Bird dog question during a phone interview..
Hey guys/gals,
I have a bird dog question.
Let's say you have a seller calling your "I have buyers 4 houses ad". After talking with the person, you feel that he is not that motivated, should I still pass on the lead in hopes of a sale? Another way to ask the question is, should I refer ALL my calls as leads to my buyers even though the lead may be not of high quality? Do experience bird dogs filter their calls to the buyers?
Just curious what you guys do.. I am about to start and will figure this one out quickly. Especially if my buyers are saying, "quit giving me those lame leads!" 
Thanks,
Bginvestor
if your buyers are saying quit it with the lame leads then they would probably like you to prescreen them first..... in order to be able to provide a good service and charge top dollar you want to pass on the sweet deals, the obvious deals, the you-better-get-on-this-before-i-go-to-someone-else deals....you don't want to waste your buyers time and destroy your credibility by passing along tire kickers, pretty soon, no one will listen to anything you pass on....
Don't wait for your buyer to tell you to stop with the lame leads. If you want buyers/investors to take you and your business seriously, only give them motivated sellers. A goof rule: Only pass on leads that you would want passed on to you if you were the investor. As a bird dog, you want to show value by finding motivated sellers. Investors can find plenty of unmotivated ones on their own. And they will not be happy having to sort through your unqualified leads. That's what they pay you for,right?
MidWest_Investor,
Glad to meet you.
I consider myself fairly proficient in creative real estate investing. When the seller calls me that is all the motivation I need. I set the appointment or my Bird Dog sets the appointment for me. I am the one who motivates the seller to sell to me.
I knew an investor who became so good at recognizing whether the sellers were motivated or not over the phone, he went out of business, no one was motivated enough for him.
The real professional investors only need to have the appointment set by a Bird Dog, it then becomes the investors job to get the deed.
The crystal ball for finding motivated sellers, has been clouded over for many years.
Welcome on board this board, just my way of doing things.
John $Cash$ Locke
$Cash$,
I like that last post. I guess it comes back to what was posted a while ago, the key is to team with professional investors. Investors that at times can turn lemons into lemonade.
Just my two cents......
[addsig]
furiousinc,
Your 2 cents were worth a $million dollars$ in this case.
Keep on Bird Dogging, you will soon seperate the wannabes for the real thing in creative real estate investing.
John $Cash$ Locke
John,
Nice to meet you too.
First, you have probably forgotten more information about CRE than I may ever learn, so I respect your opinion. And I agree that the investor needs to "sell" the seller on why going through with a particular transaction makes sense for them. However, if an investor gets leads from a Bird Dog that consistently are viewed as a waste of time don't you think that Bird Dog become less valuable?
Maybe I am way off base here and that most sellers who call can ultimately be convinced of the benefits. But in my short experience I talk to people who are curious about what I can offer but not really interested. Maybe I just don't have enough experience to turn those lemons into lemonade.
I know that for me, I want my partners/network to view me as a very productive team member, one that does not try and force deals. Maybe a flaw for me...
In the end, I agree with you and furiousinc that every contact presents an opportunity. Having a positive attitude and being motivated to make a deal happen is critical. At times, newbies like me may look for the perfect situation (i.e. very motivated seller, high profit margin, etc.) and pass off ones that need a different angle or approach.
MidWest_Investor,
This is an absolutely true story.
When I first started in this industry, I never read a real estate course, attended a seminar or even new what a Guru was.
Motivated sellers never heard the word before. I just set the appointment showed up an closed the deal.
If you stop an think about this, most of what we hear today was written by some course writter who has probably never closed a deal, but has a marketing organization behind them. Ron LeGrand doesn't even own his own name or ideas he sold out to a marketing company. This is not a bad comment about Mr. Legrand only a fact.
If every person who said over the phone to me ' this isn't one of those darn deals where the loan stays in my name is it?' I would have given up long ago.
My Bird Dogs are trained on what to say over the phone to the seller and set the lead for the investor, what the seller does with this information is up to them. My Bird Dogs are in this for the Big Bucks, and to learn the insustry.
I have often referred to 'information overload' whereas this business is basic by nature. The marketing people behind the Guru's have caused this with the new person today, I refer to it as 'hip-hop' investing for the new person, it is a round robin effect, they go full circle listening to the latest greatest way to invest and never really get started.
I have put some of my credentials out over this board, I know how to do Subject To deals and train my students to do them also. I have used Bird Dogs for years and know how to train them, most investors never realized the importance of Bird Dogs until I wrote the E-book now it is a different story.
Anyway enough of that look forward to your posts here at TCI, glad to have you here.
John $Cash$ Locke
I agree that every person that calls is a potential client.
Now if we as bird dogs are affraid to pass the lead on because it may be unproductive, we have two good option.
1. Find new investors who can work a client like John refers to, or
2. We can work the deal ourselves and not give it to a client... if it turns into lemonade, we can have it for ourselves or then pass it on.
Just tell the unmotivated clients you would still like to set up a meeting to get more information or to tell them more about what we do - then sit down with them work your magic, and make them into a lead you are proud of.
Never just throw a way a lead without trying to develop it first.
Thanks for all the great responses...
Bird dogging is a numbers game, the more you refer, the more you will make. And I want to make some $$..
With that said, we should keep in mind that individual investors are at their own levels of investing. Some will not know how to benefit from most selling situations, heck, some may only be comfortable spending money if its a no brainer.. I think trying to work with as many professional investors will benefit everyone the most since the investor can make more deals happen and the bird dog will get paid more frequently as well as getting mentored quicker and better!
Enough of the what if's, I'm going to go out and do it!!!
Thanks everyone,
Bginvestor
To All Bird Doggers & Investors,
I was asked a question about what a Bird Dog should charge, this way my response.
I believe the minimum any Bird Dog should receive is $500 for a small deal. Bird Dogs should charge a percentage of the investors profit on a deal normally aroung 10% so if the investor makes $20K you should recieve $2K. As a Bird Dog becomes proficient in this career field, then they can charge whatever the traffic will bear.
I will give you an example, a few years ago one of my Bird Dogs brought me a deal in Trona, CA. Population 300 on a good day, it was known at the "Gate Way to Death Valley". The property was a 21 unit Motel, 8 unit apartment complex and a restuarant. The properties were in good condition and the resuarant was closed but had all the equipment.
I met with the owner an elderly gentleman whose family had moved away to the big city and were not interested in staying in Trona. He owed $160,000, I offered him $3K for his equity, purchase it 'Subject To' the existing mortgage and we struck the deal.
I ran an ad in the Las Vegas Review Journal the first weekend after I got the Deed, $50K down, $350K total price, No Qualifying, etc., the ink had not dried on the Contract yet and the property sold. I gave my Bird Dog $25K and told him keep them coming and why not this was an extremely good deal for me.
I have been using Bird Dogs for many years, investors who do not are missing the boat, in my honest opinion.
John $Cash$ Locke
Question regarding bird dogging:
I have connections in homeowners claims departments. I have access to first notice of sinkhole(fl) and fire and mold claims.
Is it ethical to get this info and pass it on to investors. Is this info investors would want?
jack-fla,
Glad to meet you,
Yes, there are investors who would be interested in this information without a doubt.
As far as the legalities I do not see a problem there, I think this would be more of an ethical question as to whether you would devulge this information.
I would just ask, this may be a way to help get rid of some properties they might want to be rid of.
Welcome on board this board, keep on posting and joining in with the other members here at TCI.
John $Cash$ Locke