Five missing heirs found to close one Houston probate deal
Went beyond the transaction to advocate for her client, proving relationships drive repeat business.
About
Leslie Luna is a Houston wholesaler and flipper who spent 10 years as an ICU nurse. She and her husband started with a house hacked duplex in 2017, and she began wholesaling in 2019. A DataSift user since 2021, she specializes in probate deals that demand deep heir research.
Operating market
Houston, TX
Favorite features
The Challenge
Leslie Luna spent 10 years as an ICU nurse before real estate. She and her husband house hacked a duplex in 2017, and she started wholesaling in 2019. By 2020 he had quit his W-2 so they could flip houses together. She had been a DataSift user since 2021, but admits she was not using it for what it could be. That changed when she watched a user interview with Josh Wagner and copied his list stack: deceased plus tax delinquent.
One property stood out near a flip they were running. The house sat untouched, matching its Google Maps image from two years earlier, and the county appraisal record signaled the owner had died. Then the trail collapsed. The owner's only son had died back in 1997. Her birth certificate listed a father by initials only, the way records worked back then. Obituaries hid women behind married names. None of it was digitized, and no living heir appeared anywhere on paper.
What They Built
Turning a death record into a family tree
Texas birth certificates go public after 50 years, so Leslie pulled the owner's from the county. The father's initials sent her to a courthouse two hours away, flipping through paper records for hours until she found the parents' marriage certificate and his real name.
I was literally like Erin Brockovich in there taking pictures.
Bringing in a specialist instead of guessing
In over her head on her first deep heir search, she called Stephanie and they split the digging. They combed old newspapers where women appeared only by married names and initials. The mother's obituary finally cracked it: two half siblings, leading to a living nephew in his seventies and four great nephews.
Contacting heirs nobody could find
One great nephew in Austin ignored every channel. She found his house from a Facebook photo with a Google image search, then tried the pizza method. He refused the pizza, so she sent Crumbl cookies with a note listing his brothers' names. He called right away.
I added him on cash app, I try to send him a message, I was trying to email him, I literally did everything.
The adopted-out heir signed over through her title company. For the heir jailed before sentencing, she used a visitation app to get a notary onto his visitor list.
Advocating past the closing table
Inside the house everything sat untouched, down to the pillow and phone by the owner's chair. Nobody knew where the woman was. Leslie's nursing instincts read the broken door as first responders. She called the county examiner's office, then the funeral home, and found the owner cremated and unclaimed on a shelf for two years.
Before and After
Before DataSift
- Difficult Team Management
- Reactive Marketing
- Ineffective Marketing Flow
- Empowered Data Management
- First to Market Strategy
- Automated Processes
- Strategic Focus
- Improved Lead Prioritization
- Enhanced Data Tracking
- Low Level CRM
- Successful But Hitting a Wall
- Missed Opportunities
- Poor Data Management
- Data Driven Decisions
- Full Data Clarity
- Consistent Deal Flow
- Strong Marketing Flow
- Lacked Marketing Clarity
- Difficult Marketing Flow
- Inconsistent Deal Flow
- Strong Lead Management Flow
- Strong Marketing Flow
- 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
- Difficult Team Management
- Reactive Marketing
- Ineffective Marketing Flow
- Empowered Data Management
- First to Market Strategy
- Automated Processes
- Strategic Focus
- Improved Lead Prioritization
- Enhanced Data Tracking
- Low Level CRM
- Successful But Hitting a Wall
- Missed Opportunities
- Poor Data Management
- Data Driven Decisions
- Full Data Clarity
- Consistent Deal Flow
- Strong Marketing Flow
- Lacked Marketing Clarity
- Difficult Marketing Flow
- Inconsistent Deal Flow
- Strong Lead Management Flow
- Strong Marketing Flow
- 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
The moment was not at closing. It was at the cemetery, standing with a worker over a $350 opening beside the son's grave, holding ashes no relative had claimed in two years. Her husband got caught at work, so she went alone. The worker asked if she wanted to say a few words. She told the woman she had tried to respect her things, then watched her buried with her son at last.
Even if I only made five dollars on that deal, as long as I was able to put her where she was, like, that's all that mattered.
The Results
The deal closed with five heirs signed: a nephew in his seventies and four great nephews spread across Texas, one of them adopted out at 16. The heirship research took Leslie and Stephanie two to three months. The jailed heir stretched closing out to many months more. She never names her fee on this deal, and that is deliberate. Her own line is that five dollars would have been enough.
What the deal actually paid was capability. It was the most in-depth investigative work she has done on a deal, and it trained her to run heir research on her own. She has not needed outside help on a deal since. And the seller came home. Leslie claimed the ashes, paid $350 for the opening and closing, and buried her with her son, under the double headstone that already carried her name.
I would not be able to even be here without REI SIFT. I mean truly like it been so life changing.
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