Two free leads to prove I'm worth paying, or nothing moves until something is signed

I buy these, so here's how it actually works. When I ask a new bird dog for a couple free, part of it is that I don't want to paper up with someone whose first two leads are going to be a house with a for sale sign already in the yard. That happens constantly. The other part is that free leads are free.

So I'd say send one, not two, and send the best one you have.

In five years of running a service business I've never once given away the deliverable to prove I could produce the deliverable. Show your process, show a sample sheet with the address blacked out, show your photos. That's a portfolio. Handing over a live address is doing the job.

thatch, what's on the sample sheet if the address is out? I'm trying to build the same thing and I can't work out what's left that's convincing. Photos of a roof with no location attached could be anywhere.

Trades version of this: I'll drive out and quote for free all day. I won't rewire a room for free to show you I can rewire a room. The estimate is the sample. The work is the work.

The thing to understand about the free lead is that the address itself is very hard to protect. You are not selling something exclusive by nature, you are selling being first and being organized. Any registration or protection language in an agreement is only as good as the specific wording, and whether it does anything in your state is a question for an attorney there, not for this thread.

What I'd actually look at in the one page the second investor sent you is how it defines when a fee is earned. If it says on closing of a property you introduced, ask what introduced means and what happens if he buys it from a wholesaler nine months later. That clause is where the money lives.

Coming from nothing, my worry is that nobody signs anything with a person who has never delivered a lead. Is that real or is that just my head? solder's estimate analogy makes sense but an estimate has a price list behind it and I don't have one yet.

ember, it's partly real. I'd send one with photos, a rough condition read, and the owner situation as far as public record shows it, and hold the other four. If he calls back about the one, you've learned he responds. If he doesn't, you've spent one lead.

Nobody's costed the free lead. Mine ran about $14 in skip trace credits plus 40 minutes of driving plus the writeup. Call it $30 to $40 all in. Two of those is a tank of gas I don't get back. That's small enough that I'd send one and big enough that I wouldn't send six.

I'd want the paper. Not because I distrust anyone, I just don't want to be reconstructing a verbal conversation from March in November.

fathom's question is the one I'd chase first. What does the friendly investor say happens if he passes on your lead and then buys the same house later through another channel? If his answer is vague, that's your answer about him. If his answer is specific and reasonable, the free sample matters less than you think.

What actually goes in a fee agreement like that? I've never seen one. Is it a page, is it ten?

rigging, the ones I get are usually a page. Parties, what counts as a lead, how the fee is calculated, when it's paid, how long the introduction stays yours.

beacon, from my side: I ignore agreements from people I've never worked with, not out of malice, I just get four a month from people who then never send anything. Send me three good leads in three weeks and I'll sign whatever's reasonable. Reliability buys the paper, the paper doesn't buy reliability.

Worth treating the free leads as your own research spend. You find out fast whether the investor actually responds, actually closes, and actually tells you the truth about why he passed. That last one is the part I'd pay for.

One page, signed, small per-lead fee, no drama. That's the version I'd want if I were on either side of it.

Land is a different animal here and it breaks the free sample idea entirely. My timelines run a year plus from first contact to a closing. A free lead with a fee only on close means I've worked for nothing for twelve months and then argue about attribution. If you ever serve land buyers, get paid per qualified lead or don't do it.

Ask the second investor what fraction of leads he takes to contract. If he says he doesn't track it, that tells you what his agreement is worth. If he says one in twelve, you now know what a lead is worth to him and you can price against it instead of guessing.

On the agreement, look at whether the fee survives termination for leads already submitted, and how long the introduction period runs. Thirty days is common and thin. Whether any of it holds up is state specific and an attorney question.

What worked for us with new clients was a paid pilot. Five leads at roughly half our normal per-lead rate, agreement signed, both sides out after five with no hard feelings. He risks a small number, we don't work free, and everyone finds out in three weeks instead of three months. Free samples got us nothing but tire wear.

One flag before you take any fee, beacon. Whether being paid for finding property crosses into licensed activity depends on your state's statute and how it treats compensation for bringing parties together. Mine reads narrower than I expected. Get it checked locally before the first invoice, not after.

The free lead is a screen running in both directions. You're finding out if he actually closes. He's finding out if you can tell a distressed house from an ugly one. Just make sure you're paying attention to your half of it, most people only notice they were being tested.

keystone and quarry are saying the same thing from the buy side and I'd take it seriously. Consistency over six weeks does more for your rate than any document you sign in week one. cobalt's paid pilot is how I'd bridge it, though.