Bird Dogging
What are the legalities of taking a bird dog fee in Florida? Do you have to be licensed to make money?
What are the legalities of taking a bird dog fee in Florida? Do you have to be licensed to make money?
ccstudentid,
Glad to meet you.
The local Real Estate Boards impose regulation relevant to the distribution or aid in distribution of a homestead with the intent to protect the consumer (and in some rare cases monopolize the marketplace).
Whether or not this legislation is put into place in a criminal or a civil context, it does appear fairly evident that the enforcement of this legislation would be limited to that of:
a) When a consumer is being blind-sided (ie: you are acting on his or her behalf without proper licensing and steering him/her wrong)
b) You are continuously taking a "fee" for selling real estate.
If you are working with an investor, and you are paid by the investor, who has experience in real estate transactions, and you are not party to that transaction (ie: a consultant) you should, (this is not to be construed as legal advice) be ok, for the following reasons:
1) You are taking a fee for selling information, not real estate (nobody can prevent you from charging $5.00 to tell him or her were the nearest gas station is, or where the nearest "deal" is)
2) Even if legislation was in place to protect the consumer, you have conducted no harm to the consumer....so in a semi-perfect world, you can indeed pay for a lead on a house!
I think it is important to know, most investors are opposed to the local Real Estate Boards attempting to corner the market on Buying/Selling properties, I am certainly of the opinion that the local Boards would like to see no investors/creative RE at all so that they can continue to take a small chunk out of every property sold and have the properties sold according to their "rules & regulations".
There is also such a thing as a simple Partnership Agreement, thereby making you and the investor principals in the transaction. The Bird Dog is bought out of the Partnership by the investor, thereby violating no State Statute anywhere.
Welcome on board this board, haven't heard of any Bird Dog's having to be licensed yet even in Florida.
John $Cash$ Locke
Thanks for the quick reply...
As I read further and learn more I am trying to get a better understanding of how it works. I have seen some other postings (not on this site) that say bird dogging is illegal, but what i think they are getting at is misreprestenting yourself to a seller.
My understanding is that for the most part, being a bird dog is just a temp way to get into the business and then doing trx on your own.
Hi ccstudentid,
Bird-dogging is a great way to get started. Most beginner bird-dogs simply find leads and pass the info along to Investors, thus there really is no direct contact with the seller, and no chance for misrepresentation. Good luck.
[addsig]