Finders Fee $$$

Hello, I am new to real estate investment and recently I went to Robert Shemin’s seminar on how to buy property for pennies on the dollar. Of course, to get the real information on the how to’s you had to pay $2497.00 that day. Unfortunately to my dismay i couldnt afford it at the time. I am having to do my own research on the different strategies used to obtain real estate wealth.

I was wondering, in the seminar they said this is the easiest way for someone like myself to acquire capital using the bird dog strategy. They recommended me charging $15,000 in this market. Does that seem logical? Another thing they said I need to obtain the inside tip on Reo properties from a loss mitigator at the bank. How do I get to this person. Is there truly any money to be made using this strategy. I guess you can see that I am a bit apprehensive, but I’m not going to quit. 2008 is my year for financial success.
Any and all advice given is truly appreciated.

I honestly believe you should build your business on the bread and butter concepts and not bother with the “specialized” investment strategies. The strategies do work as supplemental methods to existing foundation.

ebay is a great resource to learn… you can buy courses for pennies on the dollar… as investors we should be doing that.

As a birddog, you should look to make $250-$1000/lead. As a wholesaler you should look to make $1000 to $5000 per contract. Anything above that is an exception that will not come your way often enough.

There are many things to learn in this business:

  1. How do you find good leads CONSISTENTLY. Not rely on luck… you need to be able to get to a point where you know by spending X number of hours, or X number of dollars, you will get a deal.

  2. How to position yourself so that your message drives home with the sellers and puts you in a position to get the better deal. Basically negotiation skills and knowing how to prove your offer to the seller. I posted an example in the marketing under the yellow letter post.

  3. How to evaluate the deal to make sure the numbers are correct. You can get any deal you want if you get good at the above 2 items, but you need to know which numbers you need to get and target houses that offer such margins.

  4. Do the right paperwork and get comfortable at it. I used to go to IHOP and practice filling out contracts based on various conditions so I can do it easily when I am infront of the seller.

  5. Find the right buyers for your property so you can get paid

  6. Understand that this is not an easy business and will take long time to make profit in it

  7. Have heart

Hope this helps

You’d be a lot better off to use that $2500 as a down payment or an option fee, or to pay back mortgage payments as you take over a subject to.

$15,000 to bird dog would have to be one heck of a geat deal for the investor. If you find one that good, I suggest you figure out how to buy it yourself…

Not many new investors can accord the monthly carrying costs or repairs houses may need.

   Quick question on establishing "finder's fee". Are there legal guidelines as to what you can advertise or even compensate someone for finding a property? 
   For example, do you have to pay someone that finds a property a flat fee or can they be paid a % of the deal? Also, is there any restrictions in what you can say when advertising for it?

   -Thanks