Leads from motivated seller site I built — Referral Structuring Advice
Hey BP community — long time reader, first time posting. Would love some input from people who've been in the wholesale or cash buyer space for a while.
Background:
I'm an entrepreneur based in Atlanta, GA. A few months ago I built a lead generation website targeting motivated sellers in Metro Atlanta. The site is ranking for competitive keywords and a handful of suburb-specific terms across Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, and Gwinnett County.
I built it as a long-term asset with the intent of either wholesaling leads or partnering with established cash buyers in the Atlanta market. I wasn't expecting traction this quickly but I've already received several form submissions from property owners looking to sell.
What the leads look like:
Sellers are coming in through an intake form that captures name, phone, property address, and situation — inherited property, foreclosure, divorce, tired landlord, as-is, back taxes. So leads are pre-qualified to some degree before I pass them anywhere.
Where I am now:
I don't have the bandwidth to work these deals myself — walkthroughs, offers, negotiations. My goal is to partner with one or two serious cash buyers or wholesalers in Atlanta who can handle the heavy lifting, and work out a referral fee arrangement on the back end for any deals that close.
I have a friend who wholesales full time in another state who's walking me through contracts and deal structure, but I'd love additional perspectives from people who've been on both sides of this kind of arrangement in Georgia.
My specific questions:
- What's a fair referral fee structure for a lead that closes — flat fee, percentage of spread, or something else? What have you seen work well long term?
- What should my referral agreement include at minimum to protect myself — specifically around exclusivity windows and getting paid at closing?
- For cash buyers reading this — what makes a referral source worth working with consistently? What do you wish lead gen people did better?
- Any Georgia-specific considerations around referral fees and wholesale assignments I should be aware of before my first deal closes?
- What would you do differently in my position — lead gen site running, leads coming in, no buyers list yet?
Happy to share more about the site, the lead volume, or the market data if it's helpful. Mostly just looking to learn from people who've already figured this out.
Thanks in advance.
— Danielle