Using AI and Data to Eliminate Cold Calling and Find Better Real Estate Leads
Show summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Michelle Kesil interviews Adam Christoph, founder of Triage Data, about innovative lead generation strategies for real estate agents. Adam discusses how his company utilizes unique data sets and AI to help agents target potential home sellers before they face foreclosure. The conversation covers the lead generation process, client feedback, and the importance of specific data points in making informed decisions. Adam also shares insights on scaling the business and the integration of AI in their operations, concluding with contact information for interested agents.
Key takeaways
- Triage Data targets single-family homeowners roughly six months before the foreclosure cliff by cross-referencing public records (tax delinquency lists, liens) with private data like late mortgage payments, high-interest loans, and credit card debt outside the scope of income.
- An AI model trained by the founder scored about 50,000 leads from US Data Corp in roughly two minutes, ranking them by how many risk identifiers each lead matched so the best prospects appear at the top.
- The business started as a freelance gig building a web scraper for a family member's tax delinquency direct mail list, then grew into a contract with US Data Corp for more specific leads.
- Clients pick about five zip codes per county and Triage Data builds a custom lead system; setup typically takes a few weeks depending on the market.
- Triage Data will work exclusively with one agent or broker per county to avoid multiple clients competing over the same leads.
- The company can also score an agent's existing lead list against its database instead of selling a fresh list, cutting outreach from calling 100 people down to around 5.
- Pricing is positioned as competitive, service is month-to-month unless a different contract is signed, and the business (started around September) has expanded from Florida into Tennessee/Nashville with conversations happening in Chicago and Texas, with a goal of becoming a thriving business and targeting around seven deals by year end.
About the guest
Adam Christoph is the founder of Triage Data (also referenced as 5th Column Solutions), a company that helps real estate agents and house flippers find pre-foreclosure sellers using proprietary data sets and AI-based lead scoring. He has a background in sales and data, and started the business after building a web scraper to pull tax delinquency lists for a family member in real estate. The company is based in Florida and launched around September, later expanding into Tennessee.
Listen to the audio
“We got like 50,000 leads from US data the other day. It was able to do that in about like two minutes. So it's a lot faster than, you know, I can do it.”
Adam Christoph
“It's not even sales anymore, it's just order taking.”
Adam Christoph
“Instead of calling, you know, 100 people, now you only have to deal with five people, right? It's just a matter of saving time to be more productive and not have to hire out labor.”
Adam Christoph
Questions answered in this episode
What data points does Triage Data use to find pre-foreclosure leads?
They combine public records like tax delinquency lists and liens with private indicators such as late mortgage payments, high-interest loans, credit card debt outside the scope of income, and whether someone moved in the last five years or post-COVID.
How does the AI lead scoring system work?
Adam trained the AI himself by giving it prompts for the specific data points to look for. It scans data (such as 50,000 leads from US Data Corp in about two minutes), checks for key risk attributes, and ranks leads so the ones matching the most identifiers appear at the top.
How much does it cost and what's the contract structure?
The episode doesn't give exact pricing, but Adam says they are competitive compared to other platforms, work month-to-month unless a client signs a different contract, and will build a custom lead system based on five zip codes per county, taking a few weeks to set up.
Which markets does Triage Data currently serve?
They are based in and most active in Florida, recently expanded into Tennessee (Nashville), and are in conversations with people in Chicago. Adam says they're open to working anywhere regulations permit.
What regulatory issues should agents know about before using this service?
Adam notes he is not a licensed data broker, so he can't sell raw leads outright and is working on resolving that. He advises agents to know their state's regulations, since rules vary by state (Florida is relaxed, for example), and says going through a third party like Triage Data can help with liability when dealing with information like late mortgage payments.
How many clients can use the service in the same area?
Triage Data only works with one broker or agent per county so clients aren't competing against each other for the same leads, which Adam says keeps it fair.
Resources and links
Full transcript
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (00:00)
I trained the AI ⁓ myself. It’s ⁓ just a matter of fine tuning it and sending it over the information. So I just gave it the prompt for the data points we were looking for and then had it do that on. We got like 50,000 leads from US data the other day.
It was able to do that in about like two minutes. So it’s a lot faster than, you know, I can do it. And then it was spot on with its, you know, picking out these identifiers. So, and that’s how the lead scoring set up is. It goes for these ⁓ certain, you know, key attributes that, and if it takes off enough of them, then it pulls that as a potential and then it kind of ranks them all. So the good ones are at the top.
Michelle Kesil (02:28)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil, and today I’m joined by someone that I’m looking forward to chatting with, Adam Christoph who is the founder of Triage Data, helping gather leads and data for real estate agents. So, excited to have you here today, Adam.
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (02:46)
Thank you. Excited to be here. Happy holidays to everybody.
Michelle Kesil (02:48)
Yeah, absolutely.
Happy holidays. I the listeners are going to take something away from how you’re approaching helping people save time with their real estate process so we can dive in.
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (03:03)
Right. Yeah. And like, like I was just saying, it’s all about saving time, right? Coming from the sales market, it’s, ⁓ it’s always a bummer to waste, you know, a couple of days, not months prospecting, just to not get anywhere with it. you know, these, with these data points, elites sell themselves. That’s pretty impressive.
Michelle Kesil (03:26)
Yeah, so just first off for those who are not yet familiar with you and your work, can you share what your main focus here is?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (03:36)
Yeah, we target mostly single family homes and we work with unique and direct data sets ⁓ with the biggest data brokers in the country as a way to target ⁓ homes pre-market that are six months before the foreclosure cliff. So we’re able to help families out and get them some liquidity before all hell breaks loose.
Michelle Kesil (04:07)
Awesome, and how did you get started with this?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (04:10)
Yeah, just, ⁓ you know, having a background in sales and data and, ⁓ you know, family members who are in the real estate market. It, ⁓ came about as a, ⁓ initially a freelance gig where, ⁓ family member was, ⁓ trying to get, ⁓ the tax delinquency list from where they live to us and direct mailers out and, ⁓ built a web scraper to get that data and, ⁓ kind of snowballed from there.
Just got a contract with US Data Corp and was able to get a lot more specific leads.
Michelle Kesil (04:50)
Cool. And can you expand a bit on what this lead generation process looks like?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (04:59)
Yeah, of course.
And so we have a lead scoring system that goes over certain identifiers like late mortgage payments, high interest loans, credit card debt that’s outside of the scope of their income. And then we cross-reference that with public data. So tax delinquency lists, liens. If they’ve moved in the last five years, it’s usually an indicator.
post-COVID, that’s usually an indicator as well. ⁓ And then we just, using this AI, it’s able to do a lot more research than we can. And it pulls these leads out and they’re, again, it’s very impressive ⁓ how it works out. it’s not even sales anymore, it’s just order taking.
Michelle Kesil (06:45)
And how exactly is this working with the agents? How are they utilizing this?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (06:52)
Yeah, you know, they retain us, we get them the leads, we’ll build out the system for whatever market they’re looking for. ⁓ And then, you know, that usually takes a few weeks, depending on what they’re looking for. And then the leads come to them and, you know, they handle it the way they want to handle it. But for the most part, I think it’s just they send out a direct mailer and they reach out with a phone call as well. That way you’re
infos there even if they don’t want have the talk now they might want to in three months.
Michelle Kesil (07:27)
Awesome. And is this nationwide in certain markets?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (07:32)
Yeah, well, you know, I’m down in sunny Florida right now. And this is, you know, a lot where the business that we’ve started here. So we have a lot more ⁓ of leg here, but we are we just expanded into Tennessee. And we do have some we’re talking to some people in Chicago. So we’re open to working anywhere as long as the regulation permits.
Michelle Kesil (07:56)
And what are the regulations? Are there specific ones?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (07:59)
Well, it’s
yeah, no, it’s ⁓ mostly because I’m not a data broker. So it’s, you know, I can’t just sell the leads point blank and I’m working on getting that figured out right now where we can. But, you know, so we, it depends on the state. There’s all sorts of state regulations, but Florida doesn’t have any like, like always, you know, they’re pretty relaxed when it comes to business. So yeah.
is in Texas.
Michelle Kesil (08:30)
Awesome. Can you share more about how specifically this works? Like how the agent utilizes this? What are the systems? What are the steps?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (08:32)
Awesome.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we’ll come in, you know, let’s say you pick five zip codes, ⁓ you know, per county. ⁓ We’ll take over and build out a lead system for you that’ll take up all the public data in that area. And then we’ll actually bring our own lead list as well that will go over and ⁓ see which ones match up that way. Or we can go through and score your own leads that if you have.
You know, if you spent money on them and you have your own system, we can go through it also and see which ones match our database. And then instead of calling, you know, 100 people, now you only have to deal with five people, right? It’s just a matter of saving time to be more productive and not have to hire out labor.
Michelle Kesil (09:34)
Yeah, amazing. And what are some of the main keys that have made the biggest difference in the creation of this process?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (10:20)
Yeah, you know, ⁓ just having access to these very specific data points has been, you know, a game changer for us at the first we were just dealing with public lists, you know, tax delinquencies and liens and, you know, some people can, you know, miss a payment or two or just not care. But when you have that coupled with late mortgage payments and, you know, these high interest loans, it’s it paints a pretty obvious picture that, you know,
things are about this by relative control. So to be able to offer a ⁓ lending hand and not have to deal with the city lists and wait for the auction and all that, it just, you know, saves a lot of time.
Michelle Kesil (11:03)
Awesome.
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (11:05)
Awesome.
Michelle Kesil (11:08)
And what are like some of the biggest opportunities with this tool?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (11:12)
Biggest opportunities, I’d say, ⁓ well, if you can get five deals a day, that’s quite a bit of revenue getting turned up. ⁓ It’s just you can flip as many houses as you can afford. But ⁓ I guess somebody’s doing something. It’s just really loud right here. Yeah. ⁓
Yeah, I’d say it’s just a matter of having enough revenue to be able to get this, you know, to be able to buy as many houses as you have now the time for, as opposed to waiting before and fishing. It’s just a matter of ⁓ deciding which ones you want to, ⁓ like if you want to go with lower income houses or higher.
Michelle Kesil (12:02)
Yeah. And are people already using this? What is their feedback?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (12:10)
Yeah, we’ve got ⁓ a couple of clients right now, mostly just real estate agents and, you know, one or two house slippers. But they’re they’re having a lot of success with it. ⁓ The way we’ve set it up is we’re only going to work with one broker like per county or one person per county. So that way we’re not having people, you know, fight to the death over these leads. And yeah, that way it makes it a little more fair. So.
or like I said, for the most part, we’re in ⁓ Florida right now, but we are branching out and ⁓ just got into Nashville. So that’s cool.
Michelle Kesil (12:54)
Yeah.
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (12:54)
And
when they we go month to month unless you sign a different kind of contract. But for the most part, it’s month to month. So if ⁓ anybody wants natural, ⁓ just let us know. Could open up.
Michelle Kesil (13:11)
What makes this different from other platforms?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (13:15)
Well, ⁓ it’s it’s ⁓ as far as other platforms go, where I think we’re a little bit more competitive with pricing. ⁓ And again, we’re able to ⁓ target specifically for single family housing. So as opposed to, ⁓ you know, just a lead list of all the houses in the area, we’re getting very specific with it. So if you want to get, you know, a certain area, neighborhood or.
you know, type of home, we can target those specifically for you. Yeah, a little more specific.
Michelle Kesil (13:56)
So what are you most focusing on scaling with this?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (14:00)
⁓ Most focused on just getting the name out there, know, talking to as many people as we can and letting people know that they can ⁓ retain us and we’ll put our money where our mouth is if ⁓ we need to and, ⁓ you know, work something out where we only do a down payment or whatever. ⁓ Just to prove that these are as specific as we say.
Yeah, just a matter of getting the name out there and letting people know what we got.
Michelle Kesil (14:36)
Any goals for where you want this to go?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (14:40)
We’d like to have this off the ground this year. That’d be ideal. We just started this back in September. So it’s not that old of a business, obviously. We just started getting the deals worked out with the data brokers and starting to get coming out of the stealth mode now that we have the system in place and the AI is all trained and everything. So I’d say goals would be have a thriving business, try to do like seven.
by the end of the year would be ideal.
Michelle Kesil (15:52)
Is there anything that people need to know before wanting to use this?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (16:00)
I’d say that, you know, know the regulations in the area. ⁓ You know, it always helps to know if you’re not supposed to ⁓ have certain kinds of information to go through a third party like us. ⁓ You know, that saves you some of the headache as opposed to, you know, reaching out specifically for late mortgage payment. Houses, you know, getting a lead system bill for you.
kind of helps with liability.
Michelle Kesil (16:37)
And you mentioned this is with AI. Can you expand?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (16:40)
Yeah,
I trained the AI ⁓ myself. It’s ⁓ just a matter of fine tuning it and sending it over the information. So I just gave it the prompt for the data points we were looking for and then had it do that on. We got like 50,000 leads from US data the other day.
It was able to do that in about like two minutes. So it’s a lot faster than, you know, I can do it. And then it was spot on with its, you know, picking out these identifiers. So, and that’s how the lead scoring set up is. It goes for these ⁓ certain, you know, key attributes that, and if it takes off enough of them, then it pulls that as a potential and then it kind of ranks them all. So the good ones are at the top.
And those are the ones we’ve been talking about. Let’s sell themselves.
Michelle Kesil (17:44)
Are there any risks?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (17:45)
Yeah.
You know, just I guess not being, ⁓ you know, fast enough. ⁓ You know, sometimes people get the itch or they, you know, realize that they need to get rid of their house and then they just sell it to the first person that they know who can facilitate that. So if the leads on the list, contact it right away. So no, no real risk other than.
timing.
Michelle Kesil (18:18)
can.
Is there anything else you feel that’s important to share about this?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (18:24)
⁓ I’d say, no, it’s, ⁓ it’s definitely, it’s definitely a good, a good thing. I wouldn’t know what else to say other than, ⁓ you know, I, I definitely didn’t, didn’t think we’d have that much fun as we did yesterday. So I’m not, ⁓ at a hundred percent, ⁓ you know, in the right head space for this, but, ⁓ yeah.
You know, it’s a good thing. Reach out to us. I think I gave you guys my contact.
Michelle Kesil (19:01)
Cool, yeah, so do you want to share what your contact is so people can connect with you?
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (19:06)
Yeah, a good way to reach us, I got the booking tools, fifth column, dot solutions. It’s 5th column and then dot solutions. That’ll bring you to our landing page that has the booking place. It’s got our newsletter, ⁓ all sorts of info for us and little projects we got going on, some case studies in there too.
Michelle Kesil (19:31)
Well, appreciate your time, your perspective. Thank you for being here.
Adam 5thColumn.Solutions (19:37)
Thank you. Have a great day. Appreciate your time.
Michelle Kesil (19:39)
Yeah,
and for those tuning into the show, if you got value, make sure you’ve subscribed. We’ve got more conversations coming with operators who are building real businesses, and we’ll see you on the next episode.
