat it like a financial KPI: measure, audit, and optimize relentlessly.

Example Math: From 42% to 68% Contactable in 3 Weeks

Let’s say you start with 1,000 property records from a mix of tax-delinquent and absentee-owner lists. You upload them straight to a dialer without cleaning or stacking.

Here’s what typically happens:

  • You trace 1,000 records → get 3,000 numbers.
  • Only 420 leads (42%) have a working phone or email.
  • After 2 weeks, your team has 15 live conversations and 2 appointments.

Now, let’s apply the A.C.C.U.R.A.C.Y. framework step by step and see how small changes multiply yield:

Week 1 — Audience & Hygiene + Coverage

  • Clean the list through USPS/NCOA verification and remove duplicates (10% of data).
  • Use a deeper skip tracing source that includes LLC lookups and multiple phones/emails.
  • Contactable matches jump from 42% → 56%.

Week 2 — Unification + Speed

  • Stack your lists and dedupe across all sources (reduces overlap by another 8%).
  • Route new leads through Speed to Lead automation for instant calling and SMS.
  • Connect rate rises from 18% → 33%.

Week 3 — Automation + Cadence

  • Push every non-responding record into Drip Campaigns for scheduled texts, emails, and ringless voicemails.
  • Drop one direct mail touch mid-cycle for unreachable owners.
  • Contactable match rate climbs to 68%, with connect rates holding strong at 30%+.
MetricBefore (Week 0)After (Week 3)Change
Records Traced1,0001,000—
Contactable Matches420680+260
Contactable %42%68%+26 pts
Live Connects75210+180%
Appointments1233+175%
Cost per Contact$3.10$1.85↓ 40%

The result?

No new list purchases. No new vendor contracts. Just process discipline.

By improving data hygiene, enriching coverage depth, and tightening cadence, you added 260 more reachable sellers to your funnel—without increasing spend. That’s what skip tracing accuracy looks like in action.

Pro tip: Most investors chase “more data.” Smart operators chase better processes. You can’t control how many numbers a provider returns — but you can control how efficiently you turn those numbers into live connections.

Playbooks You Can Steal Today

Skip tracing accuracy isn’t just about data — it’s about what you do with it after you get the numbers.
Here are practical playbooks you can plug straight into your system today.

21-Day Cadence Playbook

Below is a proven rhythm designed for high contact rates without over-saturating your list. Adjust timing slightly based on your market hours, but stay consistent.

DayActionChannelGoal
Day 1Call ×2 attempts + SMS follow-upPhone + SMSImmediate response window
Day 2Morning call + short SMSPhone + SMSSecond chance while interest warm
Day 3Personalized emailEmailCapture non-responders
Day 5Call + voicemailPhoneVoice presence and recall
Day 7Send mailer via Direct MailPhysical mailReinforce legitimacy
Day 9SMS + email comboSMS + EmailMulti-channel check-in
Day 12Call attempt (evening slot)PhoneDifferent timing test
Day 15SMS follow-upSMSLight nudge
Day 18Email re-engagementEmailLow-pressure reminder
Day 21Final call attempt + voicemailPhoneClose the loop

Total touches: 12–15
Average touches-to-connect: 4–6
Expected connect rate improvement: +15–25% vs. random outreach

Script Starters (Steal & Personalize)

Use these short, disarming openers. They’re designed for connection — not confrontation.

First Call Opener:
 “Hi [Name], this is [You] — I’m calling about [address]. We work with owners in your area; did I catch you at a bad time?”

First SMS:
 “Quick one about [address]. If you’re open to a quick call this week, reply YES and I’ll schedule.”

First Voicemail:
 “Calling about [address]. I’ll text you details — call or text back when convenient.”

Keep scripts conversational. Avoid corporate intros (“I’m with XYZ Investments…”). Sellers respond better when they feel it’s local and human.

When to Drop Out

If a record remains unreachable after 21 days and all channels have been exhausted:

  • Tag it as “Cold – Recycle”.
  • Push it into a 90-day light-nurture drip (1 text or email per month).
  • Re-run skip tracing every quarter for fresh data.

Persistence wins, but efficiency compounds.

Pro tip: Consistency matters more than creativity. Don’t rewrite your scripts every week — track metrics, tweak one variable at a time, and scale what converts.

How REsimpli Runs It All (No 10-App Chaos)

You don’t need five tools, three zaps, and a spreadsheet to run skip tracing well.
You just need one connected system that handles everything from list pull to AI follow-up — without leaks, lag, or manual uploads.

That’s the difference between hobby-grade operations and professional accuracy.

How It Works in One System (REsimpli)

1. Pull & clean data

Use List Builder to target motivated segments — absentee, probate, or code violations — and automatically run USPS/NCOA hygiene.

2. Stack & dedupe intelligently

Consolidate lists with List Stacking to merge and tag overlapping records before tracing.

3. Trace with built-in coverage depth

Run Skip Tracing directly inside REsimpli. It returns multiple phones and emails per record, already tagged and ready for outreach.

4. Automate outreach instantly

Push new contacts straight into Drip Campaigns — SMS, email, and voicemail sequences that run automatically while your team focuses on live calls.

5. Respond in seconds

Pair your outreach with Speed to Lead to auto-call and text every new inbound lead within 15–60 seconds.

6. Let AI handle the heavy lifting

REsimpli’s AI Agents answer calls, grade performance, and even book appointments — so no lead slips through.

7. Track & tighten yield

Use KPI dashboards to measure contactable match %, connect %, and cost per contact weekly. Stop guessing and start improving systematically.

Systems Paragraph: Why Unified > Fragmented

Running skip tracing across disconnected apps (Batch for tracing, Mojo for dialing, Zapier for drips) creates invisible data loss.

You can’t fix what you can’t track — duplicates multiply, DNC logs get missed, and reporting lags behind reality.

In a unified system, every update — from “wrong number” tags to new call notes — syncs instantly across your CRM, dialer, and drip sequences. No leaks. No lag. Just accuracy compounding automatically.

Measurement Paragraph: How to Keep Score

Build a weekly yield dashboard.
Track five metrics:

  1. Contactable Match %
  2. Connect %
  3. Appointment %
  4. Cost per Contact
  5. Time-to-First-Touch

Every Monday, review and prune the weakest list or step. If something doesn’t lift yield within two weeks, kill it and reallocate. Accuracy compounds through measurement, not hope.

See how Skip Tracing works inside REsimpli.

Conclusion: Run the Framework. Track the Yield. Win the Deals.

Skip tracing accuracy isn’t a guessing game — it’s a system.

Every investor pulls lists. Few build the loop that converts those lists into live conversations. The difference between 40% and 80% contactable matches comes down to how tightly you run your A.C.C.U.R.A.C.Y. process:

  • Clean lists before tracing.
  • Go deep on coverage.
  • Stay DNC clean.
  • Stack and dedupe everything.
  • Call fast, follow up automatically, and track results weekly.

No one hits 100%, and that’s fine. What matters is consistency — knowing your contactable match rate and improving it week after week.

With REsimpli, that loop runs inside one platform: from data hygiene to skip tracing, AI follow-up, and performance tracking.
Fewer tools. Fewer leaks. More connects.

Run the framework on your next list and track yield weekly — your skip tracing accuracy will rise automatically. Start Free Trial and see how the A.C.C.U.R.A.C.Y. framework works end-to-end inside REsimpli.

Strategic Funding for Real Estate Investors Involving Nate Mack

Posted on by Sharad Mehta

Residential lender Nate Mack gave great insights on financing techniques for real estate investors in a recent Mastermind session with Founder & CEO of REsimpli, Sharad Mehta. Expert in managing investors, Nate underlined the need for keeping an eye on the state of the market and optimizing cash flow. Although interest rates are down, Nate urged investors to concentrate on cash flow instead of attempting to precisely time the market as refinancing prospects might materialize shortly.

Nate pointed out the appealing investments in middle-American towns such as Gary, Indiana and Columbus, Ohio, where declining property prices and rising rental demand provide possibilities. He also spoke about the freedom investors have when financing houses—that single-family homes might have as low as 15% while multi-unit complexes need 25%.

By dividing debt with their partner utilizing loan consolidation techniques, investors might avoid the 10 financed properties restriction and open space for more properties. Considering potential increased value, Nate also noted inventive financing options include deferred financing and renovation loans, which allow investors to use home equity to cover both purchase and remodeling expenditures.

Avoiding typical blunders including erroneous reporting of rental revenue, which may restrict an investor’s financing alternatives, depends critically on a qualified contractor, friendly lender, and professional CPA. Nate emphasized at last the need for having a qualified team in place. Combining the appropriate tactics and personnel lets investors navigate the always shifting real estate market and boldly increase their holdings.

Watch on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/GI2ZVC8j3O0

Key Takeaways:

  1. Expert Insights on Real Estate Lending:

    Sharad introduced Nate, an expert residential lender, sharing his gratitude for Nate’s assistance in securing a loan for his own home. Nate reflected on his 5-year journey working with investors and stressed the value of having a team that aligns with the investor’s goals, not just a loan officer. (00:01:00)
  2. Navigating Interest Rates in Real Estate Investing:

    Sharad and Nate tackled the current interest rate environment and its effect on investors. Nate shared that rates are trending downward but cautioned against paying too much to lower rates, as future refinancing opportunities may arise. He noted that a 1% drop is typically a good indicator to refinance. They also explored market trends, highlighting the strength of middle American markets for investors. While Sharad inquired about 30-year fixed loan rates, no specific figures were mentioned. (00:03:27)
  3. Refinancing and Market Opportunities for Investors:

    Nate discussed the current decline in interest rates, advising investors to avoid spending too much on buying down rates, as future refinancing opportunities are likely. He suggested waiting for a 1% drop in rates before refinancing. Nate highlighted middle American markets, like Columbus, Ohio, as strong areas for investment due to lower taxes and growing property values. He also noted that investment property loans come with higher rates compared to primary mortgages. (00:05:00)
  4. Investment Property Requirements and Strategies:

    Nate explained that purchasing investment properties comes with higher interest rates and typically requires a 15% down payment for single-family homes and 25% for multi-unit properties. He also noted strategies like consolidating debts or moving them out of personal names to bypass the 10-financed properties limit. When Sharad asked about avoiding the 20% down payment and property limit, Nate confirmed these are standard but mentioned there are ways to work around them. (00:10:44)
  5. Loan Strategies and Debt Consolidation:

    Nate discussed how investors can handle the 10-loan limit, suggesting strategies like splitting loans between spouses or consolidating smaller loans through refinancing. He also mentioned moving debts out of personal names and into the commercial space, which can free up room for additional conventional loans. This approach helps investors continue expanding their portfolios while managing existing debt. (00:14:00)
  6. Strategic Planning:

    Nate and Sharad stressed the need for a solid investment strategy, including working with a knowledgeable CPA and lender to assess cash flow. They pointed out common mistakes by new investors, like failing to document rental income or claim depreciation. Nate also emphasized how lenders view investment properties as both assets and liabilities. They wrapped up by discussing potential benefits from programs and incentives available in specific cities and states. (00:16:21)
  7. Boosting Cash Flow and Using Incentives:

    Nate emphasized documenting rental income accurately and claiming depreciation to maximize cash flow for future investments. He also mentioned underused city and state programs offering incentives, particularly in areas like Indiana, that can help investors finance properties more creatively. (00:20:00)
  8. Lender Strategies and Asset Protection:

    Nate and Sharad discussed lender incentives for low-income areas, like closing cost discounts. Nate recommended using a trust for asset protection instead of an LLC. They also covered transferring property titles post-closing, which doesn’t typically cause issues if debts are paid. Lastly, Nate explained that buying properties with existing financing or assuming loans is possible if lender guidelines are followed. (00:23:47)
  9. Market Growth and Property Valuation:

    Sharad and Nate discussed rising property values in Midwest markets, especially Gary, Indiana. Nate explained that appraisers focus on recent purchases and renovations when assessing values, with some flexibility in their evaluations. They also explored how this market growth influences investor activity. (00:29:58)
  10. First-Time Investor Tips and Loan Options:

    Sharad and Nate discussed buying multi-unit properties with FHA loans, living in one unit, and renting the others. Nate also covered cash-out refinance rules, delayed financing, and renovation loans. Sharad expressed interest, and Nate shared his contact for more details. (00:33:46)

How to Evaluate Real Estate KPIs

Posted on by Sharad Mehta

Real estate investing is a numbers game. 

You need to kiss 500 frogs to find five princes (or, you know, deals). By tweaking the ponds where you find those frogs, maybe the number drops to 400. Maybe blue frogs work out better than yellow frogs. The metaphor is falling apart, but you get the point. 

That begs the question though: which metrics matter most to real estate investors?

Start tracking the following real estate KPIs (key performance indicators) to get a better pulse on your investing business. You can use a real estate CRM like REsimpli to track these numbers automatically, so you can check them any time.

New Leads

Real estate deals start as leads. If your leads stop coming in, you stop closing deals. 

When you first log into REsimpli, you’ll see your New Leads listed front and center on the dashboard. You can track their volume over time, to keep an eye on their flow and consistency. 

Abandoned Leads

You can stay in touch with leads through an automated drip campaign, or manually contact them on a regular rotation through scheduled tasks. 

But what happens if a lead isn’t hearing from you through either scheduled tasks or automated drip campaigns?

They aren’t hearing from you at all, and they become abandoned leads. They subsequently lose all value to you. 

REsimpli automatically tracks these abandoned leads for you, so you can quickly identify them and get them back on a drip campaign or assign a task of contacting them. You paid good money in your marketing campaigns to collect these leads — don’t let them go to waste. 

Seller Appointments

Likewise, you need to track how many seller appointments you’re making. And how many appointments successfully result in you or your team member seeing the property. 

Appointments help move your leads further down the funnel toward closed deals. REsimpli lets you filter these by time period, and track appointments for each of your team members. 

Completed Deals

How many deals are you actually closing each month? 

This metric starts getting to the heart of your results. The more deals you close, the more money you can earn in a given month.

Revenue

Speaking of which, what was your gross revenue last month? Last year? 

Without revenue, you don’t have a business. You have an expensive hobby. 

Net Income (Profit)

The ultimate goal isn’t actually revenue — it’s profit. After all, your business could earn $100,000 per month, but if you spend $101,000, you’ve lost money. 

You can track your completed deals, gross revenue, and net profit on the KPI Analytics page in your REsimpli dashboard.

Leads Per Channel

Not all marketing channels are created equal. You may have raked in 20 leads from one channel and 100 from another, even if you spent the same amount of money on each. 

REsimpli helps you track the source of all leads, through dedicated landing URLs, email addresses, and tracking phone numbers. 

Cost Per Lead

How much do you pay for each lead on average? 

At the top of your marketing funnel sit your leads, and they cost you money. 

Cost Per Deal

Meanwhile, the bottom of your funnel is your closed deals. 

How much does each deal cost you on average?

Marketing ROI Per Channel

For every dollar you spend on leads from each marketing channel, how many dollars do you earn?

You may discover that you earn $3 for every $1 you spend on marketing to probate leads, but earn $10 for every $1 you spend on preforeclosure leads. By accurately tracking the return on investment (ROI) for each marketing channel, you know where to double down versus where to scale back. 

As a general rule, the longer you run a marketing campaign, the better you can optimize it. Aim to focus on marketing channels that you think you can keep running for longer periods of time. 

Success Rates at Each Phase of the Funnel

Leads come in at the top of your funnel. To move them toward your ultimate goal of closing a deal, you first need to meet the owner for an appointment at the property. 

The next step in the funnel is to make an offer — for the properties that warrant it, that is. 

And at the bottom end of your funnel, you need to close on the deal by buying the property. 

So how do your conversion rates look at each step down the funnel?

  • Leads/Appointment: The percentage of leads that result in an appointment.
  • Appointments/Offer: The percentage of appointments that result in an offer.
  • Offers/Deal: The percentage of offers that result in a closed deal. 

Then step back and look at the funnel as a whole. What percentage of leads can you close as deals? What percentage of appointments?

Ultimately, you want to put each of these conversation rates under the microscope and look for ways you can improve them. By closing more deals for every 100 leads, you reduce your cost per deal, and become a leaner, more efficient, more profitable real estate business. 

The Big Picture

Your numbers tell a story about your real estate investing business. The better you are at reading these numbers, the better you’ll diagnose both problem areas and opportunities in your business. 

Use a real estate CRM to track your real estate KPIs automatically, so you can review them at a glance. As time goes by, you’ll get better at reading their story — and using that information to grow your profits. 

Scaling Your Real Estate Business: Insights from the REsimpli Mastermind with Ian Horowitz and Sharad Mehta

Posted on by Sharad Mehta

Sharad Mehta welcomes former firefighter turned real estate investor Ian Horowitz for this REsimpli Mastermind episode. Ian recounts his story of managing a $70 million portfolio of self-storage and varied real estate from purchasing a $25,000 house in 2012.

Starting with single-family houses, Ian stresses the need to learn basic skills before entering the commercial real estate market. Fortune favours not only the brave but also those who work hard and arrive ready. Based on experience, he counsels readers on their own degree of preparedness as well as on little gestures.

Emphasizing openness and clear expectations for equity investors, the conversation also examines the variations between debt and equity investments.  The useful ability to observe little details and keenly notice changes can go a long way in this business. Clarity is power, because it helps save time by avoiding miscommunications and conflicts.

The discussion also covers how political circumstances and municipal rules affect property investments; as self-storage facilities provide greater operational freedom than residential buildings. Ian considers his 12-year route and wonders whether early engagement with commercial banking and real estate might have hastened his development.

The program ends with an offer to network with colleagues from the real estate sector, therefore underlining the need for cooperation in this sector.

For real estate investors striving to grow their company and change their strategy, this episode offers a lot of smart advise. Discover the complete podcast to learn and interact with the most recent breakthroughs in real estate management with fresh ideas from REsimpli!

Ready for expansion of your company on real estate? Acquire these techniques and begin immediately to change your business!

Key Takeaways:

  1. Start of Something Great:

    Ian describes a tough time with overtime and company closures, prompting him to seek financial security through real estate. His first purchase was a $25,000 house, with $25,000 to $35,000 in improvements. It generated $1,250 in Section 8 rent and $600 monthly cash flow. This success hooked him, and now he owns and operates nearly $70 million in real estate nationwide.(00:03:57)
  2. Big Deals, Less Efforts:

    Ian explains that he prefers fewer but, larger deals now. Previously, he did 30 to 40 deals a year, flipping or adding houses to his rental portfolio. This year, doing five deals would be significant. He mentions closing a million-dollar deal quickly and working on a $13 million deal projected to be worth $20 million. This approach allows for a more methodical and less rushed process.(00:06:10)
  3. Do What Makes You Happy:

    He acknowledges that many people get discouraged because they’re not yet where they want to be in their real estate journey. He advises focusing on the present and making the best of current opportunities, aiming to reach desired goals in a few years. Ian highlights that different people have different aspirations; some may start with one flip a year and scale up, while others might aim for commercial deals. The key is to pursue what makes you happy. (00:11:54)
  4. Success Factor:

    Ian reflects on the fear and risk involved when first entering real estate, emphasizing that growth requires taking risks and getting uncomfortable. He notes that people often get too comfortable, but advancing from single-family to commercial real estate required him to rebuild the underwriting process and learn to communicate with banks. He highlights that success in real estate isn’t about the properties themselves but the willingness to push beyond comfort zones to achieve the next level. (00:20:18)
  5. What It’s Like Being An Equity Investor:

    Ian discusses the importance of setting transparent expectations when raising capital. Using the movie “The Big Short” as an analogy, he illustrates how equity investors are in it for the long haul, experiencing ups and downs. He emphasizes that success relies on the ability to navigate challenges, making sure they understand it will be a wild, bumpy ride, but they are along for the journey. (00:23:31)
  6. Difference In Transaction Cost:

    Ian explains the differences in eviction timelines across various states. In Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, he can evict tenants within 30 days if rent is unpaid. However, in Arkansas, the process takes 75 days, which he finds lengthy. He contrasts this with even longer timelines in states like Illinois and California, highlighting the varying challenges landlords face depending on the state. (00:31:28)
  7. Eviction Timelines: Comparing States:

    Ian advises identifying states that are easier to operate in based on property taxes, transfer and recordation taxes, and whether they are pro-tenant or pro-landlord. He highlights Louisiana as an example, describing it as a blue state with favorable tenant laws. He shares an experience where, after filing an eviction on a Thursday for a special needs tenant, he had a court date the following Wednesday and the sheriff was involved by Friday, completing the process in just eight days.(00:15:43)
  8. Lead Communication Order:

    Ian explains that commercial real estate offers more opportunities to create and scale a true company. He notes that unlike some investments, you don’t always see the inner workings or need to broadcast every deal.(00:43:00)
  9. Investment Sizes and Accreditation Requirements:

    Their average investment size is around $50,000, but they accept amounts as small as $10,000 and as large as investors wish to contribute. For non-accredited investors, a pre-existing relationship must be established before proceeding, highlighting the need for ongoing interactions rather than a one-time meeting. (00:44:20)
  10. No Hesitation:

    Previously, he lacked the maturity to enter commercial real estate sooner, regretting his eight-year delay. Fear of financing held him back despite opportunities. He now wishes he had trusted their capabilities earlier but remains optimistic about making up for lost time. The host commends Ian for his openness and approachability in sharing his business experiences. (00:19:24)

Benefits of List Stacking

Posted on by Sharad Mehta

Benefits of List Stacking in Real Estate Investing

If  you’re looking to invest in real estate, one of the key things to do is to pull a list of absentee owners.

Absentee owners are people who own properties but they don’t live in them. This list is a great way to find motivated sellers who are ready to sell their property quickly. But what do you do with this list once you have it?

One of real estate investors’ biggest mistakes is not utilizing a method called “list stacking.” 

List stacking is a way to take all of the different marketing lists that you have and put them into a system that only allows for one unique property to show up once. In other words, if you have one property that appears on your absentee list, probate list, pre-foreclosure list, and driving for dollars list, you won’t send four mailers to that one property owner.

List stacking is important because it allows you to clean up your data and make your list more targeted. If you were to send the same mailer to the same person for the same property four times, it would make you look unprofessional and like you don’t know what you’re doing. Therefore, it’s important to make sure that you’re not sending the same mailer or postcard to the same person multiple times.

List stacking can also help you save money. If you have a limited marketing budget, you want to make sure that you’re spending your money wisely. If you have a limited budget of, say, $1,500, you want to make sure that you’re reaching out to the people who are the most motivated to sell their property. You don’t want to waste your money sending mailers to people who are only on one list. Instead, you want to focus on the people who appear on multiple lists, as they are more likely to be motivated to sell.

List stacking is a great way to make your real estate investing more targeted and efficient. It allows you to clean up your data, save money, and focus on the people who are the most motivated to sell their property. When you’re investing in real estate, it’s important to use all of the tools at your disposal, and list stacking is one of the most important tools you can use. So, if you’re looking to invest in real estate, make sure that you’re using list stacking to get the most out of your marketing lists.

For a brief overview about how to maximize list stacking, check this video.

What is List Stacking in Real Estate Wholesaling?

Posted on by Sharad Mehta

List Stacking in Real Estate Investing

In the real estate world, buzzwords come and go just as often as industry trends. Like everything else, some come and go, and some are here to stay. List stacking is one of those trends with inevitable staying power.

List stacking is one of the newest industry trends, with high promises of generating leads and connecting wholesalers with highly motivated sellers.

Are you curious as to what list stacking is and how it’s applied by real estate investors to locate and target highly motivated sellers? What about real estate CRM software, and how do the two work together?

In this blog, we’ll define real estate wholesaling, list stacking, and various list sources, as well as take a deep dive into the pros and cons of each method and how you can best choose your real estate software and list stacking software to track and optimize these leads.

What is real estate wholesaling?

Real estate wholesaling is the process of finding deeply discounted properties and assigning them to another buyer for a higher price. Real estate wholesalers make money by pocketing the difference between what they paid for the property and what they sold it for.

Each method has its own set of benefits that can be helpful to you and your business. Real estate investing can be a great way to find deeply discounted properties.

Generating leads comes with a combination of inbound and outbound marketing tactics, including paid ads, social media, cold calling and emails, search engine optimization, and online networking. Of the more hands-on approaches, list stacking and driving for dollars have become very popular choices.

List stacking can help you focus your efforts on a specific list of properties, and driving for dollars can help you find properties that are vacant or in disrepair.

Pro Investor Tips: Combine multiple lists to create a more targeted list of motivated sellers.
Combine multiple lists to create a more targeted list of motivated sellers.

What is list stacking?

List stacking is a technique used in real estate wholesaling that involves compiling a list of potential properties for wholesale. This can be done by driving for dollars, searching online listings, or working together with a real estate agent, most often in tandem with one another.

One of the benefits of list stacking is that it allows you to quickly and easily identify potential properties for investment, saving you both time and money. Additionally, it provides you with a valuable database of potential leads that you can use again in the future, cross-reference, and use to curate valuable information about specific neighborhoods and demographic lists.

Many real estate investors use list stacking software, which often comes as part of their real estate CRM.

Where do I buy these lists?

In order to list stack, you need to have multiple lists available first. There are many different methods that real estate investors use to acquire lists, from old-fashioned banging on doors to data mining or even purchasing their lists from outside sources.

We’ve listed several of the most popular methods for acquiring your lists to start building out your database:

  • Driving for Dollars

Driving for dollars (drive for dollars, or D4$) is another method real estate wholesalers use to find leads. This involves driving around potential neighborhoods looking for vacant or in disrepair properties. These properties may be good candidates for real estate wholesaling and help real estate investors focus their efforts on a specific list of properties.

  • ListSource

ListSource is another company REsimpli offers full integration with. As active real estate investors and wholesalers, ListSource is an invaluable resource for building local and national lists based on various filtering options.

ListSource caters directly to wholesalers, investors, and brokers, ensuring their lists come with motivated sellers and high-quality leads. These lists can be directly imported to REsimpli or your CRM of choice and cross-referenced further using list stacking functions.

  • PropStream

PropStream is another tool that is ubiquitous throughout the real estate investment industry. At REsimpli, we work with and offer integrations with PropStream in order to make your list stacking and segmenting as pain-free as possible.

PropStream provides one of the most efficient list management and list stacking technologies available to real estate brokers, investors, and agents. Using their software, you can quickly create bespoke reports using their many filter options to find possible sellers immediately. For the purpose of building a targeted directory of the most likely sellers, the list stacking feature aids in your understanding of which properties are duplicated across multiple lists.

  • County records

Public records are a great way to start your lists. These don’t come with the same vetting and filtering options as PropStream or ListSource, but they are a perfect launchpad for new real estate investors who need a starting point. Most of the time, these are acquired for free online either through the County Recorder’s Office or County Treasurer, but some real estate investors have had great success in reaching out to county tax assessors, or city and county inspectors for multiple code violators or other red flags.

County records provide lists based on various criteria, most of which include bank-owned properties, bankruptcies, delinquent taxes, liens, foreclosures, tax sale properties, and more.

What are the top real estate wholesaling lists to buy?

Pre-qualified or high-quality lead lists will most likely give you a higher ROI. There are many things to consider when list building, including how worthwhile it is to buy lists (like those on ListSource) as opposed to doing more legwork and acquiring free ones (like county records or driving for dollars), but ultimately there are a few specific criteria to look out for.

Probate lists are the most popular, given the homes are vacant without much legal implication, as probate essentially means the homeowner died without a will bequeathing the house or leaving a will. Niche lists like these, shutoff lists, divorce lists, eviction lists, etc., often return a 20-30% close rate.

List stacking with pre-foreclosure properties

Another type of property rising in popularity within real estate investment is pre-foreclosures. These lists are becoming more and more populated during and after COVID as the rates of pre-foreclosure are high.

The property type gaining the most popularity since 2021 is absentee-owned or absentee-owner properties. The most important part to take note of in absentee owner deals is to ensure the owner does own substantial equity in the property.

Oftentimes, absentee owner properties are owned by multiple owners or are tied up with current renters. Establishing that the owner is motivated and there won’t be complications with a third-party management company is essential.

list stacking info shown in the leads pages

What criteria should I consider when stacking my lists?

Starting out, based on their previous sources, a real estate investor might pull multiple lists from their current software or database. Organizing these based on specific criteria is the best option for amalgamating your data and “stacking” them to target them directly. Most often, these groups look something like this:

  • Vacant
  • Tax Delinquent
  • Inherited Property
  • Code Violations

Where does list stacking come in? Once these lists are all curated, you’d further categorize them to send your marketing (whether that’s email or direct mail), and instead of sending out four or more campaigns with different messaging, marketing campaigns can then be tailored to groups who fit multiple criteria, such as:

  • Absentee & Vacant
  • Absentee & Tax Delinquent
  • Absentee & Vacant & Tax Delinquent & Inherited Property

This is one way to cut your leads in half, and you will certainly see a decline in the amount of records you pull, but list stacking also saves you money by helping you seek our more motivated sellers.

Similar to any kind of demographic targeting, it’s easy enough to get granular or broad with your targeting. For example, our CEO, Sharad Mehta, uses definitions similar to the below to get specific with his targeting:

Absentee: The property is uninhabited

High Equity: Owners with more than 50% equity

Vacant: The owner nor any tenant or family lives at the property

Inherited: The owner inherited the property recently

Tax Delinquent: The property is behind on taxes or mortgage payments, sometimes an indication that the new owner might feel burdened by the inheritance.

Single Family: Only one family resides, or can legally reside, at the property

What software do I use to stack my lists?

So you have your lists–how do you compile them? While REsimpli offers one-click, intuitive list-building and segmenting options, many CRMS offer similar features at a smaller scale. When starting out with smaller lists, it’s often feasible to stack lists on Excel or Google Sheets as well.

  • List Stacking with REsimpli

REsimpli offers many integrations, as noted above, with software like Propstream and ListSource, as well as a one-click import for other Excel or spreadsheet files. You can quickly and comprehensively tag and sort your leads en masse or individually and, from there, set up your direct mail or other marketing campaigns right in our CRM.

For more information on how you can use the REsimpli list stacking function to close more deals faster, you can watch a free full demo on YouTube demo.

  • Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets

Spreadsheets work best on a very tight budget and if you only have a handful of properties to work from. They are notoriously hard to scale but very easy to customize.

Using conditional formatting and formulas, you can remove duplicates and sort data based on specific criteria relatively easily; however, it’s important to note that spreadsheets require a lot of manual input before they are able to be sorted and formatted properly.

How do I choose a real estate CRM for list stacking?

Choosing a real estate customer relationship management system (CRM) is an important decision for any real estate wholesaler or business. A real estate CRM will help you track your leads, prospects, and clients. It is important to choose a real estate CRM that fits your specific business needs.

There are many different real estate CRMs on the market, so it is important to do your research before choosing one. You may want to consider features such as lead management, contact management, and automation.

More recently, CRMs have been incorporating more up-to-date features such as driving for dollars and list stacking.

If you’re interested (or already participating) in real estate wholesaling, learning how to stack lists is a valuable skill to have.

The best software for list stacking

REsimpli’s software was built for real estate wholesalers by real estate wholesalers, helping save you time and close deals faster. Aside from driving for dollars and list stacking functionality, our CRM software for real estate investors also include:

  • Skip Tracing
  • Direct Mail
  • Vacancy & Absentee Checks
  • Filters for Target Marketing
  • Zapier, BatchDialer & Other Integrations

Interested? Contact us for the full rundown on all our features, access to our exclusive coaching calls and sales groups, and a 14-day free trial.

What is List Stacking?

Posted on by Sharad Mehta

Have you wondered what list stacking is, and moreover, how to even get started?

If so, you’re in the right place.

This article provides an essential guide on what list stacking is, how you should stack your list and why you should be using this tried-and-true method beloved by real estate wholesalers and real estate investors alike.

What is list stacking?

List stacking is essentially when you take all your lists from different marketing channels and sources, and put them into a list stacking software like REsimpli.

REsimpli takes all your lists and stacks them, thereby helping you build a more targeted marketing list.

The primary benefit of list stacking is the very “stacking” function, as it helps you build a very targeted marketing list by segmenting them according to different criteria and cross-referencing them.

So, if you’re starting in real estate, you need to have an articulated marketing list because when you’re just starting, you’ll have more time available than money.

Your resources when it comes to money are going to be limited, so you’re going to make sure you don’t blow it away with superfluous tools.

Pro Investor Tip: Do marketing to highly-targeted lists only, or you’ll quickly run out of funds!

Create highly targeted lists for Free!

Sign up for REsimpli’s 14-day free trial and if you think that you like it, get 50% off on your first month!

driving for dollars, REsimpli
driving for dollars, REsimpli

How do you stack your list?

REsimpli is the best software for stacking your list.

It’s easy to use and all-in-one so you can list stack along with utilizing several other features in tandem.

For more detail, there are concise explanations of how to go about this on our YouTube channel.

Let’s get started:

flowchart of list stacking

The above image is a basic flowchart of list stacking when you’re using the feature, gleaned from multiple marketing lists.

You might use different marketing channels or sources to pull into your list.

For example, you might be using a minor source, like Propstream,  you might be Driving for Dollars, you might be removing lists from your county register, or you might be using some other source to buy the inventory.

Here is a simple illustration of how REsimpli’s list stacking function works.

In this example, we’ve taken an absentee list with 4000 records, a probate list with about 3000 records, a pre-foreclosure list with another 3000 records, and a driving-for-dollar list with 1000 records.

When they are combined, they give you 11,000 records. What we want to achieve is to have a targeted marketing list.

We start by adding the list on REsimpli. We achieve this by clicking browse, then choosing a pre-loaded file of absentee listings.

The absentee list is in the left column of the spreadsheet.

green box around a list in the resimpli software interface

First, there is a header column, and then the right column is how you want your header column from your file to be mapped while list stacking.

You’ll notice that most fields already mapped both the first name and last name.

After uploading all the lists, REsimpli breaks them down into valid, invalid, duplicate, and updated sub-lists – the great thing about REsimpli is that we check against USPS to ensure they are valid addresses when we upload any list.

Based on our 4000 absentee records uploaded, 3559 are valid addresses, and two were updated from previous.

Let’s give a brief explanation of what “updated” means.

For this purpose, “updated” means that those addresses were already on some of the other lists we’d preloaded into our system.

The 34 duplicates were removed, and after that, we uploaded a Driving for Dollars list.

showing list with specific information in green circles

If you look closely at the image, no addresses were added, but 998 records were updated; there were no duplicates.

This means that the 998 records already existed in the list, and it’s not adding them again.

We uploaded  3000 records for the pre-closure list, and there were no valid or invalid addresses.

Therefore, we have 2977 updated addresses; 23 were duplicates. For the probate list, 3000 were uploaded, out of which 123  were valid addresses,  25 invalid addresses,  2831 were updated, and 21 duplicates.

REsimpli helps you eliminate duplicate lists by producing a stacked list of records.

Many investors are successful because this is what they do; it’s so successful, it’s precisely what we do in our businesses. We pull lists from different sources.

We use a list source propstream and driving for dollars, and then as we get our list, we ensure that before we do any marketing to them, we put them intp REsimpli, and then we could do direct mail to inform them that we would go in.

This kind of fact and background checking is paramount to your business.

In conclusion, list stacking saves you a hundreds of dollars in marketing by producing a very targeted marketing list.

As a result, you don’t have to waste your money and time by marketing to the same person multiple times. This also saves your image in the eyes of the seller.

REsimpli empowers you with real-time data to help you make better decisions which mean higher net profit.

If you want to scale your business, contact us for a demo and a free 14-day trial.

List Stacking with REsimpli

Posted on by Sharad Mehta

List Stacking

Knowing who to market to can help real estate investors save time and money – one valuable process to use is list stacking. If you’d like to learn more, you can also watch this helpful video, or watch our newest product update about list stacking and driving for dollars below:

List stacking is a process that narrows down a list of owners using set parameters to identify duplicate listings and build a more targeted marketing list of motivated sellers. 

Let’s start with some basic questions:

  1. What is list stacking?
  2. Should you use this method in your business?
  3. How do you stack a list?

REsimpli list stacking extracts your overlapping leads. The system will consolidate your starting number to a more targeted marketing list.

For instance, if your total number of leads from various sources was 11,000, the list stacking feature in REsimpli could reduce this to over 4,000.

red circle around leads with address list-stacking

By finding these overlaps, you avoid duplicating your marketing efforts for the same person. Why is this important or beneficial? You are saving money!

The targeted marketing list built by this process allows you to use your resources more efficiently. Resources that can be focused on skip tracing these motivated owners, calling them, and sending them handwritten notes.

Step-By-Step Using REsimpli

Using REsimpli is straightforward and can be completed in a few steps.

  1. Click add on the List Stacking page
  2. Click browse file on the Import List page
  3. Select the file to add
  4. Map columns (last name, first name, mailing address, property address)
  5. Name list
  6. Click Submit to upload the list

The uploaded list gets checked against USPS to validate addresses. The system will identify and indicate how many of those addresses are:

  • Valid
  • Invalid
  • Updated
  • Duplicates

At the end of this process, the various lists you started with are consolidated and you are still reaching every single person from your lists. All without duplicating your efforts.

Have any remaining questions? REsimpli has answers! Contact us with queries or to request a personalized demo today.

Driving for Dollars and List Stacking Features Launched on REsimpli

Posted on by Sharad Mehta

Driving for Dollars and List Stacking Features Launched on REsimpli

HIGHLAND, IN, June 9, 2022 /CNW/ — REsimpli is thrilled to announce the addition of two new features as part of their subscription based service. Driving for Dollars, a route tracking feature for real estate wholesalers to document and contact unlisted or off-market houses, and List Stacking, available to import leads from several sources and categorize based on numerous features and criteria, launched on the app this past week.

REsimpli has been at the forefront of technology for real estate investors and managers alike. As a multi-national company with over 1,000 users and an affiliate program valued at over $800k, these recent additions to the app’s functionality are only the first in a line of planned updates and launches scheduled for 2023.

Owner and CEO of REsimpli, Sharad Mehta, says the technology came about when he sought a solution to his multi-platform problem. As an active real estate investor himself with over 600 deals to his name, he was “frustrated by the fact that I had to use multiple softwares to run one business and none of those softwares really spoke well with each other. There had to be a better way.” This philosophy informs REsimpli’s growth and goals for the Driving for Dollars and List Stacking feature releases and updates, and speaks to its intuitiveness and wide popularity with North American investors like Lilly Thompson and Devon Kennard.

About REsimpli

REsimpli is an all-in-one real estate software that requires little to no customization, so you can have your CRM powered up in minutes–simply sign up and start using. Our software, made specifically for real estate investors by real estate investors, includes features like calling, texting, list stacking, skip tracing, and more, all at the click of a button.

For further information: For media inquiries, please contact Social and Community Liaison, Madison McCarthy at madison@resimpli.com

How to Use List Stacking with REsimpli

Posted on by Sharad Mehta

How to Use List Stacking with REsimpli

Sharad’s latest update details how he uses the REsimpli list stacking function with driving for dollars, direct mail, cold calling, and SMS in his real estate investment business.

Most Effective Ways to Use List Stacking in Real Estate

In the first video of this series, Sharad went into depth on his list sources and how he qualifies them. Absentee, Probate, Preforeclosure and Driving For Dollars lists are all included in his sources. The next steps after list stacking them?

Filter and Clean

Utilizing REsimpli’s built in functions, you can automatically filter based on several criteria, including duplicates and invalid addresses, and cross-reference that by ownership type, vacancy, and listing date. You’re also able to easily save searches and filter for future use.

Order Marketing

With REsimpli, ordering Direct Mail (or sending emails, SMS, and more) is as simple as the click of a button. You can pick order type, medium, dates, and even schedule recurring send outs. REsimpli also makes it easy to track and trace your mail and modify your contact information.

Leads & Return Mail

One thing’s for certain—no matter what tool you use, or what filters you have, return mail is constant. Using REsimpli’s filter options even after list stacking, you can easily ensure the sendees on your list are all accurate and up to date. Narrowing these down is essential to ensure the highest ROI for your business. Based on these filters, REsimpli will consistently scrub the list for you, eliminating the need for virtual assistants or expensive spreadsheet apps.

Follow Up

Depending on the responses, you’ll either have homeowners who are interested in selling,and those who aren’t. Having this list saved means you can directly edit the opt-in and opt-out communications of your contacts. REsimpli will automatically cross-reference your lists in your list stacking to ensure no duplicates come through, and that when someone opts out of one they opt out of all of them.

Real Time Updates

Any criteria you add to leads on REsimpli from now on that fall under these filters, including future opt in or opt out, are automatically considered in this list stacking functionality. Your lists will continually update unless your filters are changed, and thus your lists auto-populate according to many important criteria without you having to continually curate them.

Sharad’s use of many built-in functions means he has time for the things that count—like closing more deals. To learn more about how REsimpli can help you close more deals, faster, request a demo or contact us for support.