From the desk:Bird Dogging / Lead Finding

The guy who does yard work wants $400 up front per lead

A guy who does yard work in a neighborhood I like emailed me offering what he calls off-market leads. His terms: $400 per lead, paid before he tells me the address, and he says he has eleven right now. He described one of them as "owner passed last year, place is full, family lives out of state."

I do a lot of reading before I put money anywhere and this is the first time someone has asked me to pay before I can see what I'm evaluating. $400 times eleven is $4,400 for a stack of addresses I have no way to price.

What I'd want is to pay on the back end, something like a flat fee when I close. He says everyone tells him that and nobody ever pays. Which, fair.

So the decision is whether there's a middle version of this that protects both of us, or whether I just pass.

Answer

2chriswalton8CC1CPRO8

The middle version is a small payment for the address and a bigger one on close. Something like $75 to see it, credited against a flat fee if you buy. He gets paid for showing up, you cap your loss at $75 per dud, and he has a reason to send you the good ones rather than eleven addresses of equal quality.

His complaint is real, by the way. Bird dogs get stiffed constantly, which is exactly why the ones with good leads demand cash up front. Take him seriously on that.

One thing to sort out before any money moves: what he's describing on that first lead is a house where the owner died. Who can actually sell it depends on whether an estate has been opened and who has authority, and that's a probate question that varies by state. Fine to look at, just don't assume the family out of state can sign. And if he starts negotiating price with them on your behalf rather than handing you information, that's the point where you both want to know what your state's licensing rules say.

The guy who does yard work wants $400 up front per lead

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