Recruiting bird dogs

[Luke9686]

I've never really tried using bird dogs much, but would like to start recruiting them.  I know Randoskie uses them, and has posted about recruiting them before.  I don't know where to start, or what to ask for when looking for them.  Craigslist is the obvious place to look for them, but what do I do when they start emailing in.  Randoskie mentioned in a previous post that he sends them an info packet, would you mind sharing whats in that information you send them?

My main market is Sub2 deals, and not sure how I'd recruit a bird dog to look for them.  I'm not opposed to using them for wholesaling, I've done a few wholesale deals but it's not what I target.

Any advice?

[Randoskie]

Hey Luke, if you can handle the BS from dealing with unmotivated want it now with minimal work involved type of personalities, I got a job for you.
Begin advertising on Craig's List for Property Finders. "Local Investors need help finding properties to buy and flip".
I pay $2,000 Cash. Then write up a page on how you and ur investor buddies need their help, and how in the future it cud lead to learning how it's done. I use photos of my finders holding the cash I paid them and photos of checks I've received and etc.
99% of the ones that call will flake out, I use to go and meet them and some will demand it, but holy crap what a waste of time and energy that was.
Many will say I'm not going to work for someone I havnt met. I tell them, I'll meet you when I hand you that $2,000 in cash. Many will say, how do I know if you buy one of my houses? I tell them you wont, and if I wanted to cheat you I cud.
Most want to know how soon they will get paid. Most will never get started, most will send 1 or 2 houses and you never hear from them again.
A few will call and threaten legal action cuz they are convinced you must of did some deals on the hand full of addresses they sent. I now make them sign my contract that they acknowledge this is a commissioned based business and a numbers game.
A few will be mentally unstable & walk by your house & threaten you with IRS and the FBI and send you countless emails using profanity and racial slurs and stalk you and file a labor commission complaint and then never show up at the hearing.
So my friend, if you can deal with all this BS, occasionally it does pay off big.
I made $35,000 last month just from the deals the bird dogs found me, that pays for a lot of aggravation.
So wud I do it all over again, Hell Yea....
Let's make some Money.....
Rando

[Luke9686]

Thanks for the detailed response, I was hoping you'd reply.  I'll get a couple Craigslist ads up right away.

[Luke9686]

Just posted the ad.  Do you have a canned response you send them when they email you or do you speak to them all?

[Randoskie]

Some call, some txt, some email. I do send an Info pack I made up to motivate them. I still get pissed thinking about the bird dogs that insisted I meet them, wasted over an hour of my time and never sent one address. What's crazy is on the phone they went on and on about how their family member was into Real Estate, they dreamed RE and it was in their blood and how they were going to find me many properties and yada yada yada.
It always seems to be the big talkers that fold first.
Another favorite is a bird dog that will send a few addresses and calls every few days asking the status, I again explain how I need many addresses and how its a numbers game and not to expect a miracle with the few they sent. I also instruct them to email only so not to tie up my phone line.
I hope your ready for the ride.
Rando

[Luke9686]

Oh I'm ready!!  Any tips on what to put in the info pack when I respond to these people?

[Randoskie]

Yea, write a story of how you got involved in RE and the profits that can be made and how they can easily learn this business, include a photo of you and ur family.
Also include tips on finding these houses you want, driving for dollars, Craig's List ads, searching records for tax liens, probates etc. I use photos of my bird dogs holding the 2 Grand spread out that I paid them. Be creative. Get personal. Motivate them.

[Luke9686]

Do you make your bird dogs make contact with these leads?  Do they send the letters to the vacants, probates, etc?  Or do they just bring you a name and address and you make contact?

[Randoskie]

I usually just need an address, then I run them thru my Title company to get a title report which is some valuable info on each property. The sellers mailing address, the year it was built, last time it was sold and for how much, the value the County tax assessor puts on the property, the square footage of the house and lot and if the taxes are behind and how much they are and on and on.
Then I send out post cards or yellow letters offering to buy their property. If I get a call back and it seems like it cud be a profitable deal and it's in a nearby town I'll have the bird dog go back over and take more photos.
But, now that I'm doing it in dif cities I'll have the bird dogs check the tax records for that info or contact title companies in their city. You gotta leverage the time and resources. I learned the hard way.
What's crazy is I've found the more work I delegate out and the less I do the more money I make. Write that down.

[Luke9686]

Sweet, thanks for the tips.  In my area all that information is online, so it's readily accessible without running title here.

Which section in Craigslist jobs do you run your ad?  I ran mine in the real estate job section and only gotten three responses so far.  Should I run it in the General Labor jobs section?

[Luke9686]

Rando,

Would you mind if I sent you the info packet I've been sending out to people?  I've gotten some responses but once I send my info packet out nobody calls me back.  Not sure if something in the info is triggering them not to call.

[Randoskie]

Haha, welcome to bird dog hell, a place where you come across the most unmotivated, lazy, want it now, don't want to work for it, blame everyone else Craig's List clones, especially blame you and when you do get a few finders to do something, they send you overpriced deals off the MLS or Craig's List.
I'm having a meeting in my cave where I use charcoal to write on the granite walls exactly how to motivate and be successful with bird dogs, haha.
If you really want to experience bird dog hell, just start meeting them and listening to all their BS while wasting hours of your time and then never hearing from them again.
But, you have a better chance of getting some bird dogs to produce than getting Redstar to listen to reason and do a deal.
Yes, send me what you got.
Rando

[Luke9686]

I'll go ahead and post it here, hopefully somebody can learn by it.

The first part of my process is doing exactly what you said; post Craigslist ads.  I get quite a few responses with each post, normally filled with spelling and grammar errors.

Below is the email I respond with.  I never call these people, and so far only one guy has called me back.  Take a look at my response and let me know if it needs any tweeks:

Thanks for responding to my Craigslist ad!!!
We’re looking for two people in the area to find off market real estate deals for us.  The types of houses we’re looking for ARE NOT houses that are currently listed on the market; IE no deals from realtors or “For Sale By Owner.”  We are looking for motivated sellers who have a problem property that they need to get rid of.  These properties have become a burden to the seller.  Whether it be a tired landlord, a person who is moving out of the area, or someone who inherited a house, the sellers we are targeting are motivated to sell at a discount.
We will pay $1,000 for every closed deal you bring us.  We pay once the transaction has made it through closing and we own the house.  We are targeting the Des Moines area, primarily Des Moines proper.
A few tips about finding properties:
•   Driving for dollars – This involves driving through neighborhoods and finding houses that look vacant.  Overgrown lawns, boarded up windows, piled up mail, etc.  These properties will mostly be in less than desirable areas, but that’s ok.  We buy in the nicest neighborhoods and the worst neighborhoods.  We aren’t afraid of ugly houses.  The uglier the better.
•   Placing ads on Craiglslist – There are several “We Buy Houses” ads on Craigslist, make yours better
•   Searching court records for tax liens
•   Searching records for houses in probate – The courthouse has these records; look through them and target the ones that have property tied up in the process.  You’re looking for the executor of the estate.
•   Tell EVERYBODY you’re looking to buy houses.  From now on you buy houses, that’s what you do.  You’re not looking into buying houses, you’re not thinking about buying houses, YOU BUY HOUSES.
These are ways to find leads, now what I’m looking for is the contact information for these leads.  You can do a search on the county assessor’s webpage for this information.  Here is a link to the Polk County Assessor:  http://web.assess.co.polk.ia.us/cgi-bin/web/tt/infoqry.cgi?tt=home/index
The best leads will have the mailing address different than the property address.  This means the owner doesn’t live in the house.  We’re not looking for people who “kind of want to sell,” we’re looking for people who NEED TO SELL.  You need to bring us as much information about the lead as possible; name, address, phone number if possible, facebook, etc.  I’m not looking for just an address, I’m looking for contact information.
I’ll create a spreadsheet on Google Docs and share it with you, and you’ll enter all your leads in that spreadsheet.  I’ll maintain the spreadsheet and indicate the status of each lead.
Remember, we pay $1,000 per closed deal.
This is a great way to get into real estate investing with no money.  You bring us deals, we pay you.  Once you’ve proven yourself, we’ll start teaching you how to actually do the deals yourself.  This industry isn’t easy, but it can be done.  Especially since you are super motivated to be successful.

A little about me…
My name is Luke, I’m 36 and have a wife and two kids.  After working in the technology industry for a several years I realized my true passion was real estate.  I dove in head first, fell a few time but always got up.  It was tough, but I persevered like many others.  If I can do it, so can you!!!!
If you want to get started, call me at 515-555-5555 so we can get rolling!!!