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Skip tracing 101: getting owner phone numbers that connect
Updated July 11, 2026 · by the LowBaller team
Skip tracing matches a property owner's name and address against identity databases to return phones and emails. Done right it is the difference between a list and a pipeline. Here is what it actually returns, from our own live measurements in July 2026, not vendor marketing.
The real hit rates
On hard-distress properties owned by individuals with a full name on the record, a structured trace (name plus full property address) returned at least one phone or email 88 percent of the time. Email was the stronger channel at roughly 89 percent, averaging 4.3 addresses per hit. Raw phone matches came back about as often, averaging 2.2 numbers per hit.
Then compliance bites: Do-Not-Call filtering removed roughly half of raw phone matches, leaving about 56 percent of individual owners with a legally callable number. Any vendor quoting 90 percent phone rates without mentioning DNC is quoting a number you cannot use.
The two-thirds problem
Roughly 66 percent of hard-distress properties are owned by LLCs, trusts and estates, and a personal-identity trace has nothing to match against. This is not a failure of skip tracing; it is a routing decision. Individuals get traced and called or emailed. Entities get mail to the county mailing address and, for LLCs, the registered agent from the state registry.
Paying only for results
Traces cost money per lookup, so the economics depend on when you pay. LowBaller runs the trace first and only charges a credit when a verified phone or email actually comes back; a dead lookup costs nothing. If you use a standalone vendor, batch your traces, dedupe owners who hold multiple properties, and never pay twice for the same person.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is skip tracing?
In our July 2026 testing on individually owned distressed properties, 88 percent returned a phone or email. Email hit about 89 percent. After Do-Not-Call filtering, about 56 percent had a legally callable phone. Entity-owned properties need mail instead.
Why do skip traces fail?
The main causes are entity ownership (an LLC or trust has no personal identity to match), missing owner names on the record, recent moves, and thin data footprints. Structured input, full name plus exact address, materially beats name-only lookups.
Is it legal to skip trace property owners?
Yes, for legitimate business contact. The legal risk sits in the outreach: respect Do-Not-Call registrations, TCPA calling rules and state variants. LowBaller strips DNC-flagged numbers from results so the phones you see are usable.
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