reasonable finder's fee

Negotiating with sellers of homes is not my thing. An icon for my negotiating skills would be a sledgehammer. The “greeter” in my park, however, is fantastic. It’s like a giant game to him to see how low he can get something. I’m good at finding homes for sale but not at negotiating a price that makes sense for me.

Suppose I put Mr. Miller (the greeter) to work for me. I’ll turn up homes that interest me plus he can find things in the paper and online. I should think calling 10 for sale ads a week wouldn’t be too hard. Assuming he finds a home I like and at a price (steal) that works for me, what would a reasonable, cash, finder’s fee. He would only receive the money once I complete the purchase.

Thanks.

Rolf

Wheat Hill

Rolf,

I’m in a slightly different situation. I do the Lonnie deals in other parks as a full time job and I have “agents” that locate, negotiate, and purchase the home. Then they turn around and show, negotiate, and sell the homes. I do these for investors and charge them a fee to do it.

The way I pay my agents is on a percentage of my fee. You are not charging a fee, so it’s differnet in your case. I’m just showing my way, to sort of help out.

Right now, the fee for my service is 4,000.00 upfront. 500.00 is a referral fee to whomever brought me the investor. I then pay a dividend of 250.00 to my partner. This leaves me with 3,250.00. The agent gets 40% of this to buy and sell a home. When they purchase, they get 650. When they sell they get 650. This is what we agree to for the first three homes in a month. If they get me four deals done in a month, the percentage goes up to 70%.

It’s a sliding scale with some incentive to do more. I like it because I pay no salary, I only pay when they perform, and if they hustle they can make more. I would suggest something along those lines with your guy.

I would offer something reasonable like 400.00 cash for negotiating a home. Then offer the same if they sell it for you. Have a mark that he needs to reach to receive more. This way you are paying for results and it shows him that you are willing to pay more, for more results…

Hope this helps…

Beck