Every marketing company promises you great ROI. Most of them can't prove it.
So let me prove it. Here's the actual math on what kind of return you should expect from your marketing spend — by channel, by budget level, and by business model. I manage $200,000+ per month in Meta ad spend for 26 real estate investor accounts. These numbers are real.
The Baseline: What Is a "Good" ROI?
For most wholesalers and flippers, the minimum viable ROI is 4x. Spend a dollar, make four. Below that, after paying your team, overhead, and cost of doing business, you're barely profitable or losing money.
Here's the ROI framework we teach every client:
Below 4x: You have a problem. Either your marketing costs are too high, your conversion rates are too low, or your deal size is too small. Stop spending more and fix the bottleneck.
4–5x: You're profitable but tight. Optimize conversions before increasing budget. Small improvements in your offer-to-contract rate or contract-to-deal rate will compound into significantly better ROI.
5–7x: Solid. This is where most well-run single-market operations should land. You should be spending more at this level.
8–10x: Great. Multi-market operators and operators with strong sales teams consistently hit this range. Spend aggressively.
10x+: Exceptional. Our best clients land here. Multi-market, multiple exit strategies, strong close rates, efficient dispo. This is the target for operators doing $100k+/month in revenue.
15x+: The highest I've personally seen across our client base. Fully nationwide operator on ~$20k/month in spend. This is not typical — but it's real and it shows what's possible at scale.
The Math by Channel
Facebook (Single Metro) — $80 CPL, 18 leads to deal
| Ad Spend | Leads | Contracts | Deals | Revenue ($20k avg) | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $3,000 | 38 | 2 | 1–2 | $20–40k | 6.7–13.3x |
| $5,000 | 63 | 3–4 | 2–3 | $40–60k | 8–12x |
| $8,000 | 100 | 5–6 | 3–4 | $60–80k | 7.5–10x |
Facebook (Multi-Market) — $50 CPL, 18 leads to deal
| Ad Spend | Leads | Contracts | Deals | Revenue ($20k avg) | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | 100 | 5–6 | 3–4 | $60–80k | 12–16x |
| $10,000 | 200 | 11 | 7 | $140k | 14x |
| $20,000 | 400 | 22 | 14 | $280k | 14x |
| $40,000 | 800 | 44 | 29 | $580k | 14.5x |
Google PPC — $275 CPL, 12 leads to deal
| Ad Spend | Leads | Contracts | Deals | Revenue ($20k avg) | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5,000 | 18 | 1–2 | 1 | $20k | 4x |
| $10,000 | 36 | 3 | 2 | $40k | 4x |
| $20,000 | 73 | 6 | 4 | $80k | 4x |
Cold Calling — $30 CPL, 50 leads to deal
| Ad Spend | Leads | Contracts | Deals | Revenue ($20k avg) | ROI* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $3,000 | 100 | 2 | 1–2 | $20–40k | 6.7–13.3x |
| $5,000 | 167 | 3 | 2 | $40k | 8x |
*Before labor costs. Add setter wages, data, CRM tools, and management.
What Changes the ROI
Three variables swing your ROI more than anything else:
1. Average Deal Size
This is the multiplier. Everything else being equal:
- $15k average deal = $60k revenue on 4 deals = 6x ROI on $10k spend
- $20k average deal = $80k revenue on 4 deals = 8x ROI on $10k spend
- $30k average deal = $120k revenue on 4 deals = 12x ROI on $10k spend
If your deal size is under $15k, your ROI will always feel tight. The fix: add wholetails and flips to your exit strategy mix. Cherry-pick the best deals for purchase. A blended average of $25k+ makes the entire model work much better.
2. Offer-to-Contract Rate
Going from 15% to 25% offer-to-contract doubles your contracts with zero additional marketing spend.
At 15% and $10k ad spend: 3 contracts → 2 deals → $40k → 4x ROI.
At 25% and $10k ad spend: 6 contracts → 4 deals → $80k → 8x ROI.
Same leads. Same budget. Double the return. This is why sales process improvement is the highest-ROI activity in your business.
3. Contract-to-Deal Rate
If only 50% of your contracts close, you need double the contracts to hit your deal target — which means double the marketing spend for the same revenue. Getting from 50% to 65% close rate (virtual benchmark) is a 30% increase in deals.
Break this out by exit strategy. If your novations are closing at 40% and your cash deals at 75%, the novation process needs work. Maybe it's dispo, maybe it's retrade, maybe it's seller maintenance.
Is 5x Realistic? Yes. Here's Proof.
Our March 2026 data across 26 accounts:
- $77.71 average CPL
- 1 in 15–20 leads to contract (best: 1 in 6)
- ~$2,000 average cost per contract
- At $20k deal size: 10x+ average ROI
5x isn't just realistic — most of our clients exceed it. The ones who don't are typically in their first 60 days (testing phase) or have a sales process bottleneck that we're actively working with them to fix.
The operators who hit 10x+ consistently share three traits: multi-market strategy, multiple exit strategies, and a sales team that closes 25% of offers.
The ROAS Decision Framework
Use this to make every marketing decision:
Your ROAS is above baseline → Spend more. Now. Don't wait. Every month you sit on a 7x ROI at $5k/month instead of scaling to $15k is money left on the table.
Your ROAS is at baseline → Spend a little more and watch leading indicators (cost per qualified lead, cost per appointment). If they hold, keep pushing. If they slip, optimize.
Your ROAS is below baseline → Don't spend more yet. Diagnose the funnel. Is CPL too high? Is conversion too low? Is deal size too small? Fix the bottleneck first, then scale.
This is how you make mathematical marketing decisions instead of emotional ones.
If you want to see what your projected ROI would look like — based on your market, your budget, and your business model — book a strategy call. We'll run the numbers together.
Book a Free Strategy Call →Chandler Saine | CEO of Level Up REI
leveluprei.io