BiggerPockets

Good morning,

2 questions:

1) In a nutshell, what experiences have people had with bird dogs? Have you guys done deals off of them, or do they just consume your time?

2) There are a few bird dogs and aspiring wholesellers who I might want to work with me.
There is a fine line between helping people develop, and straight up training your competition, especially if they live in the same town. However, the motivated people will succeed no matter what, so you might as well be a part of their growth.

So the question is, what kind of learning curve should I plan for them to ensure that we're both going to benefit and they dont feel like they're wasting their time, while giving them the room to grow and figure things out on their own?

Big questions I know...eager to hear your thoughts.

thanks,

Paul

Paul

Great topic. As I read and do more research on ways to speak to more motivated sellers, I'm finding out how good a resouce bird dogs can be

Whether you're a novice real estate investor or you've been at it for years, real estate investing is an endless series of challenges. First, you have to locate motivated sellers. Then you have to buy it right, manage it even better, and still find a way to turn a profit. To top it off, you have to try to do all these things while simultaneously juggling the myriad other details of your life while laying the groundwork to become a full-time investor.
There just isn't enough time in the day, is there?
Wouldn't it be nice if profitable deals would almost magically come to you?
Well, they can.
By putting Bird Dogs to work for you there's more time for you to concentrate your energies on more profitable activities: negotiating with sellers, putting together winning proposals, and moving on to the next deal.
In case you're not familiar with what a bird dog is - or what a bird dog does - they are basically scouts that sniff out deals for you. Their sole job is to locate properties that have motivated sellers and lay the groundwork for you to move in and close the deal. This saves you time for the really profitable aspects of real estate investing.
While all bird dogs are not Realtors, Realtors have a huge advantage over non Realtor bird dogs, for obvious reasons: They have access to the local MLS, FLMS listings, they know the neighborhood, they know how long the homes are on the market, they know what buyers are looking for, they know what it will take to get it in resale condition, they have access to motivated buyers and sellers or can find them for you.
Without motivated sellers you can't put together real estate deals. The problem you have is there are only so many hours in the day for you to do everything that needs to be done. If you still have a full-time job working for someone else you have even less time available for your marketing and prospecting efforts. If you assume that marketing - of which locating motivated sellers is a critical part - takes 20%-25% of your time, you can easily see how little time that leaves for the other activities you need to be doing on an on-going basis to reach your goals.
By having a bird dog or bird dogs doing these things for you it allows you to better utilize the time resources you have at your disposal. A good bird dog isn't born: they're made. It's going to take a little effort on your part to help your bird dogs help you. The best way for you to do this is by clearly articulating to them what you need. Again, here is where Realtors can be invaluable, because you will spend less time bringing Realtors up to speed as they already have had extensive training.
The good news is that there are plenty of people willing to be bird dogs. They could be friends, family members, or others you come in contact with. You can also work with novice real estate investors through your local REIA to locate properties for you. It's also relatively easy to put together larger teams of bird dogs by utilizing message boards, Craig's List, and other online resources. If all else fails you can run a newspaper ad of your own. The main point here is that bird dogs will free up more of your time so you can do those things that have a greater probability of earning you money.
Bird dogs can be the path to your real estate investing goals. The finder's fees you'll pay your bird dogs for bringing deals to you are more than offset by the value - and the wealth - they'll generate for you. Take the time to learn how to work with bird dogs in reaching your investing dreams. As you get better at working with bird dogs you'll find that you have more time and money for other pursuits - like deciding what to tell your boss when you quit your full-time job and take the plunge into full-time real estate investing.

To find them is easy...go to a local REI club, and shake hands with a few dozen of the guys that strike you as motivated. Let them know you're looking for bird dogs. Of 1 dozen 4 will call, of those 1 will not be a tire kicker.

Also anytime someone calls your sign with a non-deal they're trying to wholesell, get all that persons info and offer to help them out.

I've found that a semi motivated bird dog can bring you 3-5 solid leads a week if you stay on top of it.

The hard part for me has been keeping those people motivated once they're first half dozen leads that they were so excited about end up going nowhere.