I see a lot of agents on here asking about Google leads and where to put their money. We (Ylopo, LLC) recently tracked over $2M in ad spend across three main Google lead sources — PPC (Homes for Sale), Local Services Ads (LSA), and Google Business Profile Ads (GBP / Maps).
Here’s a breakdown of what each one is, how they work, and what we learned.
These conversion rates are from direct API access to the data from thousands of clients using Follow Up Boss as their CRM and analyzing these 3 different lead sources and their stages over a 6-month period.
If you’re thinking about lead gen, this might save you some trial and error.
1. Google Homes for Sale (PPC)
These are your classic pay-per-click ads. They show up when someone searches 'homes for sale in [city].' Instead of calling you, consumers click, land on a site, and register. The data we pulled from our campaigns looked like this:
* Qualified leads: 17%
Ready to transact in <6 months: 4.9%
Closed in study window: 0.3%
Avg CPL: $18.75
✅ Cheap and scalable
❌ Low short-term ROI — nurture leads that take time.
Best for: Agents who want to build a pipeline and have strong follow-up systems.
2. Google Local Services Ads (LSA)
These show up at the very top of Google search results when someone types 'realtor near me.' They’re click-to-call ads — consumers tap and expect to talk to an agent immediately. Here’s what we saw:
Ready to transact in <6 months: 7.1%
Closed in study window: 1.9%
Avg CPL: $85
✅ High intent, strong ROI
❌ Limited supply (Max 20 agents ever shown at one time) in busy markets, and your pickup rate determines how often you show up. Miss calls → Google buries you.
3. Google Business Profile Ads (GBP / Maps)
These show up under LSAs or directly inside Google Maps. They’re tied to your Google Business Profile, complete with reviews, photos, and location info. On mobile, GBP ads often dominate search results.
Qualified leads: 30.2%
Ready to transact in <6 months: 14.25%
Closed in study window: 4.4%
Avg Cost Per Valid Call: $150
✅ Highest intent — inbound calls from people actively searching for a realtor
✅ ROI came in at 313% within 5 months, 151% stronger than LSA
❌ 75% of raw calls are spam or vendors. Needs a system to filter.
💡 What Stood Out
“The problem with LSA was always inventory — you could only get so many leads. With Google Business Profile ads, we’ve finally found a way to generate LSA-quality calls but at scale.”
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🏆 Winners & Losers
Best short-term ROI: Google Business Profile Ads (Maps)
Best for cheap volume: Google Homes for Sale PPC
Best balance of cost + intent: Google LSA (if your market isn’t oversaturated)
🚀 Solving the Pickup + Spam Problem
Both LSA and GBP ads are click-to-call. That’s great for intent, but it creates a huge problem: if you don’t pick up fast, Google stops showing you. On top of that, a large portion of raw calls are spam or irrelevant. Most busy agents simply don’t have the time to answer every call instantly or vet them properly.
That’s where Ylopo’s **Google Live Leads** comes in. It combines LSA + GBP ads with a live call center. The call center answers first, filters out spam (about 75% of calls), and only live-transfers the real estate conversations straight to you. That way:
✅ You stay ranked higher on Google because pickup rate stays 100%
✅ You don’t waste time on spam calls
✅ You only get qualified buyers and sellers transferred live
If you want to see how it works, check out the breakdown here: Google Live Leads - https://www.ylopo.com/google-live-transfer-leads
👉 Google real estate leads are shifting from search-and-click to search-and-call. If you can’t reliably answer the phone, you’re wasting money. If you can — or if you use a service like Google Live Leads to handle the calls for you — the ROI is massive.
* Qualified leads - Leads that have been properly dispositioned into the right stages by the agents.
Aaron Franklin
Head of Growth
Aaron "Kiwi" Franklin is the Head of Growth at Ylopo and an innovative technologist and serial entrepreneur who has over 25 years of experience creating digital solutions for major brands and pioneering companies at the intersection of technology and real estate. His depth of expertise stems from leading development of the first website for Apple to founding a global community of over 1,000 elite athletes.