Off-market investing questions, answered
Plain answers to the questions beginners and experienced off-market investors ask most: how to find leads, what skip tracing costs, whether wholesaling is legal, which tool to use and why lists do not always convert. Every answer says what we know, what we do not, and where LeadCounty fits. Legal answers are not legal advice.
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72 questions. Legal answers are general information, not legal advice. Rules differ by state and change, so ask a local real estate attorney. Prices and vendor numbers are the vendor's own and are marked as such.
The basics: what off-market is and how it works
Start here if you are new.
What does off-market mean?
A home that is not listed for sale on the MLS or listing websites. You find the owner, not the listing. The owner may be thinking of selling, may be forced to, or may never have considered it.
Are off-market deals cheaper?
Sometimes. There is less competition, but the seller still wants a fair price and the numbers still have to work for you. There is no reliable public average discount, so be careful with anyone who quotes one.
What is the difference between off-market and a pocket listing?
Off-market leads are owners who have not listed at all. A pocket listing is a listing kept private on purpose. Sources say pocket listings conflict with the NAR Clear Cooperation Policy, while prospecting unlisted owners does not. Check your local board rules.
How do wholesalers actually make money?
They put a house under contract at a discount and sell the contract, or double close, to a cash buyer for a fee. Online fee ranges come from people who sell courses and tools, so the honest answer is that it varies a lot.
What is the daily workflow of a wholesaler?
List, stack, skip trace, text or call or mail, follow up, offer, contract, find a buyer (disposition), then assign or close. LeadCounty covers the list, the score, letters, tracking, pipeline, tasks and cash buyers. Skip tracing, dialing and texting come from other services.
Wholesaler, flipper, landlord or agent: which fits me?
Wholesalers need little cash but time and marketing money. Flippers need cash or a lender and good comps. Landlords need long-term capital and tolerate tenants. Agents need a licence and time. Match it to your cash, time and risk.
Wholesalers · Flippers · Landlords · Agents
Can I start with no money?
Wholesaling and agent prospecting need little cash, but they need time and a marketing budget for mail, skip tracing and tools, which beginners often underestimate. The cheapest starts are driving for dollars, for-sale-by-owner searches and investor club meetings.
How long until my first deal?
There is no reliable public number. Stories range from one lead after thousands of calls to quick wins. We do not promise a timeline.
What does motivated seller really mean?
An owner with a reason to sell fast or below market: money pressure, an inheritance, a tired landlord, repairs, a move. Records show pressure, not motivation. A signal raises the odds only.
Is any list really motivated?
Some investors argue no list can find motivated sellers and it takes thousands of contacts per deal. A fair view is that a list changes the odds per contact; it does not make anyone sell. Our AI score shows that as a published, per-county test with the reasons for each score, and says probability, not promise.
Finding leads in county records
Where the owners are and how to read them.
Where do I find owner names and mailing addresses for free?
At the county assessor, auditor or appraiser: owner, mailing address, parcel number and values. The recorder or clerk has deeds, mortgages and liens, and the treasurer has taxes. The mailing address can differ from the property address.
How do I get a tax delinquent list?
Ask or search the county treasurer or tax collector, which often publishes a list and sale dates. State rules differ.
How do I find absentee owners?
Compare the owner's mailing address with the property address in assessor data, then narrow by out-of-state, years owned and number of properties. Absentee is a starting filter, not a buying signal.
How do I find vacant houses?
Drive-bys, USPS vacancy hints, utilities, code cases and returned mail. Records alone cannot prove a house is empty, so treat a likely-vacant signal as a reason to look, not as proof.
How do I find probate leads?
Use probate court dockets and inheritance deeds, and network with probate attorneys. It is sensitive: heirs may not have authority until the court issues letters. LeadCounty shows death-related deeds; probate court filings only where counties publish them.
How do I find pre-foreclosure leads?
In judicial states (for example Florida, New York, Illinois) look at court filings such as the lis pendens. In non-judicial states (for example California, Arizona, Texas) look at recorder filings such as a notice of default. Some are only in person. Coverage differs by county, so check the county page before you rely on it.
How do I find properties with code violations?
Check the city code enforcement office or its open-data portal. It is city by city, and LeadCounty shows code cases only where cities publish them.
What is a tired landlord and how do I find one?
An owner who is far away, has held a long time and may have evictions, code cases or many units, and may want out. Combine absentee, years owned and code or eviction signals.
How do I find high-equity or free-and-clear houses?
Use recorder loan data plus years owned where it exists. Equity figures are estimates, not facts, and loan balances are often unknown.
What is list stacking?
Keeping only owners who appear on two or more lists, such as absentee plus tax delinquent. Five steps: source, tag, add contacts, clean and remove duplicates, then reach out. It cuts wasted outreach; it does not create new owners.
Which stack works best?
No source proves a best stack. Vendor blogs name tax delinquent plus absentee, or tax delinquent plus code violations plus vacant. Test small and compare cost per owner you reach. Our county tests show which signals raise the sale rate in each county.
Is driving for dollars still worth it?
It is the cheapest start (time and gas). The data goes stale, and one vendor suggests re-driving an area about every six months. It pairs well with a county lookup and skip tracing. LeadCounty has a driving mode in the web app.
What are the best free ways to find motivated sellers?
For-sale-by-owner and Craigslist searches for 'must sell', driving for dollars, investor club meetings, Facebook and LinkedIn groups, and county sites. Free sources are worked by many people.
How do I find expired listings?
From the MLS or an expired-listing service. The intent is high but many agents call the same day. LeadCounty has no MLS data, so it cannot give you expired listings.
How do I find owners of land and vacant lots?
The assessor gives parcel number, acreage, owner and mailing address; the treasurer shows unpaid tax. Mail to the tax mailing address and skip trace if you want a phone. LeadCounty has no land-only list today.
How do I find out who is behind an LLC?
Look up the company at the Secretary of State, which is free in some states and paid in others; the filing names a registered agent and sometimes members. LeadCounty shows the people behind a company on the owner profile only where free state filings exist, not in every state.
Why do national lists feel stale or like everyone else's?
Resold national files are bought and mailed by many people. County filings are closer to the source and less crowded. That is an investor belief; no independent number proves it. LeadCounty caps each county at 10 investors.
Why national lead lists go stale · County records vs national data · Seats
What should I check in a county record before I mail?
Owner and mailing address, years owned, tax status, liens, last sale and building facts.
Skip tracing, calling, texting and mail
How to reach an owner, and what it costs.
What is skip tracing?
Finding an owner's phone number or e-mail from a name and address, using data vendors.
How much does skip tracing cost?
Vendors quote about three cents to a dollar per record for automated services, and fifty to five hundred dollars for manual tracing. The ranges disagree. One review site puts PropStream near ten to twelve cents a record. Check each vendor's current price.
What hit rate should I expect?
A vendor benchmark says match rates of 70 to 90 percent and right-person contact of 10 to 25 percent for motivated-seller lists. That is a vendor figure, not a test. Forum users report worse for some tools. Run a small batch across providers.
Which skip tracing service is best?
Forum consensus is that they are more or less the same. Test 100 to 300 records and judge by cost per owner reached, not price per record. LeadCounty exports one row per property and lets you import results back.
Can I just mail instead of calling?
Yes. Mail needs only the mailing address, which comes from the tax roll. It is slower and costs per piece, and the Do Not Call Registry does not cover mail. This is where LeadCounty is strongest: letters, templates and mail tracking.
Direct mail for investors · Letter templates · Mail tracking
How many touches before I give up?
One vendor recommends two texts, four call attempts and two postcards two months apart. That is one operator's playbook, not an industry standard. LeadCounty can run follow-up rules and tasks for you.
What is a good response rate for mail?
There is no reliable public number. One vendor claims high close rates on niche lists but it is unverified, so do not quote it. Mail tracking shows your own results.
What do I say in the first call or letter?
Be short and honest: who you are, that you buy houses, and ask if they have thought about selling. Do not pressure heirs or owners in foreclosure.
How do I find a cash buyers list?
Pull recent cash purchases from deed records and contact the repeat buyers. LeadCounty builds this list from deeds.
Do I need a CRM?
Eventually. Many investors already use one such as REsimpli, Podio or a spreadsheet. LeadCounty has a pipeline and tasks and exports one row per property, but it is not a full CRM replacement.
Can I buy lists of phone numbers?
It is possible, but consent and Do Not Call rules apply, and practitioners warn that purchased leads need consent tied to your business. LeadCounty does not sell phone numbers.
Money, deal analysis and buyers
The numbers behind an offer.
What is ARV and how do I get it?
After-repair value: what the house should sell for after it is fixed, taken from nearby comparable sales and adjusted. Bad comps are a top flipper mistake.
What is MAO?
Maximum allowable offer: the most you can pay and still hit your profit. A common shortcut is ARV times a percent, minus repairs, minus your fee and costs; 70 percent is the usual one.
Does the 70% rule still work?
It depends on your market and costs. Replace it with your real holding, closing and selling costs.
How do I estimate repairs?
Walk the house with a contractor. Use per-square-foot ranges only for a first screen. County records do not show repair cost.
Wholesale, flip or rental: which makes more?
They differ in risk, capital and timeline. Online average-income figures vary from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, so we do not quote one. Run your own numbers.
What is BRRRR?
Buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat. It depends on the appraisal and your lender's rules.
What is a DSCR loan?
A loan underwritten on the property's rent compared with the debt payments, rather than on your personal income.
What is subject-to?
Buying a house while the seller's existing loan stays in place. The risk is the due-on-sale clause, so get legal advice.
Assignment or double close?
Assignment sells your contract rights and the fee is visible. A double close buys and then sells, often the same day, with two closings and funds needed. Licence and disclosure rules matter for both.
Assignment fee vs double close · Glossary: assignment of contract
How do I find buyers for my wholesale deal?
Use a cash buyers list from deed records, investor clubs, online groups and marketplaces. Buyers want a real discount and a clear deal sheet.
What is proof of funds and earnest money?
Proof of funds shows you can pay, usually a bank or lender letter. Earnest money shows good faith and is at risk if you break the contract.
Tax liens, tax deeds and auctions
Buying at a county sale.
Tax lien or tax deed?
A lien buys the overdue tax and earns interest if the owner repays. A deed buys the property at a sale. Your state decides which system exists.
How do I find a tax sale or auction?
On the county treasurer or tax collector site. Some counties use online auction platforms. Register before the deadline. LeadCounty's sale calendar shows sale days only for counties that publish them.
What is a redemption period?
The time the owner can pay back what is owed and cancel the sale. It ties up your money and differs by state.
What can go wrong at a tax deed auction?
Liens that survive the sale, occupied or wrecked houses, title problems, and cheap certificates on worthless lots. Check occupancy and liens and set a maximum bid. We do not guarantee title.
What is a sheriff sale?
A court-ordered foreclosure auction run by the sheriff in many states.
Tools and costs
What the tools do and where LeadCounty fits.
PropStream, BatchLeads or DealMachine?
Older forum advice: PropStream for research and lists, DealMachine for driving for dollars, BatchLeads for skip tracing and texting. Experienced posters say the tool is not magic and relationships and comps matter more. PropStream bought BatchLeads in July 2025, according to REsimpli.
Is there a free alternative to PropStream?
Propwire has a free plan, and county sites and Zillow or Redfin work for lookups. Free lists are worked by many people. LeadCounty has a free sample and free calculators, with paid scored, stacked county lists.
Why is my tool bill higher than the plan price?
Some tools meter skip tracing, mail, dialer minutes or extra seats. LeadCounty has no meters on what it sells.
Do I need a dialer or texting tool?
Only if you call or text at scale, which brings TCPA and Do Not Call duties. LeadCounty does not include one.
Is there an app for driving for dollars?
DealMachine and others have one. LeadCounty's web app works on a phone and has a driving mode, but there is no store app yet.
Is the AI in these tools worth it?
Many vendors say AI. Ask for a published test and what the score is built on. LeadCounty publishes its test for each county and shows the reasons on every score.
Can I use my CRM with lead data?
Export one row per property and import it into your CRM. LeadCounty also has a webhook. There is no public API today.
Legal and compliance
High level only. This is not legal advice; ask a local attorney.
Is wholesaling legal?
Generally yes when done correctly. Trouble comes from marketing a property you do not control without a licence, and from not telling the seller you plan to assign. Rules vary and are changing; Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Illinois are reported to have recent or strict rules. Not legal advice.
Do I need a real estate licence to wholesale?
It depends on the state and sources disagree. Illinois is reported to require a licence after repeated deals. Ask the state regulator or a local attorney before you market a contract. We do not publish a table of state rules because we cannot verify each row.
Can I text or call owners from a county list?
Federal rules (TCPA and Do Not Call) limit autodialed or prerecorded telemarketing without written consent and ban telemarketing to registered numbers. Practitioner sources quote damages of 500 to 1,500 dollars per violation. One Texas federal case found texts to buy were not telephone solicitations, but it is one court and state laws add rules. Scrub your list and get advice.
Does CAN-SPAM apply to my investor e-mails?
Yes, to commercial e-mail including business to business. You need accurate headers, a clear subject line, to say it is an ad, a postal address and a working opt-out. See the FTC page for penalties.
Is it legal to use public records for marketing?
Reading public records is generally allowed. The rules apply to how you contact people and how you use the data; skip-trace data may fall under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and cannot be used for credit, insurance, employment or tenant decisions.
Can I contact people in foreclosure or probate?
Many states regulate foreclosure solicitations. Be truthful, honour stop requests, and remember heirs may lack authority. Ask an attorney.
Can an agent text for-sale-by-owner or expired owners on the Do Not Call list?
Do Not Call rules apply to agents, and National Association of Realtors guidance notes a nuance for for-sale-by-owner contact. Check the current rule and your brokerage policy.
What are state data-broker rules for lead sellers?
Some states register data brokers (Texas is an example). Ask a lawyer before you sell lists. LeadCounty has a removal request page for owners.
About this guide
How to use this page.
What is off-market and how do agents and wholesalers work?
Off-market means not listed. Wholesalers find a motivated seller, contract the house and sell the contract; agents prospect owners before they list. The full guide follows each role step by step.
What do people who already do this ask?
The most repeated questions are how to find leads cheaply, what skip tracing costs, whether it is legal, why nothing converts and which tool to buy. The groups on skip tracing, mail and legal above are the expert sheet.
Official sources
- FTC: CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide for business
- 47 U.S.C. 227 (Telephone Consumer Protection Act)
- National Do Not Call Registry
- ARELLO: state real estate regulatory agencies
Outside sites are run by their owners. General information, not legal or financial advice.
How we make these guides
Written by the LeadCounty editorial and data team from official county, court and state sources and our own weekly counts. We name the office behind every number, say what we cannot see, and fix mistakes when you tell us. See our editorial standards and methodology. General information, not legal or financial advice. Refreshed weekly.
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