Maintaining a good relationship with your Realtor (BirdDog)

[fixNflip]

Scenario:

Your a bird dog who is constantly trying to generate leads for investors.  Obviously you will need the help of realtors (MLS, comps, etc)

My question is ... assuming that an established investor already has their own respected realtor that they work with... how is one to maintain a good relationship with a realtor if the sale is never closed through them?.....

thank you

[fixNflip]

anyone?

[wendy]

In your scenario there is very little motivation for a Realtor.  You don't close, you don't sell, unless you pay a Realtor for their actual time spent they are just doing you lots of "favors".

[fixNflip]

so normally bird dogs have their own realtor that usually closes or how does it work?  If I had access to the MLS and sold comps and I wouldn't need a realtor for too many "favors".

[wendy]

you would only have that access if you were a Realtor as mls is owned and operated by local Board of Realtors.  A traditional Realtor working on commission would have no reason to work with you, unless you either pay them a fee for service, or are going to be in the market for property, that you will actually close on as a seller or buyer.

[fixNflip]

wendy thanks for your reply..i appreciate it.  i understand what your saying....but i still am not sure how normal bird dogs go about getting all of their research complete. surley they cant possibly use the same realtor to close deals when working with different investors, etc.  

=\

thanks again

[wendy]

I think you are missing the point, if you are wholesaling you are a prospect/client worth working with, if not and you are just passing on info for profit (not legal unless licensed in many states) you are not a client or customer a Realtor can afford to spend time on.

[fixNflip]

Bird Dog - someone who identifies a potential good real estate investment opportunity and passes that deal on to another investor for a fee.


a bird dog dosnt use thier own capital; no risk.


does all the research, gets together the contract contingencies..passes it on to an investor who has the $$$....(charges a fee)


so where am i off here?  appreciate your time.

[wendy]

what state are you in?
that activity is illegal in state of texas and florida

[fixNflip]

Las Vegas, NV

[wendy]

open to your interpretation but here is your states law:

81-885.45
Acting without license or certificate; penalty.


                        Any  person  or  subdivider  acting  as a
broker, salesperson, or subdivider without having first  obtained
the  required  license or subdivision certificate or while his or
her license or subdivision certificate is under suspension  shall
be guilty of a Class II misdemeanor.

[$Cash$]

fixNflip,

Glad to meet you.

Every once in a awhile I like to post this to tell how it really is for Bird Dogs.

The local Real Estate Boards impose regulation relevant to the distribution or aid in distribution of a homestead with the intent to protect the consumer (and in some rare cases monopolize the marketplace).
 
Whether or not this legislation is put into place in a criminal or a civil context, it does appear fairly evident that the enforcement of this legislation would be limited to that of:
 
a) When a consumer is being blind-sided (ie: you are acting on his or her behalf without proper licensing and steering him/her wrong)
 
b) You are continuously taking a "fee" for selling real estate.
 
If you are working with an investor, and you are paid by the investor, who has experience in real estate transactions, and you are not party to that transaction (ie: a consultant) you should, (this is not to be construed as legal advice) be ok, for the following reasons:
 
1) You are taking a fee for selling information, not real estate (nobody can prevent you from charging $5.00 to tell him or her were the nearest gas station is, or where the nearest "deal" is)

2) Even if legislation was in place to protect the consumer, you have conducted no harm to the consumer....so in a semi-perfect world, you can indeed pay for a lead on a house!

I think it is important to know, most investors are opposed to the local Real Estate Boards attempting to corner the market on Buying/Selling properties, I am certainly of the opinion that the local Boards would like to see no investors/creative RE at all so that they can continue to take a small chunk out of every property sold and have the properties sold according to their "rules & regulations".

There is also such a thing as a simple Partnership Agreement, thereby making you and the investor principals in the transaction.  The Bird Dog is bought out of the Partnership by the investor, thereby violating no State Statute.

Also, your best deals do not come from realtors they come from networking with everyone you meet, passing out business cards, calling ad's in the newpaper that say I Buy Houses and seeing what they need, etc..

When a realtor gets a super good deal it is called a "back pocket listing" and never sees the MLS, the property is sold to a list of folks the realtor has a repoir with or the realtor purchases the property and resells it themselves.  I am not saying anything is wrong with this just real life.

Your can research a property without a realtor easily, as there are plenty of services out there that give you comps, owners names, mortgage information, plus much more.

John $Cash$ Locke

[wendy]

Real Estate Boards do not legislate, that is up to the individual state's real estate commissions, Boards are peer/professional organizations.  

[fixNflip]

Thank you Ca$h for the excellent clarification

[David A. Hurlbrink]

I prefer to leave my birddogs as principals in the transaction....as long as they have on paper, documented "skin" in the game all is well with the Real Estate Commission. Is it more expensive to me, could I pay what the other guys do? Sure, but I make it up in volume and sleep very well at night. I give my birddogs the opportunty to choose from a large upfront payment at COE with a interest in the deal or straight interest in the deal upon termination. The result is my birddogs are well compensated both upfront in cash (their choice) and at termination of the deal (Minimum 10% net profit) and have a tendency to bring me deals after they're set financially. It's win-win all around. Wouldn't work for everybody, but I don't worry about violating laws...
Dave