Thanks @William Yeh for the feedback!
I am not a licensed broker. I wasn't planning on brokering deals like that but this opportunity came up. The operator has not done any new development yet (they have been using existing properties) but they told me they are interested in building a property from the ground up.
You mentioned that you have seen deal makers getting a healthy equity percentage when they significantly contribute to a deal, how much equity are we talking about?
I agree that it will come down to the negotiation with the senior living operator but also with the investor. With a 20% annual return, it is a fairly attractive deal so the investor should have incentives to compensate me as well either with a one-time fee or equity. I personally prefer to get equity (even small) since I am interested in building monthly cash flow.
I figured that getting the operator to sign an exclusivity agreement would be difficult. I am not trying to limit them to only work with me, the agreement would require that they have to work with me if they want to partner with my investor on future deals. They could still work with another broker as long as he/she connects them with another investment group.
I like your suggestion to shop my services with other operators. It will give me some leverage during negotiation.