All Forum Posts by: Matt H

First off don't say it's not good to put on the market. It sounds "absolutely perfect" to put on the market. People don't expect everything to be perfect. And people know that lots of houses on the MLS are not in great shape, but they still sell all day long. So the first thing is to get it on the MLS immediately. Also call up some of these "I buy houses" people and see if they'll buy it for anything reasonable. Also put out a tiny classified ad in your major newspaper. I guarantee that if you do these 3 things alone chances are won't take long to sell if the price is reasonable to low. But just remember you normally "can not" get both a good price and liquidate quickly. At best you get a decent price, or you get a low price but it sells fast.

If you did a deal that made you $10,000,000 dollars net, what would you do with it? The reason I ask is because I figured out something interesting just the other day. But then I started debating what on earth one would do with that kind of money if things worked out?

Buy one someplace where you like to visit. That way you can stay there for free. As for materials, well check amazon.

Yes it's okay to switch realtors. And I believe you do have to sign something that cancels the listing. Some will let you out of the contract others will not and you have to just wait until it expires. But listing contracts do help you in that your product goes onto the mls were thousands of other realtors and buyers are looking at it regularly. It's the best system out there for selling a house. But if you're talking about one of those exclusive agreements to have your realtor represent you. Never sign those. If you have see if you can get out of it. If they won't let you, then just ignor that realtor for a while. Don't talk to them at all, don't answer their calls or anything. Eventually they will forget about you and you can find a different realtor to represent you. But don't sign an agreement with the next realtor. Just verbally ask them to help you find something. Not in writing.

schockergd....

You mentioned your new to REI. Does that mean that you plan to actually invest in realestate such as doing flips or holding rentals? Or are you thinking that you want to just get into the instructional side of it? There's different areas you can get into. I think ideally you should concentrate your effort on actually becoming a successful REI first. Then later after you have a proven track record and no need for anymore money that you could get into the instructional side of it for fun. I kinda do that in this forum as just a way to help people. As far as a show, well, in my option if I were you I'd just ask yourself where you wanna be in 5 years, and would a show do that for you? To be honest it's a catchy idea, but I doubt it would succeed. We already know buying a property to flip or hold would almost be guaranteed to succeed. So stick with flipping and holding and doing what a REI does best. As they say "those who can't do teach". And we all know that's the truth.

just to clarify:

When you buy property in Alberta there's two types of sales that can occur. A) a private sale or B) a sale that is under contract with a realtor. In the case of A, you can write up an agreement together. It simply has to list all the details of the house. You can find these FSBO house purchase agreements from "Self Counsel Press". Or by asking a realtor to just give you one of their contracts and use that. Just cross out the parts that involve the realtor.

Or if it's listed with a realtor then your purchase involves at least 1 realtor. The sellers agent. And you can choose to include your own realtor as well if you'd like. The realtors will draft up the sale agreement with you on their standardized purchase contract.

In terms of all this birddoggy stuff I think it works like this:

Birddoggying is like getting a finders fee. So you find a an investor(s) and agree to something, you should put it in writing even if it's not legally binding, using some form of birddog contract such as the one shown below that someone else had posted. That way your investor who probably doesn't know the law that well will think they are legally bound to pay you the finders fee. So you find a property that fits the investors needs. Bring it to them and if they buy it then according to the agreement you should be paid a small commission. Keep in mind that by law you have to have a realtors license to be paid that commission. Otherwise it's known as "birddogging". Which I think is illegal in some places, but still widely done anyway. What I would do though is before or while presenting the deal to your investor, tell them that if they buy this one that you will immediately go out and try to find them some more good properties. Don't mention fees but make it sound as though you'll continue to work hard for them. That way they'll most likely feel obligated to pay, at least if they want to have you on their side working to find them deals. This requires no capital or credit to do.

And the other and better way of birddogging in "wholesaling". That is where you fill out a purchase contract with the seller or sellers agent. That way the property goes "pending" until you remove conditions. During that period you can assign the paper contract to someone else. So you sell the contract to another investor. They buy it for a fee plus the payout of your deposit. This is legal and enforcable. And much easier to actually get paid because the investor is actually buying something from you. It's not just considered hearsay about some deal. You already have the deal tied up and now will sell the them. You have to put "and or Nominee" after your name on the contract under the "buyer" so that the seller knows that you make mention in the contract that you have the option to assign it to someone else. This requires some capital to tie up the property, but you don't need any credit.
=========================================

Bird Dog Consulting Agreement

This Agreement is made effective as of ____________, 2007, by and between ____________________
______________________________________________ (“hereinafter “Buyer” or “Seller” [circle one]),
of _______________________________________, and ____________________________________, of
_________________________________________________.
In this Agreement, the parties who are contracting to receive services shall be referred to as the "Seller" or the "Buyer" [circle one], and the party who will be providing the services shall be referred to as the "Consultant". The Seller and/or the Buyer desire to have services provided by the Consultant. Therefore, the parties agree as follows:

1. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES. Beginning on ____________________, 2007, the Consultant will provide the following services (collectively, the "Services"): a real estate, locator, referral and contact service.

2. PERFORMANCE OF SERVICES. The manner in which the Services are to be performed and the specific hours to be worked by the Consultant shall be determined by the Consultant. The Seller and/or the Buyer will rely on The Consultant to work as many hours as may be reasonably necessary to fulfill the Consultant's obligations under this Agreement.

3. PAYMENT. The Seller, through the Buyer, will pay a locator, referral and/or contact fee to the Consultant for the Services equivalent to $______________ (_______%) of the total proceeds derived from the sale and/or purchase of the certain property located, referred and/or contacted as requested by Seller and/or Buyer, or a flat fee in the amount of $_______________ for services as described in Paragraph 1 above. All fees due to Consultant shall be payable in a lump sum upon completion of the Services unless otherwise further negotiated between the Seller and/or the Buyer and the Consultant. Upon termination of this Agreement, payments under this paragraph shall cease; provided, however, that the Consultant shall be entitled to payments for periods or partial periods that occurred prior to the date of termination and for which the Consultant has not yet been paid.

4. TERM/TERMINATION. This Agreement shall terminate automatically upon completion by the Consultant of the Services required by this Agreement.

5. RELATIONSHIP OF PARTIES. It is understood by the parties that the Consultant is an
Independent contractor with respect to each, and not an employee of either. Neither the Seller’s and/or Buyer's business shall provide fringe benefits, including health insurance benefits, paid vacation, or any other employee benefit, for the benefit of the Consultant under this Agreement.

6. EMPLOYEES. The Consultant's employees, if any, who perform services for the Seller and/or Buyer under this Agreement shall also be bound by the provisions of this Agreement. At the request of either the Seller or the Buyer, the Consultant shall provide adequate evidence that such persons are theConsultant's employees.

7. CONFIDENTIALITY. The Business recognizes that The Consultant has and will have the following information:
- Prices
- Costs
- Future plans
- Business affairs
and other proprietary information (collectively, "Information") which are valuable, special and unique assets of the Seller and/or the Buyer and need to be protected from improper disclosure. In consideration for the disclosure of the Information, the Consultant agrees that the Consultant will not at any time or in any manner, either directly or indirectly, use any Information for the Consultant's own benefit, or divulge, disclose, or communicate in any manner any Information to any third party without the prior written consent of the Seller or the Buyer. The Consultant will protect the Information and treat it as strictly confidential. A violation of this paragraph shall be a material violation of this Agreement.

8. UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION. If it appears that The Consultant has disclosed (or has threatened to disclose) Information in violation of this Agreement, The Seller and/or the Buyer shall be entitled to an injunction to restrain the Consultant from disclosing, in whole or in part, such Information, or from providing any services to any party to whom such Information has been disclosed or may be disclosed, notwithstanding that this Agreement is not exclusive to the Seller and or the Buyer, and the Consultant shall be allowed to use such confidential information under identical agreement with any other third party who may be interested in purchasing the Seller's and/or selling to the Buyer up to and until the time the Seller and/or the Buyer have entered into their agreement(s) to consummate a financial transaction. The Seller and/or the Buyer shall not be prohibited by this provision
from pursuing other remedies, including a claim for losses and damages.

9. CONFIDENTIALITY AFTER TERMINATION. The confidentiality provisions of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect after the termination of this Agreement.

10. NOTICES. All notices required or permitted under this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed delivered when delivered in person or deposited in the United States mail, postage prepaid, addressed as follows:

IF for The Seller and/or The Buyer:
___________________________________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________________________

Print: _______________________________________ Date: ___________________________

IF for The Consultant:
___________________________________________________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________________________

Print: _______________________________________ Date:___________________________

Such address may be changed from time to time by either party by providing written notice to the other in the manner set forth above.

11. ENTIRE AGREEMENT. This Agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties and there are no other promises or conditions in any other agreement whether oral or written. This Agreement supersedes any prior written or oral agreements between the parties.

12. AMENDMENT. This Agreement may be modified or amended if the amendment is made in writing and is signed by all parties.

13. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, the remaining provisions shall continue to be valid and enforceable. If a court finds that any provision of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, but that by limiting such provision it would become valid and enforceable, then such provision shall be deemed to be written, construed, and enforced as so limited.

14. WAIVER OF CONTRACTUAL RIGHT. The failure of either party to enforce any provision of this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver or limitation of that party's right to subsequently enforce and compel strict compliance with every provision of this Agreement.

15. APPLICABLE LAW. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of [Florida].

Party receiving services:
___________________________ Buyer Seller]
By: ____________________________________________________
Name: ___________________________
Phone: ___________________________
Phone: ___________________________ (Cellular)

Party providing services:
___________________________ Consultant
By: ____________________________________________________
Name: ___________________________
Phone: ___________________________
Phone: ___________________________ (Cellular)

Ya but what good is it? I don't think you can inforce that in a court of a law because it's considered "birddogging". I could be wrong. But I think if it went to court it would be thrown out on the basis that the finder is not a licensed realtor. That being said, still use it if you're not going to wholesale, because the person you're doing business with likely will not know the law well enough, and as long as they think there's a contract in place they probably will pay the birddog fee anyway.

that is cheap. A new car costs more than that! Pay list and just get the thing if it's that cheap, or someone else likely will. Just to let you know the cheapest houses in my city go for about $200,000. And I'm talking this is the kind of house you would not want to live in because of the age and location. Something actually livable, yet tiny goes for $300,000.

never go duel agency. I thought that was illegal in the US? When you talk to someone find a realtor that only does residential for houses or only commercial for other. Do not use residential for commerical or visa versa. Find someone who's been in the industry for many years. Do not use someone who's new to the industry. But make sure who ever you use has the time and energy and willingness to commit to actually doing stuff. I find that some realtors are so lazy. You call them and you can't get ahold of them other than business hours. Well that shouldn't be because that comes with there line of work to be able to reach them on say a weekend if you find a deal. Or they won't drive somewhere or do something or whatever. Stay away from those types. You need someone who will act fast for you regardless of the circumstances. But I've run into some realtors who will tell you anything just to make a sale. I can name more than a few in recent weeks. Ya so anyway, ask around there's sure to be someone that's decent. Also it often helps if they have an assistant, or a team. That way you can at least reach someone.

mike_mn................

It's like this. In most areas apartment buildings can be converted into condos. All that's required is city approval getting a survey done and then getting a lawyer to draft up a few documents, such as reserve fund study, individual condo plans and titles, condo association and whatever else. Those things do not cost a lot to do. Usually no more than $3 to $5k per unit. Usually a condo will sell for about double what the per door price is on an apartment unit. So by converting to condos you can often increase the value of your building by double the price. And in some rare cases even more.

For example a smart real estate developer might look for an old decrepid building located in a trendy Manhattan area, or any other expensive downtown core. They buy it as a rental building for not that much. Then they renovate and sell off the units for top dollar. Donald Trump does this a lot. Buys a building and sells of units for millions each after renovating them.

But the rule of thumb is about double. All you have to do is check what 1 and 2 bedroom condos sell for in the same neighborhood to figure out how much you could expect them to be sold off for.

So if you bought a building say that has 30 units. And say you spent 1m to buy the building. So each unit costs $35k roughly. Then if you could sell them off individually as condos you might expect to make around $70k each as a condo. So you do the conversion which will cost some, depending on what upgrades are required to be done to the building. Such as upgrading common areas. Then you advertise them say for example as $70k plus a $10k credit for the owner to do renovations, so you the buyer gets it for $60k if he takes it as is. Plus you spent say $5k per door to convert it. So you're left with $20k profit per door. Times 30 doors = $600k net profit plus whatever downpayment you put into the building.

In my city currently almost every building is being sold specifically to condo convert them right now. But that's a whole other industry to learn. But the profits are always in the hundreds of thousands to millions.