Quite simply a Real Estate Bird Dog is a property locator for one or more investors.  The information this “Bird Dog” provides determines how much he is paid.  This information could be as little as an address of a distressed property or as much as the owners contact information, the reason for the sale and price.  I normally would not recommend a Bird Dog talking price with any homeowner.  The investor knows their intentions with the property and has more experience with negotiating and proper pricing.

Some Bird Dogs get their leads from networking and finding people that are motivated to sell for one reason or another.  Others look for the distressed property first and locate the owners by talking to neighbors or looking up tax records.  There are infinite ways to find these properties’s so be creative.

A Bird Dog should always talk expectations and fees with the investor before providing the properties.  This ensures that neither the Bird Dog nor the Investor is disappointed with the results.  Trust is a very important element between an investor and his Bird Dog.  A Bird Dog wants to trust that the investor will pay the fees after the deal is complete.  The investor wants to trust that the Bird Dog is not holding out the “good” deals or providing the same listing to another investor.  It takes some of the negotiating power away from the investor if there is another investor calling about the property.