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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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!
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:
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.
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.
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.
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:
What is list stacking?
Should you use this method in your business?
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.
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.
Click add on the List Stacking page
Click browse file on the Import List page
Select the file to add
Map columns (last name, first name, mailing address, property address)
Name list
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
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
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?
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
