Pros and cons of off-market "pay-per-lead" services? Success with any companies?

[Michael Mahbobian]

My partners and I started a company that specializes in generating motivated-seller leads for investors. We're interested in hearing investors' opinions and experiences, as far as using pay-per-lead as a way to supplement their deal pipeline (including success stories, negative experiences, recommended companies, pros, cons, etc.). What would the "ideal" lead product look like for you? Thanks!

[Michael Mahbobian]

@Bruce Lynn

Great questions. Our motivated seller leads go through a 2-step process: (1) they enter our digital funnel and fill out a form to be contacted about receiving a cash offer; (2) we then phone-screen the homeowner to extract additional information. We obtain name, email, property address, selling timeline, motivation, notes on recent remodels, necessary repairs, general backstory, and asking price. We will make a judgment call as to whether this is a true "motivated" seller, and will only send the lead if their initial asking price is below market value (at very minimum, 10% below Propstream, ZEstimate, and Redfin, though we aim to provide deals with much more meat on the bone). These are people who are ready to sell -- not "looky-loos" just curious about their home valuation (or your money back). 

Why not wholesale: Our goal is to create a premium lead product, not become high-volume wholesalers. Sure, we can enter the market and wholesale deals at any time, but it is not our objective with OffMarketLeads.com. Frankly, there are a lot of junk leads on the market, and the only way to prove our product is, in fact, to leave money on the table for our investors.