BiggerPockets

well you will need to get paid by the buyer the 3K outside of close cuz if the seller sees someone wants to buy it for 13K they may just want to keep it.

You can always do a double close - that is the best way to do that - you buy it first and flip.

All cash buyer you might make it work to go on the HUD but it should be a full price offer to the seller - so if it is listed for 10K and you want to pocket 3K - if your making more then the realtor that may not be a good thing - and if the buyer offers you 11K and the seller had to take 8K instead of 10K they might all baulk.

To many people like to count other people's money - so you might have a hard time with this unless you do a double

Also, the seller wouldn't have to know who my buyer is? Their getting their money? As long as they got their 10, and my buyer was getting a good deal. In a perfect world everyone "should be happy right?

Meaning if the "buyer" decided to back out?

Ah!

I've wholesaled many listed properties. I do not think it will tarnish your reputation or your credibility and I do not think that you have to offer full price.

If the contract is assignable then assign it or if you have concerns with the seller or your buyer knowing what you make then double close it.

Once you have an executed contract the seller has a legal liability to sell it to you at that price no matter what you are doing with it, and their realtor will surely share that with them. Sometimes sellers will get cold feet for different reasons and reminding them of their legal obligations normally clears it up very quickly.

As for why would an investor buy a listed property from you when they could have bought it themselves, the answer is that its a big world out there, lots of deals are flying all over the place, and most investors don't have the time or knowledge to track down every possible deal out there whether that's on the MLS or not. A wholesaler is taking the time to look at, research, and low ball a hundred plus different properties on the MLS to maybe get one.

A serious investor buyer is going to care less about how you found the deal and more about making sure you call them with the next one.

Scott, I agree that people do sometimes get their feelings hurt. It becomes more about ego than about business. Either way this is business and trying to protect people's ego's is important but not why we're all here. What I've found is that some people ARE going to get their feelings hurt no matter what you do. It's part of being on planet Earth. I do my business with integrity and with a certain level of sensitivity, but I'm in this business for the money. I'm not ashamed of that.

When we are talking about wholesaling, we are primarily talking about doing assignments or double closings. With an assignment the seller and buyer will know exactly what you are making. ALL assignments are this way. The buyer will know when they sign the assignment because you have to give them a copy of the original contract. The seller will know when you close and they see that its not you on the HUD-1 and that there is an assignment fee on there. Norm, a HUD-1 or HUD is the closing statement that the buyer and seller sign that has all the closing costs, prorations, and sales price on it.

A double closing (separate closings to buy from the buyer and then sell to the seller) insulates the buyer and seller from each other on the HUD-1's so the buyer doesn't know what you bought it for and the seller doesn't know what you sold it for.

Norm - all I am doing is giving you my opinion based on my experience - it may not fit for you so feel free to throw it out.

Your original question was about wholesaling a realtors listing for more money then it was listed for - all of the info / opinion I gave you was based on your original question.

If your asking me what is the issue with making money - nothing - I never said there was anything wrong with it - although Ryan seemed to imply I did say that.

I think myself and the other posters here gave you some good advice on how to work around the "potential" problems your going to run into.

Like Ryan - you shouldn't be ashamed of the money you make - none of us should - but that wasn't my point - in fact - it couldn't be further from my point.

So - go try it out and report back to us how it works out!

Exactly! I wish I could find a way to put together a coherent sentence.

Thanks for the reply Ryan. Very good advice. Understood. My responses again where hypothetical. I don't think I'd work for a grand either, again they were hypothetical. Maybe my response was to vague.

What you've commented about is EXACTLY what I've been doing. Researching my farm areas. Indepth. Having comps pulled, talking with Realtors, other investors at my local REI club. Looking up current listing in these areas. Seeing how long they've been on the market. Finding out what houses sold for a year ago as compared to now. Calling for rent signs to get an idea what current landlords are getting for rent in these areas, as well as to see if their buying anything currently, or selling. Driving these areas looking for FSBO's, and vacant houses. I have a duplex, so I'm not completely ignorant to the rent thing. But I figured it's a good idea to keep up-to-date. This has been going on for quite some time now, the preparation, the planning.

Also, under a year ago I re-fied my double. It appraised within 2k of what I thought it might. Home prices around these parts have remained relatively stable. Unlike CA, FL, NV, and AZ. This really is a great rental market. People are constantly ridiculing Buffalo. Home prices are inexpensive and rents have remained stable. So I'm not completely new to my market, I'm new to wholesaling. This is in NO WAY meant to sound cocky, or like I "know it all" by any means. So I hope it hasn't come off that way. Again thanks.

Humbly,

Norm