Bird-dogging question

[Nicholas Hollingsworth]

As I am still realitively new to RE investing, I still find myself needed to make money sometimes. I have been having success flipping houses with my Dad, but while we have our contractors working on the current round of properties, we don't have any cashflow. So I asked my father if he would mind if I did some bird dogging on the side, and he gave me his blessing. Which made me ask about what I would have to do actually bird dog for another investor. And led me to the following questions...

My questions are:

• How do you go about advertising your service?
• How do you recommend I get paid? 1099? Under-the-table? (I would prefer under-the-table, if it's a good idea.)
• Can a contract be written out to ensure I get paid?
• I want to make my service as inexpensive as possible, but still pay the bills. What would be good price points to charge for my service?
• Do most investors expect me to inspect the properties personally before I give them a deal?

I don't want to sound like a sales pitch, but I am very active seeking properties everyday on Zillow, Trulia, ect, and I also look at online auctions, sheriff's sales, wholesaler inventories, and I talk to REO brokers too. So the work it's self is very familiar to me. I just need to know what to do with the advertising bit and the nitty gritty side of the business.

[Michael Evans]

Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that being a bird dog requires the amount of time and effort as being a wholesaler.  A bird dog is focused on screening properties that fit the wholesaler's criteria.  The bird dog doesn't interact with the property owner, doesn't make offers and doesn't tie up a property with a purchase contract.  You have to determine how much effort and time you want to put in.

Bird dogs usually get $500 - $1,000 per closed deal, while the wholesaler is looking to get $5,000 - $10,000 per closed deal.  There are many wholesalers who will pay you under the table, but I wouldn't recommended it.  You can enter into a very simple agreement that identifies the property you located for the wholesale and if they close the deal or assign it to another person and receive money for it, you receive a specified dollar amount.  These are simple one-page agreements where you will in the blanks.  The main thing is that if you provide good leads that turn into closed deals form which the wholesaler makes money, they will gladly pay you because you've made their job easier and they can spend more time dealing deals rather than looking for deals.

Just my two cents.