BiggerPockets

Double closings will work with REO's as long as the title agent/company will be open to it. Most of the time the selling lender will pick the title company if you want them to pay for title insurance, which technically is a violation of RESPA. Either way, the key to doing a double closing is the title agent/company, so make sure whoever you are using is open to a double closing.

You can just call and ask, if you have a specific title company already. The big guys are going to tend to shy away. Ask around at your REIA, and you can probably find someone who knows companies that will.

Something else to be concerned with is your end buyer's lender. You really need a cash buyer, like an investor with cash or a hard money lender who's not going to care. A conventional lender will figure out your not actually on title and refuse to do the loan. That can happen at the very last minute and blow the deal. Some lenders now have seasoning requirements and require that the seller be on title for some period of time.

Its not illegal or shady, but can be used to facilitate illegal and shady transactions.

Jon

Ah, there's the rub. There are two closings, so two sets of closing costs. Being in the middle, you act as buyer on one transaction and seller on the other. So, you pay one set of buyer costs and one set of seller costs.

Its not quite that bad because not all fees apply in all cases. You won't do your own appraisal. You won't have any loan origination fees or realtor fees. You may also be able to avoid title insurance if the company will let it just pass you to the end buyer. Some of the other fees, like the title companies charges for paperwork and recording fees, and going to have to get paid twice.

This is a good topic of discussion with the title company.

Jon

This must depend on where your are, or maybe the title company. Around here, what Gordo calls a simultaneous closing is called a double closing. As the wholesaler, you wouldn't bring any money, but there would be two separate closings. There would be some fees that had to be paid twice. Two sets of docs get prepared and recorded, for example. A helpful title company might not require two separate title policies, though.

Best to call some local title companies and find out directly from them how they would handle it, and exactly what you would have to pay.
Jon