Across all online sources the average is 0.4% to 1.2%. Meta ad leads run 1% to 2%, and 3% to 5% is top-producer territory. Pick the one you actually believe.
The referral and team columns pay no ad spend. Neither costs anything up front, which is the whole reason agents take them, and charging them for a budget they never spent would rig this comparison in our favor.
The referral column assumes a 35% referral fee, which is what Realtor.com ReadyConnect charges above a $150,000 sale price. Zillow does not publish its rate.
The team column assumes a 50/50 split, which is what team agreements commonly set when the team provides the lead and pays for the marketing.
The agency column uses $2,500 a month, the bottom of what agencies publish for full-funnel work: $2,500 to $5,000 a month, ad spend excluded.
The agency column's term is 3 to 12 months, which is what marketing agencies publish generally; every one we read that names a figure sets six or twelve months and charges to leave early. Agencies publish that they run the marketing, not that they answer the lead: where answering and booking exist at all they are a separate paid add-on.
Teams publish no standard term, so the team column reads not applicable rather than claiming an advantage. What a team agreement settles instead is who keeps the leads when you leave, which is not a cost this calculator can price.
Ad spend goes to Meta under the agency column and under ours. It is the same budget either way, and we never mark it up.
There are settings where a referral costs you less than we do, and this calculator says so when you are in them.
These are your assumptions, not our promise. Nothing here is a guarantee of results.