A lead card tells you what a seller or a source said, summarized in a few fields. Read it for two things only: does it pass your buy box, and what does it leave unknown? Then make one of three decisions: pass, clarify (you need one answer before you would pay, and you cannot get it before paying, so you weigh the gap), or consider purchase. Do not read a card as a title report, a repair estimate or a promise that the seller will sign.
Two to three minutes a card, and three things open
Each card ends with a written decision and a reason. Have open:
- Your written buy box. Without it, every card is a judgment call. See Set a buy box.
- The lead decision scorecard, so each decision is recorded the same way.
- The source’s own description of what its fields mean and how its grade is defined. If the source has not published a definition, write that down: it is a finding.
What the card shows, and what it does not
This page uses DrivenSellers’ card as the worked example, because its fields are documented publicly. The diagram below is a labelled illustration drawn from that description, not a screenshot and not a real lead.
DrivenSellers’ public product materials state: Before purchase the card shows the grade, listed price, area, motivation, timeline, occupancy, repairs, listing status and equity; the seller name, phone and exact address unlock after purchase. Those descriptions come from public product copy and labelled example cards; they have not been confirmed here in a firsthand account walkthrough. For the real screens, see the DrivenSellers walkthrough.
Seven reads, in this order
1. Area first: the cheapest pass
Area is the cheapest pass. If the city or county is outside your buy box, stop. Do not read the motivation field and talk yourself into a market you cannot service.
2. Read the stated fields against your must-haves
Go down your must-haves in order and mark each one: matches, conflicts, or not shown. Treat every field as a statement, not a fact:
- Motivation and timeline are what the seller said, at the time they said it. People change their minds.
- Occupancy tells you who is in the property, which changes access and timing. It does not tell you lease terms.
- Repairs needed is a description in words. It is not a scope of work or a cost.
- Listing status says whether the property was described as listed. Confirm on the call.
- Equity is a stated estimate. Run your own numbers before you rely on it.
3. Check how old the information is
Ask: when was this inquiry made, and has anything been checked since? If the source shows a date or age, record it on the scorecard. If it does not, record “age not shown.” A recent inquiry and an old one can carry the same fields and be very different calls.
4. Read the grade as a label and a price tier
DrivenSellers describes A+ as most likely to sell soon and C as not likely or without a clear plan. The scoring model is published: Each lead gets a 0–100 score from five parts (timeline up to 40 points, reason up to 30, room to make an offer up to 10, property fit up to 15, not listed up to 5); A+ is 80–100, A 65–79, B 45–64 and C 0–44. Two things follow for card reading. First, a missing answer adds nothing, so a low grade can mean a sparse card rather than a weak seller; check which fields are blank. Second, override rules can move the letter: a listed home is capped at B, and an asking price of 50% to 85% of value makes a lead A+ even with a thin timeline. What is not published is how the seller’s answers are verified, or any validation of grades against outcomes. Use the grade as the vendor’s label and as the price tier. Do not convert it into a percentage chance of a contract, and do not let it override a must-have.
5. List the gaps; mark each acceptable or blocking
Write the gaps down. Typical ones that no card can close:
- Who holds title, and whether they all agree to sell.
- Mortgage balance, liens, back taxes.
- Actual condition and repair cost.
- Comparable sales that support your offer.
- Whether the seller is also talking to other buyers. DrivenSellers’ stated boundary: Each exclusive lead is sold once, to one buyer, through DrivenSellers and leaves the feed when bought. It also states this does not stop the owner talking to other investors, agents or buyers through other channels.
For each gap, decide: acceptable until the first call, or blocking.
6. Check the price and the credit terms
Note the listed price. On DrivenSellers it is set by grade: C $99, B $169, A $249 and A+ $349 per exclusive lead. Then note the bad-lead terms before you pay, not after: 5 days from purchase to report an exclusive lead as not as described; an approved request credits the price back to the wallet. If a field on the card turns out to be wrong, that is when the window matters.
7. Pass, clarify or consider, with one sentence why
Choose pass, clarify or consider purchase, and write one sentence why. The reason is what you will review later.
Three invented cards against one buy box
| Field | Card 1 | Card 2 | Card 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade and price | B, listed price | A+, listed price | B, listed price |
| Area | Target county | Outside target counties | Target county |
| Motivation | Inherited, does not want to manage | Relocating for work | Behind on repairs |
| Timeline | Within 60 days | Within 30 days | “Not sure” |
| Occupancy | Vacant | Owner-occupied | Tenant |
| Repairs | Major | Minor | Moderate |
| Listing status | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Equity | Stated estimate shown | Stated estimate shown | Stated estimate shown |
| Decision | Consider purchase | Pass | Clarify, then decide |
| Reason | Every must-have matches; gaps (title, condition cost) are on the acceptable list | Outside the buy box. The higher grade does not change the market rule | Must-haves match, but a tenant and an unclear timeline add work; decide whether your capacity this week can absorb a longer follow-up |
Card 2 is the useful one. A higher grade on a lead outside your market is still a pass.
Card 3 shows what “clarify” means when the answer is behind the paywall. You cannot ask the seller before you buy. You weigh the gap against your buy box and capacity, and either accept it as a known unknown or pass.
Card checklist (one per card)
- Area inside the buy box.
- Each must-have marked matches, conflicts or not shown.
- Information age recorded, or “age not shown.”
- Grade read as a vendor label and price tier, not a forecast.
- Missing items listed and each marked acceptable or blocking.
- Price under your per-lead limit.
- Credit deadline noted.
- Decision and one-sentence reason written.
Five card-reading errors
- Reading the motivation field first. A compelling story pulls you past the area and property-type rules. Read area first.
- Treating stated equity as your number. It is an estimate. Your offer depends on your own comps.
- Buying the grade. The grade is a score of the seller’s stated answers, not a check of them. It tells you the price and how the vendor scored the card; read the fields that produced it.
- “Not shown” becoming “probably fine.” Write unknowns as unknowns.
- No written reason. Without reasons, a weekly review has nothing to learn from.
The scorecard that goes with this
Use the lead decision scorecard. It has rows for market fit, property type, information source and age, grade reference, price, missing fields, follow-up capacity and unresolved questions, with columns for evidence, unknowns and next action. It deliberately has no numeric score, because no score on a card predicts a close. If you buy, go straight to first-call qualification.
Sources that show a card before you pay
This method needs a source that shows a card before you pay. Territory-delivery models assign leads automatically, so the decision happens when you set the territory and bid, not per card. If you want the per-card decision, DrivenSellers is built around it: the card shows the fields above and a listed grade price, and you choose each lead individually. If its markets do not cover your buy box, the method still works on any preview source you have checked.
Per-card decisions at a listed grade price
Run the seven reads on a DrivenSellers card
DrivenSellers is our recommended starting point if you want to read an exclusive seller lead's card, choose it individually and pay a listed grade price, without a required membership.
- Price before purchase: listed by grade, $99 (C) to $349 (A+), shown on the card.
- No plan needed: optional plans credit their fee to your wallet; they do not discount leads.
- One buyer per lead through DrivenSellers; the card shows motivation, timeline, occupancy, repairs and equity before you pay.
Limits: Inventory varies by market. Grades score the seller's stated answers; they do not guarantee a contract or closing and have not been validated against outcomes. You have 5 days to report a lead as not as described; approved requests are wallet credit, and some providers state longer windows.