Real estate leads: prices, referral fees and the rules

Most verticals price a lead once, when it is delivered. Residential property is different. The big consumer portals sell agents a place in front of house hunters in a ZIP code and charge per contact, but they also run programmes where the agent pays nothing up front and hands over a percentage of the commission when the deal closes. Independent lead sellers copy both models, and agents also pay each other referral fees. Which model you use decides who you can sell to and whether you need a licence.

• Pay per lead: the agent buys contacts (often by ZIP code) and keeps the whole commission if one closes.
• Pay at closing: no cost until settlement, then a referral fee taken from the agent's side of the commission.
• Seller leads: homeowners asking for a valuation or listing help, usually priced higher than buyer enquiries in the portals' own schedules.
• Investor leads: owners of distressed or inherited property sold to cash buyers and wholesalers, typically as data lists rather than live enquiries.

The spread is wide because the products are not the same thing. A $20 contact from a quiet ZIP code and a 40% share of a closed commission are both called real estate leads, but one is a marketing expense and the other is a cut of a licensed transaction.

State real estate licence laws generally limit who may be paid a share of a commission, and many restrict referral fees to licensed people. Before you agree any pay-at-closing arrangement, read your state commission's rules or ask a lawyer. Selling contacts at a flat price that doesn't depend on whether anything closes is a different arrangement, but it should still be checked.

Federal law adds RESPA Section 8. Regulation X forbids giving or accepting any fee, kickback or thing of value for referring settlement service business on a federally related mortgage. It carves out cooperative brokerage and referral arrangements between real estate agents and brokers, but that carve-out does not extend to mortgage brokers. In 2023 the CFPB also warned online comparison platforms that payments for steering consumers to particular lenders can break Section 8, and that referrals are not a compensable service. If your buyer list includes lenders, title companies or insurers, get advice first.

From 17 August 2024, under the National Association of Realtors settlement, agents working with buyers must sign a written agreement with them before touring a home, and offers of compensation to buyer agents can no longer be made on the MLS. For anyone selling buyer enquiries, that means the agent now has to talk about their own pay earlier in the relationship. Ask the agents you sell to how it has affected their conversion before you price a new batch.

• Telephone solicitations to numbers on the national do-not-call registry are barred unless an exception applies, and calls must fall between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time.
• The FCC's December 2023 order applied do-not-call protection to marketing texts too, so texting a registered mobile needs the consumer's prior express invitation or permission.
• Autodialled or prerecorded marketing calls need prior express written consent that names the seller. The FCC's stricter one-to-one consent rule was vacated by the Eleventh Circuit in January 2025, but the written consent requirement itself still stands.

• Expired or for-sale-by-owner lists presented as people who asked to be contacted.
• No timestamp, page URL or consent wording attached to each enquiry.
• A seller who won't say how many agents receive the same contact.
• Referral agreements that pay you a commission share when you hold no licence.

We don't sell real estate leads and hold no inventory. DataBroker is a paid course with software tools for people who want to broker data and lead deals: finding a source, checking consent and licensing questions, pricing a batch and putting the agreement in writing. If you are an agent looking to buy leads, the portals and providers named above are where to look.

• How Much Are Zillow Leads (And Are They Worth the Cost)?, Clever Real Estate — https://listwithclever.com/real-estate-blog/how-much-are-zillow-leads/ (checked 2026-11-07)
• Zillow Flex Fee Rises to 40 Percent, Mike DelPrete — https://www.mikedp.com/articles/2023/10/12/zillow-flex-fee-rises-to-40-percent (checked 2026-11-07)
• Google Ads Average Cost per Conversion in 2025 Benchmarks, Focus Digital — https://focus-digital.co/google-ads-average-cost-per-conversion/ (checked 2026-11-07)
• 12 CFR § 1024.14, Prohibition against kickbacks and unearned fees, Cornell Legal Information Institute — https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/12/1024.14 (checked 2026-11-07)
• RESPA Advisory Opinion: Digital Mortgage Comparison-Shopping Platforms, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/final-rules/real-estate-settlement-procedures-act-regulation-x-digital-mortgage-comparison-shopping-platforms-and-related-payments-to-operators/ (checked 2026-11-07)
• NAR Settlement FAQ, National Association of Realtors — https://nar.realtor/sites/default/files/documents/nar-settlement-faq-2024-05-31.pdf (checked 2026-11-07)
• 47 CFR § 64.1200, Delivery restrictions (TCPA rules), Cornell Legal Information Institute — https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/64.1200 (checked 2026-11-07)
• Breaking Down The New FCC Lead Generation Rules, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings — https://www.bradley.com/insights/publications/2024/01/breaking-down-the-new-fcc-lead-generation-rules (checked 2026-11-07)
• Eleventh Circuit Vacates FCC's TCPA One-to-One Consent Rule, Morrison Foerster — https://www.mofo.com/resources/insights/250130-eleventh-circuit-vacates-fcc-s-tcpa-one-to-one-consent-rule (checked 2026-11-07)