40 properties in under 4 months on full-time W2s
Two construction managers stacked a $50 county tax delinquent list with Listsource absentee data and wholesaled about 40 properties before ever leaving their W2s.
About
David and Preston run Forefront Investments in Tulsa, Oklahoma while holding full-time construction management jobs. They started wholesaling in October 2019 and covered about 40 properties in four months, including a 30-house package from one cold call.
Operating market
Tulsa, OK
Favorite features
The Challenge
In August 2019 David and Preston were construction managers sharing an office at a Tulsa general contractor. Preston drove 45 minutes each way, and 12-hour days were normal. They wanted to flip a house, so they called realtors, set MLS searches, and shopped Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. Nothing penciled. They tried door knocking and driving for dollars next and were not seeing much for the effort.
A coworker connected them to a local investor named Armani, and one coaching call reset the whole approach. Until then their system was a printed spreadsheet and two cell phones in a parking lot. Armani pointed them to list stacking, Podio, and Tyler Austin's YouTube channel, all in the same day. Podio was, in their words, "a rough start." They kept the skepticism but funded the build anyway, redirecting the money they usually spent going out on weekends. "Let's do it the right way, let's build a solid foundation."
What They Built
Stacking a $50 county list before the first dial
Their first data buy was about $650: a tax delinquent list from the county for roughly $50 and high equity absentee records from Listsource. Around 15,000 records went into DataSift, and the first campaign was a two-stack of those lists. The vacancy filter surfaced their first deal, a $40,000 ask they contracted at $20,000 for a quick $5,000 assignment. Total cost to launch the business came in under $1,000. The advice they give anyone starting now:
Get a couple lists and stack them to find that, you know, maximize your motivation and just go for it.
Handing off the dials inside two weeks
David and Preston logged 10 to 15 hours of cold calling each, then hired a local caller at $10 an hour. He pulled five to six leads a day from 90 second conversations and locked up their first contracts. Six weeks later they let him go; "his willingness to learn was zero." A Philippines VA at $6 an hour replaced him, about $1,000 a month, calling weekends too. They hired and fired six people in four months and kept dialing through all of it.
Selling 29 houses through property management companies
They had never marketed a portfolio. They posted the 29-house package in the Tulsa real estate investors Facebook group, then David started cold calling property management companies for quotes.
I'm a wholesaler, I'm trying to sell twenty nine properties here, and I have some buyers that are interested.
The best quote came back at 7 percent on an $18,500 monthly rent roll. Two managers sent the package to investor clients, which produced a backup offer at $825,000. They took the $800,000 buyer instead, the one who accepted the seller's no walkthrough clause.
Texting county niche lists for about $200
From mid December they chased foreclosure, probate, eviction, and water shutoff lists at the county, hard lists to get. In January they "started hitting niche lists with Textmagic" on top of the cold calling. About $200 in texts locked up three contracts inside three weeks.
Before and After
Before DataSift
- A VA Works Every No-Contact Lead in DataSift
- Daily Follow-Ups Run From the Sift Line Tasks
- Nine Deals Under Contract After the Stacked Niche Switch
- Cold Callers Sent KPIs by Hand Outside the System
- Expensive PPC Spend With No Return
- Follow-Up Leads Vanished Into an Abyss in the Old CRM
- 60,000 Records a Quarter Feeding His Bulk Callers
- Four Contracts Signed in 10 Days
- Three Deals a Week, Two Weeks Running
- First Direct to Seller Push in 30 Years of Business
- A $10,000 Mail Campaign That Produced Nothing
- 15 Years Buying Only From the MLS and Wholesalers
- New lender agreed 12 days after the first collapsed
- $105,696 net profit after closing costs
- Nine properties contracted at $360K, sold at $450K
- Hard money lenders would not lend on rural portfolios
- Local title companies refused assignments and passthroughs
- Seller would only sell one house, priced far over appraisal
- Still Runs on a $500 Monthly Budget
- An $85K Deal Off a 50-Name Stacked List
- 13 Contracts in Six Weeks From 250 Prospects
- About $40K Spread Across Six Months, Still Behind
- Five Contracts in a Row Fell Through
- Shotgun Lists Across Too Many Zip Codes
- One Contract Per 25-35 Leads, Half the Typical Ratio
- Each Caller Brings 16-18 Leads a Week
- 50,000 Free County Records Called on a Four-Month Cycle
- Two Partners Dialing Everything Themselves From 2017 to 2019
- VA Cleaned Every County Download by Hand in Excel
- Another Blanket ListSource Pull Whenever the Pipeline Ran Dry
- Same county-data system expanding into Texas and Miami
- $800K in revenue from six or seven deep-research deals
- About 20 people across data, calling, research, and sales
- PropStream tax delinquent lists arrived after owners had already paid
- Two years hunting a golden list that did not exist
- Bandit signs at intersections, cold calling all day from a coffee shop
- Four deals closed faster than his first three
- 8,200 dials and 25 leads in one November
- Four VAs running one calling and texting protocol
- Generic YouTube advice with no sequence to follow
- Back at a sales job four months after going full time
- Spent $35,000 on marketing with zero return
- About 35 Leads Per Deal Across 347 Total Leads
- $253K In Cash And Equity From One Package Deal
- 40 Properties Wholesaled In Under Four Months
- 12-Hour Days And A 45-Minute Commute
- No Deals Found Through Realtors, MLS, Or Craigslist
- Cold Calling From A Printed Spreadsheet In The Parking Lot
- Pulls Nearly All His Data Straight From the County
- Runs Jacksonville Virtually on $1,000 a Month
- Locked a Contract Four Days After His January Restart
- Scattered Across SMS, Facebook Ads, and a Website
- Partner's $2 an Hour Caller Hit a 1% Contact Rate
- Called Lists Three Times Then Trashed Them
- 50,000 sqft warehouses in negotiation, one to two leads daily
- $59,000 spread on his first big wholesale deal
- Every eviction filed in New Jersey, worked daily
- Old CRM buried callers in highlight and right-click drama
- Phenomenal months, then crickets for months
- Overnight pharmacy shifts, 84 hours in a single week
- Knows the playbook works and is replicating it
- First off-market contract four months after starting
- $250,000 assignment fee on deal one
- Weak cash position after funding ground-up projects
- Questioned whether real estate money was even real
- Two years spending on development deals, not making much back
- $40,000 month tracking with fixed costs
- Five first to market deals since April
- Probate filings pulled daily in multiple counties
- Two mail campaigns, response rates he did not like
- Costs fluctuated month to month with list spend
- Custom Podio build, broad absentee and vacant lists
- Owner buried beside her son after two years unclaimed
- Runs every heir search solo now
- Five heirs found, contacted, and signed across Texas
- Needed a specialist for her first deep heir search
- Paper records only, fathers listed by initials
- Probate leads dead-ended with no findable heirs
- Every No Recycled On A Two-Year Rehash Cycle
- Three VAs Clean Data Before A Single Dial
- Three First To Market Niche Filters Worked Daily
- Loose Onboarding And Under-Corrected Bad Hires
- Team Swung From Large To Small To Solo
- Broad Marketing Across Every Niche At Once
- Mornings and evenings back with his family
- 8 person crew handles whole projects in sets of two
- 40+ properties across three portfolios in about six months
- Afraid to take on payroll and a crew
- The bottleneck on his own projects
- Software job eight to five, real estate five to midnight
- 55% Answer Rate On One-By-One Click To Call
- Free County Data Replaced Every Paid List
- $45K Fee Closed One Week After The Callback
- Podio, Slack, And Multiple VAs, No Traction
- 30,000-Record Lists Dialed Two Or Three Times Through
- At Least $40K Wasted On Lists And VAs
- Four Marketing Attempts on a Couple of Lists
- A Three-Person Team at About $1,800 Cost Per Contract
- Almost Two Years Nomadic Across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East
- Behind a Jacksonville Desk 95 Percent of the Time
After DataSift
- Achieved Data Clarity
- Consistent Deal Flow
- Inconsistent Deal Flow
- Poor Marketing Flow
- Little Data Clarity
- Relied On Google Sheets
- Consistent Deal Flow
- Data Clarity / Organization
- Wholesales, Flips And Does Retail
- Strong Marketing Flow
- Didn't Understand Data Management
- Strong Real Estate Agent
- Wanted To Break Into Wholesaling But Didn't Know How
- Healthy Scale
- Data Driven Decisions
- Consistent Deals
- Strong Marketing Flow
- Inconsistent
- Little Data Insight
- Unorganized Bulk Marketing
- Strategic Focus on Niches
- Enhanced Lead Flow and Certainty
- Streamlined Marketing Process
- Efficient Use of Data
- Direct Mail & Deep Prospecting
- Broad, Unfocused Strategy
- Inconsistency in Results
- Dependency on Luck
- Marketing Clarity
- 6 Figure Months
- High Deal Volume
- Strong Marketing Flow
- Proper Data Management
- Weak Marketing Flow
- Poor Data Management
- Lack of Focus
- Manual Efforts
- Successful Scale
- Total Data Clarity
- Clear Marketing Approach
- Large Deal Spreads
- Improper Data Management
- Poor Marketing Method
- Inconsistent Deal Flow
- Strong Marketing Flow
- Clear Data Management
- Clear Data Management
- Successful Scale
- Many ways to close deals
- Large deal spreads
- Poor data management
- Unable to scale properly
- Poor marketing flow
- Smaller Deal Spreads
- Increased Deal Volume
- Platform Utilization
- Realtor Collaboration
- Funding Efforts
- Lots Of Deals
- Data Driven Decisions
- Strong Marketing Flow
- Sales And Marketing Clarity
- Poor Data Management
- Poor Marketing Flow
- Relied On Bulk Marketing
- Lack of Clarity
- Automated Acquisition
- Strong Marketing Flow
- Data Driven Decisions
- Structured Follow-ups
- Increased Lead Generation
- Achieved Sales And Marketing Clarity
- Manual Acquisition Processes
- Ineffective Marketing Flow
- Minimal Lead Insights
- Poor Follow Up Flow
- Inconsistent Lead Generation
- Lacked Sales And Marketing Clarity
What changed
December 4, 2019, two months in. Their cold caller reached a Tulsa landlord on the tax delinquent and high equity two-stack, and the note was short: he would sell, he had more properties, he was ready to retire. David called back the same day. "He didn't know how many properties he had when I called him." A search of the seller's name on the county site pulled 31 records. They met in person and worked through the list one address at a time, the seller quoting every rent from memory. Two months of dialing had put a 30-house portfolio in front of two W2 construction managers.
The Results
The December 4 lead became one master contract: 30 properties at $725,000. They sold 29 as a single package for $800,000 and kept the last house. The assignment came to about $73,000 after costs, and Tyler rounds the fee to $75,000 on the call. The house they kept is 1,800 square feet, worth $170,000 to $180,000, renting at $900 with about $1,300 possible after turnover. Add it up and one cold call produced roughly $253,000 in cash and equity.
Four months in, the totals: about 12 contracts covering roughly 40 properties on about $10,000 of total spend, including a house bought for $2,500. They generated 347 leads, about 35 leads per deal, against the 60 Tyler calls typical. A $20,000 assignment from an absentee cold call was set to close the Tuesday after filming. Preston's read: "Literally the last four months have been the most extreme roller coaster I think David and I have ever been on."
It's not rocket science. All it literally is, just do it.
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Answers to some
commonly asked questions
Does DataSift work with my dialer?
Yes. Ready Mode, Smart Dialer, Call Tools, Smarter Contact, Aircall and Kixie connect directly. A wrong-number disposition in the dialer flips the phone status in DataSift in real time. A new-lead disposition fires the full Call New Lead sequence. Other dialers connect through CSV upload or Zapier.
I'm coming from Podio, REsimpli, or Go High Level. Why switch?
Every CRM needs someone to move leads where they belong. The difference is what catches the misses. Most CRMs hand you an empty box and tell you to build it. DataSift ships with the workflow assembled — boards, statuses, tasks, and 26+ automations already wired. You're not paying for a database. You're paying for the system that already runs your lead management.
I have too many leads. Don't I need drip campaigns for my warm and hot leads?
Drip campaigns are for ghosting leads and not-interested follow-up. Never for warm or hot. Warm and hot get a human call, every time, on a tempo set by when the seller will sign.
Won't I need to hire an acquisitions person to keep up?
Most operators give away 20% of their revenue solving an operational problem with a hire. A trained lead manager working the default build prevents that hire for a long time. Bring in an acquisitions specialist when your lead manager is buried in qualified follow-up that's converting — not before.
Will my team actually use this?
Your lead manager works six filters every day:
- Call New Leads
- Unqualified Overdue
- Unqualified Due Today
- Qualified Overdue
- Qualified Due Today
- Leads Missing Task
When all six are empty at end of day, the day is done. No guessing. No drowning. No leads sitting where they shouldn't.
What happens to leads we never reach?
"For every hundred ghostings, I could probably pull another two deals at minimum a year out of them. That could be worth a hundred grand to my company every year."
You don't lose leads. You stop spending your lead manager's day on the ones who aren't talking back.
How long does setup take?
Your account ships with the lead management default build already wired. Boards, statuses, tasks, automations — ready on day one. Add your team, import your data, and your lead manager can start working leads the same afternoon.
Can I customize it?
Yes, but don't. Not at first. Run the default for 60 days. Prove your team has the discipline. Then extend. Most operators who break their CRM do it in the first 30 days by trying to make it "smarter."
I'm running bulk SMS through another tool. Do I still need this?
Yes — and the two work better together. Your dialer or SMS tool handles the conversation. DataSift handles the data that survives the conversation. If your dialer ever gets flagged or shut down, every wrong number, correct number, and Not Interested response stays safe in DataSift.
Do I have to run Sequential Marketing?
No. DataSift works with any marketing approach. Sequential is the framework we teach because it's the one our top operators run, but you can use the platform for bulk-only, niche-only, drip-only, or any mix you already have working.
I want to do bulk marketing. I don't want to niche-prospect.
Run bulk. If you want the framework, Bulk Sequential is the one we teach — same flow as Niche Sequential, just at volume through power-dial integrations and bulk mail. If you already have a bulk approach that works, DataSift tracks the dispositions, the wrong numbers, the responses, and the rehash pool either way.
I'm a one-person operation. Is this overkill?
No. Niche Sequential runs at 150 to 200 new records a month. Small budget, small team, real results. Scale into Bulk when you're ready.
Will my team actually use this?
The marketing operator works a short set of filters every day: a needs-skip view, a ready-to-call view, the active touch cycles, a needs-mail view, deep prospecting, and rehash. Same loop every day. Nothing complicated.
What happens to records nobody ever reaches?
They don't disappear. After the call cycle is exhausted, records move to Deep Prospecting or back into a rehash cadence. The "every number wrong or dead" pool stays accessible for mail and door-knock campaigns. You don't lose records. You stop spending budget on the ones who aren't picking up.
Won't this take weeks to set up?
The default account ships with the four core Filter Preset folders, SiftLine boards, statuses, sequences, and task presets already wired. The Niche Sequential and Bulk Sequential workflows are recommended structures that go on top — typically added the same day you pull your first list.
How does a record get to me as an AQS?
The Lead Manager qualifies the lead, gathers motivation, and moves the card to "Send to Acquisitions" in the SiftLine board. The moment that card moves, a sequence fires: the Make Offer task is created, assigned to the AQS, and the card appears on the Acquisitions Board. The AQS doesn't set anything up. They open their Make Offer filter in the morning and it's already there.
For teams with multiple AQS people, tasks can be round-robin assigned so work distributes automatically across the team.
How many Acquisitions people do I need?
Fewer than you think. One dialed-in AQS inside DataSift can handle five or more offers a day. Before you hire a second AQS, hire a Lead Manager first — and make sure your first AQS is hitting their daily offer quota. The default build handles the prioritization, the follow-ups, and the handoffs. The person handles the conversation.
What if my AQS doesn't follow the system?
The Activity Log keeps everyone honest. Every offer, every follow-up, every call is stamped to the record. The Offer Follow-Up Overdue filter and No Tasks filter catch anything that fell through. The Lead Manager owns every lead — even while it's in AQS hands — and has every right to hold the AQS accountable for overdue tasks.
What's the offer follow-up cadence?
Make the offer on Day 0. Follow up Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, then Day 5. Call or text each time. If the seller needs more time, apply the task and change the due date — don't skip it. If there's no decision after one week, the contract expires and you restart the offer. Keep mailing the record until a contract is actually signed.
What does "Seller Considering" mean?
It's the offer status between "made" and "accepted or rejected." When a seller says they need time to think, update the offer to Considering and let the follow-up sequence run. It keeps the record visible in your Offer Follow-Up filter, tracks the offer against your KPIs, and makes sure no open offer sits without a next action.
How do we learn from rejected offers?
Tag rejected offers with "Review Rejected." At the end of every week, filter by that tag and do a call review with a team member. Once reviewed, swap the tag to "Reviewed Rejected." Over time you'll see patterns — objections you can handle differently, deal structures you're not using. Closing more deals starts with understanding why you're losing them.
Should I automate the offer follow-up tasks right away?
Not yet. Run the manual process first. Get consistent. The goal is to show up every day and do the work until it becomes second nature — then add the automation as a reward for the consistency, not a shortcut around it. One sequence worth adding early: auto-attach a Make Offer task when a card moves to the Make Offer phase. Everything else, do manually until you've built the habit.
What about the deals I lose — are they gone?
No. Rejected the offers recycle to Lead Management for nurture. No-decision records stay in the system with follow-up tasks.
Won't this take weeks to set up?
No. Your account ships with the Acquisitions Board, Task Presets, Sequences, and all eight Filter Presets already wired. Add your team, pull your first list from Lead Management, and you're making offers the same afternoon.
How does a deal get to dispositions?
The moment a contract is signed in Acquisitions, the record updates to Under Contract. That status change fires a sequence: the card moves to the Transactions Board, a Process Contract task is created and assigned to the Dispositions Coordinator, and the record is ready to route. The coordinator opens their task queue and it's already there.
What's the difference between the Transactions Board and the exit boards?
The Transactions Board is the hub — every contract lands there first. The coordinator reviews the deal, sets the exit type, and the card routes automatically. Wholesale, Flips, and Rentals each have their own phase columns and task presets built for that exit. The Transactions Board holds the Closed and Fell Through statuses — when a deal finishes, the card auto-removes from the active view.
What's the difference between the Wholesale, Flips, and Rentals boards?
Each board has its own phases and task presets. Wholesale moves through buyer activation, offer selection, and assignment. Flips move through scoping, rehab, and listing. Rentals move through scoping, tenant placement, and occupancy. Set the exit type and the card routes automatically.
How do I manage my buyers list?
Your buyers list is a pre-built list inside DataSift. Add buyers as records, tag them by buy box — market, price range, property type, cash or financed. When a wholesale deal is ready, filter by criteria, select the right buyers, and reach out directly from the record. Every conversation and offer logs on the deal.
How do I track profit across different exit types?
Every closed deal logs purchase price, total expenses, exit price or assignment fee, and net profit. Filter by exit type, month, or source list — no spreadsheet, no exporting. The data is on the record.
Can I run wholesale and flipping at the same time?
Yes. Both boards run independently inside the same account. Each has its own statuses, tasks, and sequences. One account, two pipelines, clean separation between them.
What happens to deals that fall through?
They update to Fell Through on the Transactions Board — the card auto-removes from the active view, a review task fires, and the record stays active. The seller is still in your account. Any future contact connects back to the original record. You never lose a deal. You sometimes lose the timing.
How do I know nothing is falling through the cracks?
Use the STAB-THEM check on every record: Status, Tasks, Assignee, Board, Messages. Run the Deals Missing Task filter daily — it surfaces every active deal without a next step. Every deal always has a status. Every status always has a next task.
How do I reverse engineer a closed deal?
Filter closed deals by source list, exit type, or marketing channel. Open any record and the full history is there — first marketing touch to closed exit. Days-to-close, profit, deal source, every step in between. That's your playbook for where to spend your next marketing dollar.
Won't this take weeks to set up?
No. Your account ships with all six SiftLine boards, task presets, sequences, and filter presets already wired. Learn the manual flow first — run deals step by step before leaning on automations. Once you understand each phase, the automations become something you earn. Most operators are running a live dispositions pipeline the same week they get in.
Is there a free trial?
Yes DataSift offers a 7 day free trial. In those 7 days you’ll receive all necessary materials to learn exactly how to leverage Sift in your company.
What does DataSift do?
DataSift helps real estate companies locate the best markets, execute targeted marketing, and identify the right sellers, buyers and buy boxes. Sift gives your team one place to manage leads, follow-ups, tasks, appointments, and KPIs to keep your operation tight.
How much does DataSift cost?
Our lowest plan starts at $149 a month and our highest plan is $1250 a month.
Will I have access to the support team?
Yes, all users have access to our support team through our support chat. We offer live calls, community calls, help center tutorials and a large investor community for widespread support.
Will new data automatically add to my Sift account?
Yes. Expert plan, AI plan and users with the SiftMap Pro add-on can opt to have records auto-added to their account based on their preferred criteria.
How do I migrate over my data from another CRM?
Contact our support team through our support chat and they will give you all necessary materials and information to make sure you get all of your data uploaded exactly how you want it.
How does the unlimited skiptracing work?
DataSift provides pay per skip pricing as well as a fixed $97 a month unlimited skiptracing add on. Unlimited skiptracing comes with the Expert and AI Plans automatically
What lists can I pull inside DataSift?
Free Lists
- Free and Clear
- High Equtiy
- Low Equity
- Negative Equity
- Owner Occupied
- Absentee
- Pre-Foreclosure
- Foreclosure
SiftMap Pro Lists
- Pre-Foreclosures - Notice of Default
- Pre-Foreclosures - Lis Pendens
- Pre-Foreclosures - Notice of Foreclosure
- Pre-Foreclosures - Final Judgement
- Pre-Foreclosures - Court Order
- State Tax Lien
- Federal Lien
- Liens (Mechanic's, Utility)
- Judgment Liens
- HOA Liens
- Bad Credit
- Estate Sales
- Probate Properties
- Criminal Felony
- Senior Homeowners
- Divorce Properties
- Eviction
- Vacant Properties
- Pre-Probate
- Low Income
- Bankruptcy Properties
- Inheritance Properties
- Tax Delinquent Properties
- Short Term Loan
What is DataSifts default account?
When you create a new DataSift account (or enable the default build if you're an existing user), you'll have:
- Pre-built SiftLine Boards
- Default Lists, Tags, and Phone Tags for easy organization
- Pre-set Property Statuses and Contact Statuses
- Task Presets for Lead Management, Acquisitions, and Transactions.
- Saved Filter Presets to quickly filter for tasks.
- Ready-to-go Sequences (Automations) for smooth daily workflows
How does DataSift work for Commercial Real Estate & Land?
Yes! You can manage any prospect with an address in DataSift. No street address for vacant land? No worries. Upload using the APN/Parcel ID as street address. Then it’s a matter of skiptracing and running a marketing campaign in Sift.
