What does it actually cost to be the GP before any money comes in?

The line missing from your list is the cost of the raise not closing on time. I've watched a deal where the sponsor had the equity soft-circled and half of it came in eleven days after the extension expired, and the extension itself cost real money. Soft circles are not commitments. My rough rule from watching, not doing: assume 60 to 70% of soft-circled dollars actually wire, and size the raise as if that's true.

That also answers your last question. Having a list doesn't lower the dead deal risk much, it lowers the timing risk a little.

You priced the deal cost and not the year, and after five years running a service business that's the thing I'd flag. You will not be doing much else for six to nine months. If your income depends on you working, add that to the $75k, because that's the real number and it's the one that bankrupts people rather than the appraisal fee.

I'd do it on someone else's deal first, though I'd want a real role. An introduction fee isn't enough.

Newer than everyone here so mostly asking. If the deal closes, does the acquisition fee pay you back the $75k, or is that separate money?

rigging, the mechanics are two different things. Reimbursement of actual out of pocket deal costs is usually a specified item in the operating agreement, paid at closing from the raise, and it covers documented third party expenses like reports, legal, and lender fees. The acquisition fee is compensation to the GP for the work of sourcing and closing. If your documents let you take both, the reimbursement returns the $75k and the fee is separate. If they don't say so, or the reimbursement is capped, the fee absorbs the difference. What the documents permit here, and how the offering is structured, is work for securities counsel, and reimbursement language is where first-time sponsors most often find they promised something they didn't intend.

tally, the number your split turns on is the probability the deal closes at all, and for a first-time sponsor with no closed transactions the honest input is low. Sellers and brokers discount unproven buyers, lenders ask more questions, and equity moves slowly for someone with no realized record. If you assign a 40% close probability, your expected dead deal cost across attempts is not $75k, it's $75k divided by your hit rate, so two or three attempts before one closes. That's the arithmetic that pushes people toward a co-GP structure on the first one.

meridian's point about soft circles is the other input. A soft circle is an expression of interest, and the gap between interest and a wire is where deals fail, particularly when the raise period runs into a rate move or a bad headline in the asset class. Build the timeline with an extension cost you can actually pay, and confirm the extension terms in writing with the lender and the seller rather than assuming the market norm applies to your contract.