Complete control of his motivated seller marketing
Complete control over his marketing pipeline with $100K+ deal spreads through systematic DataSift filters.
About
Gerald views DataSift as the cornerstone of his real estate business in Northern California, focusing on pre-foreclosure and probate markets. His journey with DataSift began with the First to Market (FTM) Challenge and the Sift Challenge, which fundamentally transformed his approach to real estate investing.
Operating market
Operating in California.
Favorite features
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The Challenge
Before the first to market challenge, Gerald ran bulk marketing across his Northern California counties. He calls it the throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks method. His spend was inconsistent because he was not tracking KPIs properly. Every month came down to one question: where is the next deal coming from, and what list gets him in front of that seller.
Direct mail made it worse. He was mailing code violations, inheritance lists, and evictions on top of his core niches. He could see the second, third, and fourth rehash piling up into a bill. Skip tracing ran through outside tools, Deal Machine among them. When he posted his KPIs in the community, Tyler flagged that his dials to correct numbers were way off. The data lived everywhere except one place he controlled.
What They Built
Five to ten county records a day, filtered to the T
Gerald pulls probate and pre-foreclosure filings daily across San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Solano, Contra Costa, and Sacramento counties. Every record gets tagged first to market on upload. Filter presets from the challenge run the whole flow: data in, clean, prepare, market, update the CRM. If a county portal cannot surface first to market data, he skips that county.
I have complete control of the marketing campaign.
Mail first, then the niche sequential flow
Direct mail goes out before the calling sequence even starts. Verified numbers enter the niche sequential prospecting flow on the dialer. Everything else keeps getting rehashed toward the six month mark. Verified probate sellers get a follow up task every 30 days instead of a quarterly touch. Records with an offer, or marked not interested or sold, never get mailed again.
One skip trace instead of two
He used to pay for a second skip trace location on every dead record. Then he checked the numbers inside the platform.
We found that at least 90% of our correct phone numbers had come from REI SIFT.
Now the second location only runs on records that surface in his deep prospecting presets. That is two to three records a day, not the whole database.
A deep prospecting pool he can actually finish
Every morning he opens presets like exhausted vacant, return mail, and skip twice no numbers. That surfaces three to five owners a week nobody else is contacting. Partners Joe and Darren work the leads on their own boards, and the leads round robin back as an extra revenue stream, mostly wholesale deals.
Before and After
Before 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
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
Revelation Through Challenges: Participation in the FTM and Sift challenges was a game-changer, providing a clear roadmap to success.
Shift From Hope to Strategy: Moved from hoping for leads to strategically generating them, eliminating dependence on chance for business growth.
The Results
Five to ten first to market records a day compounds to roughly 150 to 300 fresh niche records a month. Deep prospecting adds three to five untouched owners a week on top. That pipeline feeds a seven figure motivated seller business with consistent $100K+ deal spreads.
The before and after is control. Before: inconsistent spend, untracked KPIs, and mail costs piling up across five list types. After: one niche, one hub, and the ability to pull, pause, or ramp any campaign the day the numbers say so. Weekly deal flow is now repeatable instead of lucky.
With this, this has been the biggest piece of my business that I have most total control of.
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