Question about bird dog

Hi, I already located a property, and want to do a bird dog this time,

but how can I inform dealers and how to get paid for the information?

Thank you

Donald

ever see those “bandit” signs on the side of the road like : “we buy houses” or “fast cash for your house”. something along those lines. these are a good place to start. but for future finds, i would order the barry j grimes course on bird dogging. i just ordered it myself. it was $100.00 THIS COURSE IS PACKED. theres a lot in here for the money. barry skipped on nothing. you just cant go wrong here. he included software, e-books, 5 volumes of his own course, with over 1000 pages in total. re forms also. i put it off for months before i bought my course. one of the good people on here sent me an e-mail about this course. he too had bought it. he told me that it was a super buy, and that i should give it a try. so i did. im amazed with all the info that barry put in this course. give it a shot. its worth every cent !

what kind of info does it have you find most valuable and could not find anywhere else?

well theres not a course that teaches something that you cant find anywhere else. of course you can find all this info elsewhere. thing is, how long would it take for one to collect all this info ? a long time. plus you get tons of forms that you will need. plus, you get some software. then he gives you a few e-books. if this isnt enough, barry helps you along if needed by e-mail. he has a fast reply too. ive use him already once. this course is over 900 pages of info. its easy to follow. its the best money ive spent. $100.00 is cheap. he should be asking at least twice that. if barrys course cant get you started within two weeks, ya might as well hang it up ! yes hes that good ! a jr high school kid could do it the way barry explains it.

Can someone explain to a newbie what a “bird-dog” is?

in short, a bird dog is one who finds property for an investor. should the property be bought by said investor, the one who presented the investor with the lead ( the bird dog ) gets a small commision for his time.
this being in short mind you.

So ‘bird-dogging’ is if you plan to charge a commission for your work, rather than flipping the property to the investor and keeping the difference. So why would someone bird-dog a property, rather than trying to go for the bigger money in flipping? And, if you charge a commission, what is an average fee or percentage?

fee’s usually run 1% of buying price, but no less than $500. there would be several reasons one would bird dog. low risk, low cash to get started, need to learn more about rei. one might now want to get involved with rehabbing or flipping. high risk, high costs. these are only to name a few, but the list goes on and on.besides, theres a demand for bird dogs in some places.

Thats some good info.

Still seems to me that you are settling for a small fee, when you could get the house under contract and flip it to a rehabber for the difference. As a complete newbie with little cash to invest – I’m hoping to get a foreclosure for a VERY GOOD price which I can flip to an investor for a PRETTY GOOD price. I guess ‘bird-dogging’ is a good approach for if/when I get something at more realistic prices?

ok as a newbie, what if before you know what your doing, you buy your property, but soon find yourself over your head in the deal ? then being over your head, what if you cant flip the property ? then your stuck with it. now what ? bird dogging is a good way to start. by doing this, you can learn the ropes by some of the more seasoned guys/gals at no risk. also along the way you can be putting together your rei team. “net working”. but its your choice. all you have to lose is your money that you have to get started with. some people got started w/o doing the bird dog thing. but i have to much to lose. im gonna play it safe as i can for a while. my time for the “good deals” will come in time. one must learn to crawl be for one runs the 100 yrd dash. fools rush in. but as i said, plenty have skipped the lower steps on the rei ladder, and have come out just fine. but i wonder how many have gotten in way over their head because they were in a rush?

Well I dont plan to do anything more than get the property under contract. If I find out later that there’s something wrong with the house, some other lien, etc… I’d tear up the contract? Am I being naive?

Leiter, if you’re willing to throw away your earnest money you put down for the contract then feel free to tear it up. The bottom line is make sure you have an “out” before signing a contract to purchase a house. Have quite a few investors lined up, know what they’re looking for and then find the house so you can almost gaurentee one of them will be interested in closing the deal FAST. Worst case scenario you have a great deal under contract but could not find an investor in the promised amount of time…BUY THE HOUSE YOURSELF with creative financing…if the deal is good enough for you to put under contract the money will find you.

As far as bird dogging, yea I bought Barry’s course. Some great information but you have to weed out and apply the truly useful ideas, and trust me there are plenty. I plan on applying his ideas for finding leads along with some other ideas and then ultimately wholesaling the houses. I may start bird dogging but right now there’s so much I’m learning that I can’t help but thinking about taking it as far as I can with my resources…GOOD LUCK.

Is it too naive to think I can get a house under contract for as little as $10? (As my many gurus who got my to spend $1500 on thier courses suggest I do?)

not at all…remember you should be dealing with MOTIVATED SELLERS so most of them will not care what earnest money you put down.

Just curious, what courses did you buy? These are some pretty basic questions you are asking…

Which courses HAVEN’T I checked out! :slight_smile:

Well I’ve read/listeneed to Ron LeGrand, who suggested the $10 deposit, and a contract with ‘weasel clauses’. Also saw Dwan Bent-Twyford twice, who also recommended $10 deposits for flipping foreclosures.

My questions are ‘basic’ only because I’m trying to understand the concept behind “bird-dogging”. Trying to understand the benefits of bird-dogging, since there seem to be plenty of risk-free ways of getting the contract yourself, and making bigger profits.

Leiter, your absolutely correct, there are other ways and that is why you need to apply what you learn. Bird dogging is the most basic and simple way to get your foot in the door but a great bird dog may be blind to the potential money he could be making. Imagine a great “bird dog” that didn’t just bird dog but wholesaled all his leads…now there’s an opportunity for money…

OK glad to know I was on the right track! Thanks! :slight_smile:

first off, lets keep an eye on our so called “guru’s” for a moment. most of these guys are salesmen. and they do a good job at it. sales. lets pull up john t reeds web site and look up the likes of ron legrand, and a few others. as far as a 10 dollar deposit goes, i dont think any real deal would be taken serious with a $10 deposit. the “guru’s” pump you up with the possible, not the probable. if it sounds to good to be true, chances are it is. if rei were as easy as the “guru’s” make it out to be, then everybody would be doing it. as i said, they are salesman. my advice is to join your local rei club and ask for advice there. ask for the advice of some of the seasoned pro’s. they can offer you sound advice from years of experience. i did, bird dogging was the advice they gave. skipping a step here and there because it seems less important doesent build a strong foundation. besides, bird dogging the right way will teach you how to go down to the court house and use the public records. theres a wealth of info for the investor and bird dog alike there. but very few know how to use the records properly. a friend of mine has over 8 million dollars worth of property. 90% single family homes, all of which he claims to have found through the public records. by the way, hes been in it for18 yrs. he too started out as a bird dog. now hes a retired chief justice, and re investor. he just sets back and collects the checks. i guess theres a lot to be said for a solid foundation.

Be careful about calling your increase a “fee” or “commission” if you do not hold a real estate license. Depending on your state’s laws, you might be found to be acting as a broker without a license and be subject to criminal or civil penalties. I found this out first hand (fortunately I was prepared and never used the terms “fee” or “commission”) when I found myself in a real estate lawsuit about 8 years ago.

The defendant’s attorney tried several times to trip me up. The questions and answers went something like this:

Q: “So you are basically the broker then?”
A: “No. I buy at one price and sell at a higher price”.

Q: “So how much is your typical commission?”
A: “I don’t earn commisions. I earn a profit.”

Q: “So when you help a homeowner sell their house, what sort of fee do you usually get”?
A: “I don’t help a homeowner sell. I contract to buy their house myself. And I don’t receive a fee for doing this.”

You get my point. He never got anywhere with me because I knew exactly what he was trying to do.

Words are dangerous things. Use them respectfully.

Ah… thats interesting stuff! Good to keep in mind, thanks!