Is Bird-Dogging Legal???

[Heather Finley]

Is it not legal to have someone pay you an assignment fee if they take over your contract?

[Account Closed]

Originally posted by "GetSmart":

the bird dog is simply telling an investor about a lead. people get paid all the time for leads. what do you call those on line companies that sell leads for $45? How many of them are being attacked by the real estate commission? i can bet you its not worth their time.

No believing something changes nothing about the situation.

1. You can sell information. You can sell lists. The sale is not contingent on the deal closing between the buyer and seller. The bird dog in this case is an information broker or a list broker. They will be paid $X dollars for a list and the amount will be tiny.

2. Most RE newbies that want to be bird dogs want to get paid for deals that close. They want a chunk of money that is way past a few dollars for a name, address, phone number. Hundreds of dollars is what people normally expect and they are fine with waiting until the deal closes. It is because the payment is contingent based on the deal closing that the fee crosses the line.

John Corey