How much would you pay a bird dog?

Question

How much should I pay bird dogs?

A percentage or a set rate?

I'm leaning towards a percentage, because that seems more fair, but i'm open to suggestions either way.

Thanks guys!

Lydia R. · Answer

@Jared Abbott I use bird dogs all the time, what to pay them really depends on how much information they are bringing you or work that they are doing. If its just the standard, I did some driving for dollars and there is a list of vacant properties (plus photos) then thats $500 on each one that I can successfully put under contract and close. For warmer leads, bird dog has spoken with the owner already and the owner wants to sell and they are passing me the contact info, that can be as much as $1500. It all depends.

Account Closed · Answer

You need to set criteria for what you want a deal to look like. If you don't, they'll throw anything at you and hope you decide on one. At that point, you may as well just have a real estate agent put an automatic MLS search for you and comb through the deals yourself. Also, when would you be paying them? When you buy the house, when you move into a contract, when they bring you the right deal? Make sure they know when they get paid and what qualifies a good deal.

Jared Abbott · Answer

Thanks for your replies, very helpful.

Jared Abbott · Answer

@Lydia T. Wow, love this!

Aaron K. · Answer

@Jared Abbott bird dogging is more work than anyone thinks and on a per hour basis pay is poor, if you are looking for more bang for your buck you might just develop an automated system to comb MLS.  Most bird dogs don't have the resources to find off market properties, and if you pay a decent rate you might have more success with direct mail anyway.

Jared Abbott · Answer

@Aaron K. I have in mind people who already have a fulltime job, but who want to make some more money on the side.

A good example is from the podcast, where they used uber drivers as bird dogs.

Aaron K. · Answer

@Jared Abbott what are you expecting them to do?  Unless you have a relatively low bar it probably isn't going to be enough.

How much would you pay a bird dog?

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