Reference · 55 terms · updated October 2026

Wholesaling & investor CRM glossary.

Plain-English definitions of the terms acquisitions and dispo teams use every day, and where it helps, what each one looks like inside a CRM.

A B C D K L M P S T U

Acquisitions (acq): The part of an investor business that finds motivated sellers, qualifies them and gets properties under contract. In a CRM: Usually the lead and opportunity stages owned by acquisition reps.
After-repair value (ARV): What a property should sell for once repairs are done, based on recent sold comps of similar renovated homes nearby. In a CRM: A currency field on the deal record that feeds the MAO formula.
Assignment contract: A contract that lets a wholesaler transfer their right to buy a property to an end buyer for a fee, instead of buying it themselves.
Assignment fee: The wholesaler's profit on an assigned deal: the difference between the end buyer's price and the wholesaler's contract price. In a CRM: Captured on the transaction so campaign ROI uses real profit.
Attribution (lead source attribution): Tying every contract and closed deal back to the marketing channel and campaign that produced the original lead. In a CRM: Lead source carried from lead to opportunity to transaction and locked against accidental edits.
Booked revenue: Expected profit recorded when a deal goes under contract, before it closes. In a CRM: Compared weekly against what deals actually closed for (forecast vs. actual).
Comps (comparable sales): Recently sold properties similar in size, age, condition and location, used to estimate ARV.
Contract-to-close rate: Closed deals ÷ signed contracts. The gap shows how many deals fall out after signing.
Cost per appointment: Campaign spend ÷ seller appointments set from that campaign. Closer to real channel cost than cost per lead. In a CRM: One of the Monday 5.
Cost per contract: Campaign spend ÷ purchase contracts signed from that campaign's leads.
Cost per deal: Campaign spend ÷ closed deals from that campaign. The number that decides whether a channel pays for itself. In a CRM: See the cost per deal calculator.
Cost per lead (CPL): Campaign spend ÷ leads generated. Easy to measure but misleading on its own, because lead quality varies by channel.
Deal leak: Profit lost between paying for a seller lead and keeping a closed deal: unanswered calls, leads with no next step, offers made off-formula, and fall-outs still counted in ROI. The Kept-Deal Map breaks it into five leak points. In a CRM: Measured with lead source carried to closing, missed-call and next-task reports, and ROI on kept deals.
Disposition (dispo): Selling or assigning a contracted property to an end buyer. The dispo team markets deals to a cash buyers list.
Double close: Two back-to-back closings: the wholesaler buys the property and immediately resells it, instead of assigning the contract.
Drip / follow-up sequence: Scheduled calls, texts or emails to sellers who aren't ready yet. Most deals come from follow-up, not first contact. In a CRM: Tasks or cadences triggered by lead status and next follow-up date.
Kept deal: A property the investor keeps (for example as a rental) instead of selling. Leaving these out of ROI undercounts the channel that found them. In a CRM: A flag plus a profit value so it counts in campaign ROI.
Lead queue / round robin: A shared list of new leads assigned to reps in rotation or by rules (market, source, availability) so no lead sits unowned.
MAO (maximum allowable offer): The highest contract price that still leaves room for the end buyer's margin and the wholesaler's fee. Common formula: ARV × 70% − repairs − fee. In a CRM: See the deal analyzer.
Missed-call alert: An automatic task and notification when a call to a marketing number goes unanswered, so someone calls back within minutes.
Motivated seller: An owner with a reason to sell quickly or as-is: inheritance, divorce, relocation, financial distress, a tired landlord, or a property in poor condition. In a CRM: See motivated seller lead scoring.
Pay per lead (PPL): Buying seller leads from a vendor at a fixed price per lead, instead of paying for ads or mail directly.
PPC (pay per click): Search or social ads where you pay per click, usually pointed at a seller landing page. In a CRM: Send contracts back to Google Ads so bidding learns from deals, not form fills. See Google Ads offline conversions.
Seventy percent rule (70% rule): A flipper's rule of thumb: pay no more than 70% of ARV minus repairs. Markets vary, often 65–80%.
Skip tracing: Finding current phone numbers and emails for property owners from public and commercial data, mostly for cold calling and texting.
Speed to lead: The time from a seller reaching out to a real person on your team responding. In a CRM: Measured from lead created time to first logged call.
Transaction coordinator (TC): The person who manages a deal from signed contract to closing: title, documents, deadlines and communication. In a CRM: A transactions board with stages and required checklist items.
Underwriting: Checking a deal's numbers (ARV, repairs, MAO, exit strategy) before making or accepting an offer. In a CRM: Underwriting fields and a QC gate on the opportunity.

CRM and Salesforce terms

The technical words that come up when you set up or connect a real estate CRM, each linked to the guide that goes deeper.

A2P 10DLC: US registration system for business texts sent from regular 10-digit numbers. Senders register a brand and a campaign through their texting provider. Texting guide →
API access: Permission for other software to read and write Salesforce data. Included in Enterprise and Unlimited; an add-on for Professional. Many integrations need it. Edition guide →
AppExchange: Salesforce’s marketplace of installable apps and integrations, such as DocuSign or dialer packages. Integrations →
Approval process: A rule that routes a record to a manager before it can move on, for example an offer above MAO. Automation features →
Assignment rule: Ordered rules that set a new lead’s owner automatically, by market, source or rotation. Lead routing →
Buy box: A cash buyer’s criteria: zip codes, price range, property types and condition. Stored on the buyer record so deals can be matched. Cash buyers list →
Custom object: A record type you define yourself in Salesforce, such as Property, Offer or Buyer. Data model →
Dead reason: A required picklist explaining why a lead or deal died, so you can tell bad leads from bad follow-up. Field kit → · Reactivating dead leads →
Duplicate rule: A rule that alerts or blocks when a new record matches an existing one, like the same seller from two lead sources. Data quality →
Express written consent: Documented permission to send marketing texts. CTIA’s messaging guidance calls for it before promotional texts. Texting guide →
Field history tracking: Salesforce’s log of old value, new value, who and when for chosen fields, such as stage or lead source. Data quality →
Flow: Salesforce’s automation tool. Runs when records change, on a schedule, or as guided screens. Automations →
GCLID: Google Click ID. Stored on the lead so Google Ads can learn which clicks became contracts. Lead sources → · Google Ads offline conversions →
Integration user: A dedicated Salesforce login for one integration, with only the permissions it needs. Before you connect →
Junction object: A record linking two others many-to-many, such as which buyers were sent which property. Data model →
Lead source: Where a lead came from: list, mailer, PPC, referral. Should be a picklist set automatically and kept to the closed deal. Lead sources →
Open CTI: The Salesforce framework many dialers use to show inside Salesforce. Salesforce says it reaches end of life on February 28, 2028. Dialer guide →
Opt-out: A seller’s request to stop texts or calls (for example replying STOP). Stored on the record and respected by every tool. Texting guide →
Path: A stage bar on a Salesforce record with key fields and guidance for each stage. Data quality →
Permission set: A bundle of Salesforce permissions added to a user, for example letting VAs create leads without seeing deal financials. Security →
Picklist: A field with fixed choices. Used for lead source, call outcome and dead reason so reports work. Field kit →
Queue: A shared bucket of records that team members claim from, such as hot seller callbacks. Routing →
Reporting snapshot: A saved copy of a report’s results on a schedule, so you can chart trends like weekly pipeline value. Monday 5 →
Roll-up summary field: A field on a parent record that counts or sums its children, such as offers per property. Data model →
Sandbox: A copy of your Salesforce org for testing changes before they reach the team. Integrations →
Validation rule: A rule that blocks saving a record until required data is entered, such as timeline and reason on a warm lead. Handoff checklist →
Web-to-Lead: Salesforce’s built-in way to turn website form submissions into leads, up to 500 a day. Lead sources →

Put the terms to work

Wholesale deal analyzer · Cost per deal calculator · Missed call cost · The Monday 5

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See also: the wholesaling CRM checklist, stage by stage.