Is it legal for a real estate investor to pay me a finders fee for finding real estate deals....foreclosures, short sales, equity deals in california?

As long as you do not negotiate any of the terms of the transactions and do not prepare any of the documents for the transaction, you can legally collect a finder's fee. That means you can find the property and gather information and records about the property. If you do anything more than that, then you are illegally performing real estate brokering services which require a license. That means that you cannot sue the investor to collect any finder's fee you think he owes you. This is a common problem for people trying to get into the real estate business without getting a license and without using any of their own money. Get a real estate license. It's not hard, and it opens up all kinds of opportunities. If you don't have the college courses required, get them at your local community college for free or an online university for not much money. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts, provide a pour-over will as a back-up for any property that does not make it into the trust, provide you with blank durable powers of attorney for health care and financial decisions, in case you become incapable of making such decisions while still alive, and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack