Real estate skip tracing: what it is and how it works
Last verified: July 2026
Why investors and brokers skip trace
Off-market deals start with a phone call to an owner who hasn't listed. Public records get you the owner's name and the address where the tax bill goes. That's where they stop. Skip tracing bridges the gap: data vendors aggregate phone, email, and address history from utility connects, credit headers, and marketing databases, then match your name-plus-address query against them.
The commercial wrinkle: trace the person, not the LLC
Skip tracing a company name returns junk. For commercial property, where the owner of record is almost always an LLC, you first have to resolve the entity to a human. In North Carolina the Secretary of State registry does most of that work, because annual reports list company officials. Trace that named manager or member at their filed address and the hit rate goes way up. This resolve-then-trace sequence is the difference between commercial and residential skip tracing.
Is skip tracing legal?
Yes, when the data source is marketing-permissible and you respect calling rules. Two separate compliance layers matter. First, the data: sources governed by GLBA or DPPA restrictions require a permissible purpose, so marketing outreach must use marketing-permissible data. Second, the call: the federal Do Not Call registry and the TCPA govern who you may call and how, and NC has its own telemarketing rules. A skip-trace result without DNC flags is a liability, not a lead.
What it costs
Bulk residential skip-trace services run roughly $0.02 to $0.20 per record. One-off lookups from people-search sites cost a few dollars. Quality varies more than price: match rate on commercial owners depends on resolving the LLC to the right human first, which is where most cheap traces fail.
Key facts
- Skip tracing turns a name and mailing address into phone and email. Public records alone never include either.
- For commercial property, resolve the LLC to a person first. Tracing an entity name fails.
- Marketing outreach requires marketing-permissible data plus DNC/TCPA screening on every number.
- Bulk traces cost cents; the expensive part is getting the right person to trace.
Skip tracing, built into the map
NC CRE Map does the whole sequence on one screen: parcel to owner of record, LLC to the person filed with the NC Secretary of State, person to phone and email with DNC/TCPA flags. The $50 a month plan covers the map and includes a monthly allotment of skip-trace lookups. No separate vendor account to manage.
Open the mapFrequently asked questions
What is skip tracing in real estate?
Finding a property owner's current phone number and email by matching their name and mailing address from public records against commercial data sources. The term comes from debt collection, where it meant locating someone who "skipped" town.
Is skip tracing legal for real estate marketing?
Yes, when you use marketing-permissible data and screen numbers against the Do Not Call registry and TCPA rules before calling. Data restricted under GLBA or DPPA cannot be used for cold outreach.
How do you skip trace an LLC?
You don't trace the LLC itself. You resolve it to a person first. In North Carolina, the Secretary of State registry lists company officials on annual reports, and the recorded deed of trust names a signer. Trace that person at the entity's filed address.
How much does real estate skip tracing cost?
Bulk services run roughly $0.02 to $0.20 per record, and one-off people-search lookups cost a few dollars. NC CRE Map includes a monthly allotment of skip-trace lookups in the $50 plan, so there is no per-lookup bill to manage.
What is a good skip trace hit rate?
Residential bulk traces commonly land 80 to 90 percent on a phone number. Commercial hit rates are lower and depend almost entirely on whether the LLC was resolved to the correct person before tracing.