I’ve got some of my best deals from bird dogs, I estimate 30%, the rest from direct mail mostly and a few from bandit signs and other wholesalers, also door knob hangers, car door magnets and advertising on Craig’s List.
So knowing how important these bird dogs can be I keep recruiting them even though dealing with them can be frustrating as all get out, as Grandma used to say.
A typical bird dog will send me one address and then call me a few days later to ask what’s going on with the address he sent. I try to explain it’s a numbers game and we need many addresses.
My favorite frustration bird dog is one that calls and tells me that Real Estate is in their blood, it’s what they were born to do, They have a passion and spend their time looking at Real Estate, they had a relative that was an agent, they think about real estate night and day and if given the chance they wud find me a lot of deals. I give them instructions, my motivation speech, tell them to get out there. Then I never hear from them again.
One guy that sent me a few addresses and then I didn’t hear from him for 6 months, he contacts me again and wants to give it another shot. I told him that since he quit the first time he probably doesn’t have what it takes. I never heard from him again. I really expected him to say… Your wrong, I’m here now to find us some houses and I will never quit again… Haha
You can really get a good look at human nature when dealing with these people. I always thought I was a screw up, lazy, never completing anything, doing things half ass. Well, compared to most of these bird dog prospects I’m not looking too bad.
How do you motivate and get results from these people? You sure wudnt want to pay them by the hour.
But, I guess the few that do produce results makes it all worthwhile.
Let’s makes some money…
Rando
Hi,
The thing I don't completely understand about birddogs is why hunt for wholesale properties for someone else when you could market and sell directly yourself with very little additional effort. I guess it could be nice to pick up a few hundred extra dollars but in all reality the bridge between hundreds or thousands is fairly short.
Is it that birddogs are unmotivated to take that next step or to spend a little extra time?
GR
Haha, unmotivated, maybe that’s it, and maybe there’s more to it. In my case, (going deep here) I never felt worthy and along with a good chunk of low self esteem I didn’t know I could do anything like it. Thinking I could be a Real estate investor and buy and sell houses was really far fetched.
After watching these Guru’s on late night TV and along with testimonials from regular looking folks I started to wonder if maybe I could actually do this. And then along with the desperation of having absolutely no money and no construction jobs available and also I had younger wife and a bunch of cute kids that required food and etc. I decided I was going to do it, I had to make a determined decision. I remembered thinking I wud give it my all for 3 years before I gave up.
Then I had to deal with the fear factor & that was a big hurdle to jump over. Talking to Homeowners and buyers while still believing I was a worthless piece of doody was a real challenge.
So now after I’ve done a lot of deals made a good chunk of change and really started believing I’m worthy of success I kinda can see where some of these bird dogs may be coming from.
What’s your story Gold River?
I can find properties for you in the Pittsburgh, PA area…
What is you valuation model, typical wholesale? 65%-repairs ?
thanks,
frank
The properties I go after the most are in really bad condition. I often offer 20-30% of after repair value. And I increase my offer depending on the condition, to offer 70%, the house wud have to be in really good condition and in a good area.
Generally I start at 50% and then go up or down once I inspect the property or see photos.
As far as Pittsburg, I don’t know that market, however you find some distressed properties & I’ll help with negotiations, contracts & help you sell them.