![What is Skip Tracing, and How Do You Do it?](https://www.dealmachine.com/hubfs/1N9A0004.jpg)
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You need to get in contact with the owner of the perfect property you just found driving for dollars, but you have no idea where to find this information. This is where skip tracing becomes a valued tool in your real estate toolbox.
What is Skip Tracing?
You may have heard of a profession called Bounty Hunting (remember Dog the Bounty Hunter in the early 2000s?), where they track down individuals who have skipped bail. Therefore needing to find information (home address, phone number, etc.) about this person who doesn't want to be found.
What info can you get?
Depending on how you go about skip tracing you can find this information and more:
Date of Birth
Home addresses
Phone numbers
Email Addresses
Tax Records
Relatives
Can I get this info myself?
You could do it all yourself, google the name of the person and anything else you know about them. Guess what?!?! You’re skip tracing! But, you're doing all the hard work yourself.
You could go to Fiverr-type sites that promise $0.03-$0.05 per lookup, those won’t always be the most accurate, and it may take them a little while to get you the data back.
You could do a deep investigative report with a local private investigator. Those reports will usually be really accurate, with a ton of deep data on them, family members, etc., but you’ll probably pay $10+ per lookup.
In an ideal world, you have something that balances accuracy and cost, while also being available quickly the moment you want that information.
DealMachine offers instant one-off skip tracing in-app. We also scrub the phone numbers on the DNC (Do Not Call) List, indicate which lines are connected, and provide caller i.d. to save you more time when trying to get in contact with your leads. Try out our skip tracing today on a free trial with $20 worth of marketing credits.
Elise is the Head of Marketing at DealMachine. She manages all media to help our members learn more about real estate investing and how to use DealMachine to scale their business fast.