legal issues involving bird dogging

I did bird dogging for a few investors over the past couple years. And I never used an agent. I would find FSBO, but when I did a contract of assignment on a home with an agent, I did call some of my buyers to see if they wanted it. As a bird dog, you can assign it.
A bird dog can't expect to bring the agent a buyer and get paid for it. That is not legal for you then to get paid by the agent, and if your buyer wants to pay you, then you really need to put in the contract to assign it.
Or if you want to do this, then you could get your real estate license and then get paid from the agent for bringing a buyer to one of their properties.
I have a couple agents that I like working with. Both of them know that when I have a buyer for a specific type of property, they do send me what they have. But this is not a good practice to get into. They don't want to lock up a property for a bird dog.
Don't say you are bird dogging, say you work with a group of investors, and when you find a property, you put in an offer, and a contingent can be based on the partners approval. But don't just use that for your exit.
Bird dogging is fun, but try to find other properties rather than go through the agent. Unless you find an agent who wants to work with investors. If you are afraid of the legalities, then stay away from the agents.
If you need more help, maybe someone from your state would be able to answer better.
Good luck, and bird dogging is actually fun, but very time consuming.
Sandi

thanks Sandi, I really appreciate your knowledge. I know in this day and age, people sue for any and whatever reason...

Sandi made some excellent points. I think people get confused as to what bird dogging really is sometimes. There really should be no agent involved at all. I only bird dogged briefly, but when I did I found FSBO's or vacant homes, did the research to present it as a solid deal, (comps, ARV etc)and then called the investors. If I saw a great deal come across the mls, I called them right away, THEY contacted the listing agent - not me. I had a verbal agreement that any property I told them about and they closed on I would get my fee. I would suggest, however, that you make a simple written agreement stating that to protect yourself since you are not guaranteed payment as any part of the actual contracts and closing docs. So as a bird dogger you are essentially doing the leg work and homework for the investor, presenting them with the deal, and then they move forward with the owner or agent. Hope this helps some.

it helps great, thank you so much for your help

Do I have this right? I was under the impression that, as a bird dogger, one simply locates properties for other investors, for a fee, and has no legal stake in the deal i.e. does not have it locked up under contract.
As an Assignor, one must have the property locked up or there would be nothing to assign. It seems sometimes that the terms are used interchangably and causes some confusion (at least to me.)
Is there some legal aspect of bird dogging that I have overlooked?
Also, is there a difference between a "Finder's Fee" and a "Referral Fee"?

Never really gave thought to finders fee or referral fees.
What I did for example, was one investor sent me a form. When I found something, that was first signed by him, then I put the info on regarding the house, and signed and returned it. Now I didn't do that for the second property, I just filled it out and faxed it to him. But I had my copy and proof that I had found this place. He was honest and signed that and sent it back. For each deal, we decided how much. $500 was the least I would get for something that needed major rehabbing.
I found a place over $500k and we agreed to 5% of his profit. You need to discuss with them, how you will decide on your fee.
But I refused to sign something he sent me. And he didn't appreciate it, but too bad, I stuck to this. He wanted me to sign an agreement that if he was teaching me anything, that if I ever wanted to do my own deal, I could not do anything within 50 miles of any of his deals, for 2 years!!
I don't think so!! I wasn't going to sign that.
So if they them want you to work only for them. Don't agree to that either.
If they push it, move on to someone else.
As for assigning. I did put a few houses under contract to purchase with the assign on it. Then I called several buyers. And could assign my contract. That was not really bird dogging, but with the agent, she knew I worked with other investors, and was interested in flipping or assigning. My exit was on financing.
Hope this helps a bit. But I still do assigning on FSBO and they are fine with that.
Sandi

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