Bird Dog -VS- Wholesaler- What’s the Difference?

By: Loreal Loftus

🐦 Bird Dog

• Role: Scouts for potential investment properties and passes the lead to someone else (like a wholesaler or investor).
• Involvement: Very little involvement after passing the lead.
• Payment: Gets a finder’s fee (a flat amount, usually a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars) only if the deal closes.
• License Needed? No real estate license needed (generally).
• Risk: Low risk—no contracts or purchase obligations.

💡 Think of a bird dog like a real estate scout. They sniff out distressed or off-market properties and then hand off the info.

💼 Wholesaler

• Role: Finds deals, puts them under contract, and then assigns the contract to an end buyer (usually a cash investor).
• Involvement: Much more involved—they negotiate with the seller and control the deal.
• Payment: Makes money through an assignment fee, which can be much higher (often $5k–$20k+ depending on the deal).
• License Needed? Not usually, but laws vary by state (some places are tightening wholesaling rules).
• Risk: Higher risk—they’re legally on the hook once they sign a purchase contract.

💡 A wholesaler is more like a middleman entrepreneur. They flip the rights to buy a property for a profit.