Question On Bird Doggin'
Hello all, my question is this--when starting out as a bird dog, is it better to go after investors first (sign contracts, etc.) or jump in on advertising to the property owners. I'm just wondering if it would be more appealing to the investors if I had something to offer when we talk for the first time.
thanks!
Sean
I went after the investors first so that I had some kind of an idea of what type of property they were looking for or what type they invest in.
You will find that some investors like to rehab and some like to flip and some like vacant houses.
Just my way of doing it.
peoria is right. You will need to know what type of properties to look for. If you do the marketing and get the response, all of a sudden you are left scrambling to find investors. If you can't find the investors, the sellers get frustrated, and no one replies to your marketing.
My $0.02
J
just to play devil's advocate, depending on what level of service, u can find properties first. if u just compile a listing of stuff that's available to u so that u can accomodate any type of investor, that's fine (i do this myself), b/c u have somethin to show them right away. however, don't waste time in actually contacting the owners until u kno that's what someone (investor) in particular is looking for - or like everyone else said - people will get frustrated at u.
i hope this helps.
thank you all for replying. I appreciate your responses because they give a newbie a good idea on where to start.
thanks again, sean
From what I read here, bird-dogs can make quite a living working with an REI. My question is: besides drawing up a contract, what protection does the bird dog have from having the investor bypass him/her to gain possession of a property? Wouldn't court/legal fees used to fight the unethical REI surpass the bird dog fee owed?
Does the bird-dog ask for part of his fee first before revealing the lead?
Forgive me...I haven't bought the bird dog book yet. But I am considering it.
Try to cover your bases.
Investors are more than happy to tell what they are looking for as far as property to purchase.
They want the deal to come to them and are willing to pay for the service.
Many only pay when the deal is done.
So, do good research on a property and make sure it conforms to what the investor wants and you will be more likely to see that deal go through and make money.
Once you have a list of investors lined up you can then start looking for movtivated sellers to pair them up with.
The motivated seller part is more likely to require more time and effort. Best to have your investors ready to go then pick up your sellers.
I am sure others do it the other way around and have success as well.
I am working on a property right now that i will have to find an investor for since I don't have any commercial property investors in mind at the moment.
But, I just happened by the property and decided it might be worth the time to pursue it.
There is REI club meeting next week. I will likely be able to find my investor there.
Rick G.
I would build the buyer list first and ask each investor for the kind of property they are looking for, price range, area, financing, etc. Based on that you can filter a lot of dead-ends first.