All Forum Posts by: Joe Cassandra

 Hey Curt. Definitely understand wholesaling. Makes sense.

I'm talking more from a standpoint of how to pay a bird dog legally.

Sounds like you recommend.

1. Bird dog tells me about property.

2. if the bird dog knows the person, bird dog puts home under contract then assigns to me.

3. If the bird dog doesn't know the person, I just buy it and pay bird dog at closing because they aren't brokering anything.

 Thanks Curt! In GAREIA, trying to make it to a meetup but evenings are tough with 3 small kids. During the day is easier

Sounds like you recommend just making this transaction and any bird dog into a wholesale contract. Is that something I can advertise claiming to offer 2500 for referrals.

I would just explain what they would need to sign.

I've always heard if a bird dog talks to a seller but then refers to you and you pay subject to closing that it is illegal as it is a form of brokering.

That's why I'm looking for ways to make it legal.

 Hi Nick, are we talking like someone gives a Christmas present?

What if it is someone not in my family? Thinking if I had a 1099 contract that they sign first then receive cash.

This event with my brother has prompted me to look for ways to recruit bird dogs.

My brother's landlord is looking to sell a distressed property. I want to give my brother a $2,500 referral fee for recommending and making the introduction. (I am not an agent, nor is my brother). 

What is the legal process here?

Is it ok to market for bird dogs? 

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If it's illegal, my thought is my brother puts the house under contract, then assigns it over to me (i.e. wholesale it) if it's too sticky to just write him a check after closing.

What do you do?

@Jaysen Medhurst Thanks Jaysen. I agree. I'm someone that forgives easily, but with this just being a cosmetic flip, I worry what would happen when we get into super guts. 

@Theresa Harris I was talking to my wife about that. "If they get done by the deadline, why do we care?" Well, we got that answer today. Turns out the subfloor that we know was uneven from Day 1 is not suitable enough for good, level flooring. Worse news, we found that out after we put on the LVP. Now, we have to replace the subfloor which takes a few days, more money, LVP we spent is now down the drain. The GC admitted they should've figured this out early on so they could've used those "dead" days to instead fix the subfloor. 

On top of that, subs are now crawling over each other rushing to get work done...are they cutting corners? Don't know. 

THanks @Joshua Parr, see what happened in the above paragraph. I think you're right about sitting down and making a schedule. Yes, they have 5 weeks, but they are stuffing 30-40% of the work into the last week which means the quality of work couldn't be as good as if they did the work without the pressure. 

Some may disagree with that as deadlines do get us hopping into gear. But, now that we have "last minute" delays that could've been avoided and taken care of throughout the weeks with many 'dead days', I think I'd like the work to be consistent throughout and not...do a little here, little there, push everything into the last week. 

NOTE: 

I've talked to the GC about timeline stuff all along. He admitted that they are experiencing growing pains and having trouble scheduling subs. Like I said, nice guys, just disorganized

Hi Adam, in GA too (I look only in Woodstock, Marietta and those others in Cherokee/Cobb). We've done just a couple deals, so still learning. Finishing up one now. 

I've found just in a short time...in Metro Atlanta, you really have to hustle to find your own deals. The good deals are bought up before any wholesaler brings them to light. The rest are then marketed. Worse, they put in an offer on MLS, it gets accepted, then they try and tack on 5-10k and flip you the contract.

That's why I'm setting up a DM campaign right now to send a few thousand letters each month. I'm trying to do more networking, but it's tough with 3 kiddos. But really comes down to hustling is what I'm learning. 

Where I am in Cherokee, MLS deals are as rare as Bigfoot. There may be a tiny amount if you can lowball them enough to accept, but it's tough.

Bottom-line from what I'm learning ---> need to find your own deals and bypass everyone else.

Working on a cosmetic flip. 

The contractor I found bid out another house but didn't get the job. I liked him though, good family business. Got 5-stars on Google/Thumbtack.

Gave him the next house. Pretty basic ---> kitchen, 2 baths, flooring, paint and windows

He gave me a 5 week timeline which I accepted. 

PROBLEMS:

1) Every time I visit the job site, no one is ever there. Stuff is moving slowly along, but not at the pace I thought. 

2) They seem inefficient. They painted the interior and exterior of the house first before any rough plumbing/electrical which is weird

3) Very slow to communicate. I'll ask for an update 1-2X per week, and it'll take sometimes more than a day to get a response. 

*Before anyone asks. All I've paid is an initial deposit. The job is about $50k. All I've given him after 4 weeks is $4k. I legit ask him every week "What do I need to pay you for the work you've done?" And he always says "I'll let you know." Then never gets me a number. So, no, I haven't paid him a lot upfront and he's ducked out. 

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I've brought up my concerns 2X with him about no one working. He is very nice, but always says something like "Oh, we are going through growing pains and having trouble getting subs managed to each job site." One of the reasons was his drywalll guy got hurt, or his tile guy had other work to do. 

We have one week until our deadline and there is still a lot to do. Technically, if they work 8-10 hours per day with multiple subs it could probably get done, but up to now, it seems they've only been working 10-12 hours per week on our jobsite. 

QUESTION: 

Should I have no expectation for how often a GC/Sub should be at the job site? It sounds like other people on here expect a 8 hour day with subs showing up at 7am (the sign of a good contractor). 

Again, my GC is very nice, hasn't taken any money or anything. Just seems very disorganized. Or do I have high expectations for how often they should be working

*FURTHER NOTES: 

1) I didn't haggle any of their prices

2) I get them materials when they ask for them (90% of the time the materials sit in the garage for a week+)

3) I don't badger them much at all. Again, just 1-2X per week I'll send them a message or they'll call/text me for something

What do you think?

Thanks a lot, Karen! Funny, as the last item on our flip is finding some good appliances. Will need to check them out :)

 Thanks a lot Ron, didn't know they had a oversupply store. That could be a perfect spot!

Found some sleek affordable granite/quartz in Granite Warehouse in Acworth. Pretty good selection with lots on clearance regularly.