Frequently Asked Questions?
The most common questions about how our business works and what can do for you.
What is unique about our leads vs. other lists such as - PropStream, All The Leads, etc.?
Our competitors sell canned data which has been aggregated and sourced at the county level. These lists (Absentee-owned, high-equity, etc..) are created using extrapolated patterns in the county data. These lead lists are low hanging fruit – they are cheap to make and are easy to produce. The way we source the leads for our list is via our own proprietary data processing methodology. We take our data and cross-reference it through several different databases to churn out the most relevant and accurate pre-probate leads available to purchase. Our process has been optimized to maximize the yield and quality of our leads.
What is an inheritance/pre-probate list?
After someone passes, the assets they have accumulated over their life will then be dispersed to their heirs, also known as beneficiaries. Utilizing several different databases, we attach real estate ownership and other useful information to the individual who was deceased.
What is Included with the Inheritance List?
In situations where a homeowner has passed away, you will receive the property address, mailing address, property details, and owner information from the respective property. This is a massive opportunity for you as an investor and for the family. It very likely will provide a win-win situation for you to get a good off-market deal and for the family to have an undue burden lifted off their shoulders.
Why are your leads so expensive?
As described above, we create our own list. The process involves exhaustive cross-referencing and deduplication. In fact, our input data takes 6 passes through different databases to qualify for our inheritance list. Given the specialized nature of our inheritance list, our flow is highly custom -- and therefore expensive. To make these efforts worth our while, we charge a higher rate than some of our competitors. A different way to assess cost is to consider the price it takes to market our list. While it may be more expensive on the front end – our list is targeted and effective. Whichever method you use to market our inheritance list, you will find a deal faster with our list than anyone else’s. The bottom line is that our leads are more expensive because they are worth it.
What is the best way to market this list?
We encourage our customers to pursue any form of marketing so long as it is in accordance to applicable local and federal laws. However, given the sensitive nature of our list, we recommend using direct mail campaigns, so as not to disturb the grieving. We provide our own direct mail fulfillment service at yellowletter.com Our customers have been successful marketing to this list in several ways – We encourage you to experiment to see what is effective for your target area. Let us know what works for you! Regardless which letter fulfillment service you use, it is very important that you use ‘First Class Stamps’. This is because First Class letters include mail-forwarding. Many times, the family of the deceased has gotten the mail rerouted to a different address. Regarding how to address your letters, after much testing, what works best is addressing the envelopes to "The Sextons", for example. We have also used "Mr. & Mrs." and "Homeowner" with equal success. If you want to put a return address on the envelope, use the back flap, address only.
How often should I mail this list?
We recommend a mailing getting sent out every quarter – Any returned mail or angry callers should be removed from your subsequent mailing campaigns.
Where do you get your leads from?
We source the input data from a series of private and public databases – these then get combined and put through our proprietary process to yield the final list.
What is the response rate from your list?
There are many variables to consider when looking at response rate. People will respond differently depending on the content of your letter, if you used a First Class Stamp, whether it was (or appears to be) handwritten, etc.. Generally speaking, we expect a response rate of 1 – 5%, but have seen it upwards of 10%.
Is Probate the Same as Pre-Probate?
No, the first difference is timing. As the term implies, pre-probate leads are involved with properties that have not yet reached probate. Typically, 1-4 months after the individual passes away, documents get filed which places the deceased estate into probate and into the process of inheritance. Pre-Probate is the window of time before the legal documents are published which denote the estate lawyer and executor of the will. The second general difference is that not every property will go into probate. Real-estate which is owned by Trusts, surviving spouses, or in joint-tenancy can bypass the probate process into direct inheritance.
How Old is Your Data?
We put out a new nationwide list each and every month. Our data is fresh, relevant, and ready for marketing in your area..