# What is skip tracing in real estate?

URL: https://skipmatch.com/guides/what-is-skip-tracing
Last updated: 2026-10-02

## Key facts

- Price: a flat $0.03 a record at any list size from 50 to 100,000 records.
- Unit: Priced per matched record.
- Minimum order: 50 records
- Minimum charge: Minimum charge $0.50 when any record matches.
- Single search: Single search: $0.10, charged only on a match, paid from prepaid credit ($10 minimum top-up).
- Prepaid credit: Prepaid credit expires 12 months after your last credit purchase, single search or credit-paid list, and unused credit is refundable on request within 90 days of purchase.
- Free tool: Check your list free at /tools/skip-trace-csv-checker. Check columns, split addresses and download a fixed CSV in your browser before tracing at $0.03 a record. No account needed.
- Subscription: None. A list order is paid for on its own by card or prepaid credit.
- Max per order: 100,000 rows or 50 MB per file
- Output: Up to 10 phones per owner, each with its line type (mobile, landline or VoIP), plus emails where found
- Sources: 3 core providers: idiCORE, Enformion and Delvepoint
- Not for: FCRA uses: credit, insurance, employment or tenant screening
- Prices last changed: 2026-10-02
- Last updated: 2026-10-02

Skip tracing is finding current phone numbers and email addresses for a person you need to reach. Real estate skip tracing does it for property owners, so you can contact them about their property. You supply owner names and addresses, usually as a whole list, and get back phones labelled mobile, landline or VoIP, plus emails where they exist.

## The short answer

Investors build lists of owners they want to reach: absentee owners, inherited properties, vacant land, tax delinquent parcels. Public records give the owner's name and mailing address but rarely a working phone number. Skip tracing matches each owner against contact data and appends what it finds, so the list can be called, texted or emailed, within the rules on how that data may be used.

| What you give | What you get back |
| --- | --- |
| An owner name on each row | Up to 10 phone numbers per owner, ranked |
| An address: street, city, state and ZIP (property, mailing or both) | The line type of each phone: mobile, landline or VoIP |
| Any other columns you keep (APN, acres, list source) | Emails where they exist, and those columns back unchanged |
| A CSV of 50 to 100,000 rows | A match flag on every row |

## Where the data comes from

Skip tracing services look owners up in commercial data sources built from public and proprietary records. Skipmatch's agentic skip tracing rotates between three core providers, idiCORE, Enformion and Delvepoint, weighing all three for the best match on each record based on factors like location, property type and intent scoring. More on the data sources.

## What a result file contains

The columns of a Skipmatch result file, from the sample file. The sample's names, addresses, phones and emails are invented; the layout is the real one.

| Column | What it holds |
| --- | --- |
| Your columns | Every column you uploaded, unchanged and in its original order (names, addresses, APN, acres and so on). |
| Phone1 to Phone10 | Up to 10 phone numbers for the owner, ranked. |
| Phone1Type to Phone10Type | The line type of each phone: Mobile, Landline or VOIP. |
| Email1 to Email3 | Email addresses where they exist. None are guessed. |
| HitFlag | HIT when the row came back with at least one phone or email, MISS when it did not. |
| Record status | New, Updated or Previously purchased, from your own order history. |
| Absentee owner to Years owned | Free owner signals worked out from your own columns: Absentee owner, Out of state owner, Owner type (Person, LLC or company, Trust, Estate or Unknown) and Years owned (only when your file has a sale or purchase date column). |
| Census match to Census longitude | Free address check of the property address against the U.S. Census Geocoder: Census match (Exact, Non-exact or No match), county, county FIPS code, latitude and longitude. |
| Soil map unit, Soil drainage class | Free dominant soil name and drainage class at the property point, from the USDA soil survey. Blank where the survey has no data. |

## Single lookups vs bulk skip tracing

A single lookup searches one owner at a time, which suits a handful of names. Bulk skip tracing runs a whole list in one upload and returns the same file with contacts appended, which suits the hundreds or thousands of owners in a typical marketing list. Skipmatch is bulk only: orders start at 50 records.

## What it costs

Services charge per row, per match, per credit or through a monthly plan, so compare the billing basis as well as the headline rate. Skipmatch charges per matched record: $0.03 a record at any list size. A 5,000-record list is at most $150.00. The skip tracing cost guide sets published prices side by side, and the cost calculator prices any row count.

## Which lists investors skip trace

- Absentee owners: the owner's mailing address differs from the property's, so the mailing address is the one to trace.
- Probate and inherited properties: the heirs or the executor are the people to reach.
- Vacant land: the parcel often has no house number, so the owner's mailing address carries the lookup. Skip tracing for land investors.
- Tax delinquent: owners behind on property tax, from county lists.

Skip tracing for real estate investors covers the list types in more detail.

## Is it legal?

Using the numbers is regulated: calls and texts fall under the TCPA, state rules and the do-not-call registries, and the results are not a consumer report, so they must not be used for credit, employment, tenant screening or insurance decisions. Every Skipmatch account accepts the permissible-use terms before its first order. This is general information, not legal advice.

- Cost calculator
- Sample result
- Data sources
- For investors
- For land investors

## Questions

Q: What information does skip tracing give you?
A: Current contact details for the owner on each row: phone numbers, each labelled mobile, landline or VoIP, and email addresses where they exist. With Skipmatch that is up to 10 phones per owner, added to your own columns.

Q: How much does skip tracing cost per record?
A: Services price it per row, per match, per credit or through a monthly plan, so the same list can cost very different amounts. Skipmatch charges a flat $0.03 a record at any list size from 50 to 100,000 records.

Q: Is skip tracing legal?
A: Using the numbers is regulated: calls and texts fall under the TCPA, state rules and the do-not-call registries, and the results must not be used for credit, employment, tenant screening or insurance decisions. This is general information, not legal advice; see Skipmatch's permissible-use page.

Q: What is bulk skip tracing?
A: Skip tracing a whole list in one upload instead of one owner at a time. You send a CSV of owner names and addresses and get the same file back with phones and emails appended.

Q: What counts as a match?
A: A record that comes back with at least one phone number or email. A record with only an email still counts as a match. A record with no phone and no email is a miss. Misses are never charged.