The excuse could be , "I lost my job " "My dog died ", I have to take care of my sick mother "  My job transfered me "  ( Only military  is acceptable )  .  

I know bird dog deals that are executed on usually go for $1000, what should I be paying him for finders fee?

Yep - I started buying houses for under $5,000 - therein was my wake-up call - my street seminar - the school of "hard-knocks -- guess what - I survived and made some serious profits from junk real estate in Baltimore.Looking back on all those cheap houses, I guess I was fortunate to have very little knowledge and even less money - I had no choice but to learn the creative aspects of investing - I used credit cards, I did subject-to's, delayed settlements, financing companies, tax sales and foreclosures -- I was forced to learn how to fix these dirty dogs - I would get on roofs with Jack-Legs to learn how to do them myself, hanging dry wall, the art of mud, electrical and carpentry ----- WOW was I ever lucky to be unemployed with no money and a force that pushed me to achieve cash flow or equity.

It's always easier to catch a dog when you run away from it then towards!

Because you’ll never learn the ins and outs, ups and downs and more importantly you need to find out if you love real estate because rentals are a get rich slow plan.2) MOST important!

He is aware of this policy.Now, he sent a request to have his sister's dog, a lab. 

There are plenty of agents, brokers, PMs, wholesalers, bird dogs, etc that can provide boots on the ground which I think is necessary. 

But again, that's how the big dogs do it, and I always told myself I want to be a big dog too :) If you plan on investing in 5+ unit buildings, you may as well get an LLC since you'll be in commercial financing anyway. 

I love real estate investing and look forward to many more opportunties.

This is why I love real estate!