What is a Bird Dog in real estate?
Bird Dog Real Estate
The bird dog is an important member of the the real estate investing team. In this overview, you will learn about real estate bird dogging. Let's get started!
What is a Bird Dog in real estate?
A bird dog is a person who identifies off market real estate for investors to purchase. In return, the bird dog is paid a fee by the investor.
Bird dogs focus on all types of real estate including single family residential real estate (1 - 4 units), multifamily residential, and commercial real estate. The only thing that matters is that the property and/or the owner is in distress or motivated to sell.
Driving for dollars
Driving for dollars is when you drive around neighborhoods looking for distressed properties.
How to find distressed properties
The most common "tell" for finding distressed properties and distressed sellers is to look for the following:
- Overgrown grass and hedges
- Gutter plants
- Tarp(s) on the roof
- Broken down cars on the driveway or yard
- Worn paint
- Rotted wood (door, trim
- Broken window(s)
- Mail piling up at the doorstep
- Trash accumulating
- Lights are off at night (vacant property)
Who does a bird dog work for?
Technically, a bird dog works for themself and provides their services to real estate wholesalers and real estate investors -- fix and flip and rental property investors.
Can I bird dog part time?
Many people get into real estate investing by bird dogging part time as a side hustle while working another primary job.
What does Bird Dogging mean?
Bird dogging means finding off market properties owned by motivated sellers. A bird dog looks for distressed properties in poor condition, or distressed sellers who need to sell fast.
Many blue collar professionals are well-positioned to bird dog. Mailmen, contractors, landscapers, municipal construction workers, cable repair technicians, roofers, truckers and delivery drivers are all exposed to distressed properties on a daily basis.
How to Bird Dog real estate
To bird dog real estate, you simply need to be observant and willing to spend the time researching.
How to be a Bird Dog real estate
- Identify distressed properties
- Identify real estate investors and wholesalers
- Establish a Bird Dog Agreement with your network of real estate investors and wholesalers
- Refer distressed properties to your network of real estate investors and wholesalers
Real estate Bird Dog PDF
You can make a PDF of your bird dog services and email it, mail it and hand it out to real estate investors and wholesalers that you network with.
Real estate investors looking for Bird Dogs
Real estate investors are always looking for distressed properties and are therefore generally happy to collaborate with bird dogs who provide timely and actionable insights that allow them a first mover advantage to submit an offer and place a property under contract.
- Submit properties to OfferMarket and receive referral rewards
- Network with real estate investors on local Facebook real estate groups
- Network with real estate investors through your local REIA
How to become a Bird dog in real estate
- Find distressed properties
- Do research to ensure the owners are motivated sellers
- Find real estate investors and wholesalers
- Set clear terms and expectations for how you will provide your service and be paid
- Refer distressed properties to your network of real estate investors and wholesalers
Real estate Bird Dog contract
You can create a simple 1-page Bird Dog Contract that sets clear expectations for service and payment. Ideally, your bird dog contract will include a non-circumvention agreement so investors do not go around you after you provide the distressed property lead. To be most thorough, you can contact a lawyer and have them draft a contract for you.
Email hello@offermarket.us and we will send you our simple Bird Dog Contract template.
Bird Dog for real estate investors
Being a bird dog for real estate investors is a great way to learn about real estate investing and make money. Build relationships with real estate investors and members of your community and opportunities will surely open up for you.
Bird Dog real estate software
While Propstream and Deal Machine are well-known bird dog real estate software programs, you do not need to pay for software to be a successful bird dog. The most important thing is to train yourself to identify distressed properties and talk to the owners.
Real estate Bird Dog affiliate program
OfferMarket works with bird dogs who refer distressed properties and distressed sellers. Learn more about our bird dog affiliate program.
Bird Dog fee real estate
The fee an investor is willing to pay to a bird dog varies on the following:
- value of the property
- status of the distressed property lead
- expected profit or fees the investor or wholesaler will earn
Some wholesalers pay a percentage of their assignment fee for sourcing qualified distressed seller leads. In this case, 25% is a reasonable amount. For an assignment fee of $5,000, that's $1,250. Payment is made at closing (when the wholesaler is paid by the end buyer).
Fix and flip and rental property investors typically pay a fixed fee that can vary based on the characteristics of the opportunity. Lead quality, property ARV, and market supply and demand all influence the fee an investor is willing to pay a bird dog.
Bird Dog real estate contract
Email hello@offermarket.us and we will send you our simple Bird Dog Real Estate Contract template.
How to be a bird dog in real estate
- Find distressed properties and motivated sellers
- Talk to motivated sellers
- Build relationships with investors and wholesalers
- Relay distressed property leads to investors and wholesalers
Real estate bird dog agreement
We will send you our simple Real Estate Bird Dog Agreement template, simply email hello@offermarket.us.
Real estate bird dog opportunities
If a property is visibly distressed or a seller is clearly motivated to sell and willing to sell to an investor, then there is an opportunity for you to make money as a real estate bird dog.
Be on the lookout for distressed properties and distressed sellers and build your network of cash buyers.
Real estate bird dogs needed
Bird dogs send distressed property leads and motivated seller leads to OfferMarket through our referral program. Local real estate investors and wholesalers are generally happy to work with bird dogs.
Bird dog real estate app
Deal Machine is bird dog real estate app that you can use while driving for dollars to send postcards and keep track of distressed properties in your market.
Bird dog real estate group
Many bird dogs work with a group of real estate investors and wholesalers who agree to pay a fair fee in exchange for distressed property and motivated seller leads.
Bird dog wholesale real estate
The skills you will learn and relationships you will build as a real estate bird dog will help you to become successful as a real estate wholesaler and working with real estate wholesalers.
Bird dog meaning real estate
A bird dog is a scout who finds real estate investing opportunities.
Related concepts
The offer you have received is typically contingent upon the results of a home inspection. The buyer...
The amount that the Buyer will be paying to the Seller in consideration for the Seller's real proper...
An addendum is a modification or revision to the executed Purchase And Sale Agreement (the "Agreemen...
The Contract Of Sale is the agreement between the Seller and Buyer wherein real property is being so...
A Trainee Appraiser is an individual training to become a licensed real estate appraiser who has com...
The Purchase And Sale Agreement ("PSA") between a Buyer and a Seller that outlines the terms of the ...
As Disbursed is a term used by private lenders when they are only charging interest for amount of a ...
A quadplex is a 4-unit house. Quadplexes are very attractive to rental property investors. There's m...
Net Operating Income ("NOI") = Revenue - Operating Expenses. Learn how to calculate NOI....
A Personal Financial Statement is a simple overview of your Assets, Liabilities and Income that is s...
Cash On Cash Return is the amount of cash flow your rental property generates as a percentage of the...
Gross Yield = Gross Annual Rent ÷ Current Market Value. Learn more about gross rental yield. ...
A Licensed Residential Appraiser is a licensed real estate professional who has completed at least 1...
A mortgagee clause is a provision included in a property insurance policy protecting the mortgagee (...
A double closing is when a buyer purchases a property from a seller and then immediately sells the p...
A Certified Residential Appraiser has completed at least 200 hours of appraisal education and accumu...
A mortgage loan originator or MLO is a licensed person or company who facilitates the mortgage proce...
The Nationwide Multistate Licensing System or NMLS is the system of licensure for mortgage companies...
A Certified General Appraiser has completed at least 300 hours of appraisal education and accumulate...
A short sale is a sale of real property in which with proceeds will not cover the outstanding mortga...
Dutch Interest is when a private lender charges interest on the full loan amount, including the cons...
Foreclosure is the legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a ...
Real estate appraisal is the process of developing an opinion of value for real property. Appraisals...
The Inspection Window is the amount of time (defined in the Purchase And Sale Agreement) that a Buye...
The After Repair Value (ARV) is the value of a property after completion of a renovation. ...
Tax lien certificates are financial instruments that transfer tax collection from the local governme...
Scope Of Work is a document used by private lenders and appraisers to evaluate a real estate investo...
Capitalization Rate ("Cap Rate") = Net Operating Income / Current Market Value. Learn how to calcula...
Single Room Occupancy or SRO is the renting of a house room by room. Learn more about single room oc...
What are wholesale properties? Learn about wholesale real estate and how anyone buying or selling re...
Turnkey rental properties are single family and multifamily houses that are sold to rental property ...
LTARV means Loan To After Repair Value. This acronym is commonly used by private lenders and commerc...
A home warranty is either a legal warranty or service contract that covers a homeowner in the event ...
Dispositions in real estate refers to selling or liquidating a financial interest in a property. Thi...
A HUD-1 is a settlement statement used to show the debits and credits for the buyer and seller in a ...
A cash out refinance is when a real estate investor or homeowner pulls a portion of the equity out o...
What is a Private Lender? Learn about private lending and how to find private lenders for your real ...
A duplex is a 2-unit house. The means there are two separate living spaces -- two separate entrances...
An eviction moratorium is a temporary halt in evictions imposed at the Federal and/or State governme...
A cash buyer is a person or business entity that is able to purchase real estate without using a len...
In the real estate world, to rehab means to rehabilitate or renovate a house. Learn more about rehab...
Comps are a real estate valuation method using comparable properties as the basis for estimating the...
Fix and flip is a real estate term to describe the activity of buying a house, rehabbing it, and sel...
Requiring proof of funds from prospective buyers is an important qualification step and filter to pr...
A general contractor or "GC" is a licensed professional who manages and is responsible for real esta...
PropTech means property technology and is the term used to describe companies focused on technology-...
Equity in real estate is ownership in a property. Equity is the value that is left to the owner once...
PMI stands for private mortgage insurance and is charged to homeowners when less than 20% down payme...
LTV stands for loan-to-value and is a metric used by lenders to determine loan limits....
Net Yield = Net Annual Rent ÷ Current Market Value. Learn how to calculate net yield and how it's us...
FSBO means For Sale By Owner. These are real estate listings where a listing agent or realtor is not...
House hacking is the process of buying a house that you live in and rent out in order to cover part ...
PITI stands for mortgage principal, interest, taxes and insurance. Learn more about PITI at OfferMar...
A draw request is how construction loans (fix and flip, bridge) are ...
A fourplex is a 4-unit house. Fourplexes are very attractive to rental property investors. There's m...
A triplex is a 3-unit house. Triplexes are attractive to rental property investors. There's more to ...
PUD means planned unit development. A PUD is a community of single family homes where every homeowne...
Landlord insurance, commonly referred to as rental property insurance, covers dwellings from a prope...
Real estate syndication is the pooling of investment capital from multiple investors to purchase an ...
A pocket listing is a property that a real estate agent has a listing agreement for but has not synd...
HOA means Homeowners Association and it is an organization that governs a community, typically of si...
A motivated seller is an owner of real estate that needs to sell fast. Motivated sellers on OfferMar...
Free cash flow, FCF, the the cash generated by a real estate investment after all expenses are accou...
A 203k loan is a loan issued by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that includes purchase pric...
An assignment of contract is when the Buyer in a real estate transaction assigns their role to anoth...
Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance. This is a highly effective methodology for high ROI rental property in...
A real estate bird dog is someone to finds distressed properties and sellers of distressed propertie...
Deferred maintenance is any required maintenance on a property that has not yet been performed. Ther...
Off market real estate is one or more properties that are not widely marketed as being available for...
A power buyer is a company that enables cash offers for consumer home buyers....
The Multiple Listing Service or MLS is a brokerage listing syndication service....
A buyers list is a list of buyers to whom wholesalers market their deals. In traditional wholesaling...
A "REIT" is a real estate investment trust. REITs are tax-efficient financial vehicles that hold rea...
REIA stands for Real Estate Investors Association. This is a local network of real estate investors ...
Mortgage loans are repaid over time, usually in equal monthly installments, based on an amortization...
Mortgage forbearance is a program most lenders and servicers offer to homeowners to temporarily paus...
Virtual staging is gaining popularity as a low-cost alternative to expensive traditional staging. Th...
Real Estate Auctions are ways of selling and buying real estate properties. The main difference in a...
Through cash-backed offers, power buyers provide buyers the ability to make what is effectively a c...
An SFR is a single family residence. This is either a detached house or a townhome. There's more to ...
An ADU is an Accessory Dwelling Unit, which is also referred to as a "granny flat". There's more to ...
AVM stands for Automated Valuation Model, a proprietary algorithm used by iBuyers such as Offerpad, ...
ISAOA/ATIMA means "its successors and/or assigns as their interests may appear". There's more to lea...
iBuying is short for "instant buying" and is a term used in the real estate industry for fast cash o...
Debt Service Coverage Ratio ("DSCR") = NOI ÷ (Mortgage + Taxes + Insurance). Learn how to calculate ...
USPAP stands for Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. USPAP is the ethics and perfo...
ALTA stands for the American Land Title Association. In real estate closings, the ALTA is a settleme...
A prepayment penalty is a fee charged by a lender when the loan is repaid within a designated period...
In real estate investing, CC means closing costs. There's more to learn at OfferMarket....
Direct To Seller doesn't exactly mean that it implies. Usually it's not exactly direct to seller. Th...
Full Boat is a term used by private lenders when they are charging interest for the full amount of a...
A Schedule Of Real Estate Owned, or SREO, is a list of real estate a borrower owns that is submitted...
Collateral Desktop Analysis or CDA is a 3rd party review of an appraisal often required by private l...
Hard money is a loan from a non-bank lender, typically offered to experienced real estate investors ...
Advanced draws allow fix & flip and fix & rent BRRR investors to receive funds in advance for each s...
Learn how a pledge of shares agreement is used in private lending....
MERS stands for Mortgage Electronic Registration System and tracks mortgage servicing rights and ben...
AM Best ratings assess the financial strength and size of insurance companies....
Bad Boy Carve Outs are provisions in non-recourse DSCR loans that protect the lender in the event th...
Non-Recourse in lending means there is no personal guarantee....