BiggerPockets

Your Agent doesn't need to know. Unless they do their own investing they wouldn't know. Herbster

Title companys perform back to back closings all the time. The fact that your agent is not familiar with this is indicative of the fact that he or she deals with homeowners, not investors.

Vince and Todd

Kyands post reminded me not only to know that your agent understands back to back closings but your escrow company does too.

If they don't understand that back to back closings are called double closings and simultaneous closings.

The question to ask is if do they do dry closings and wet closings on back to back closings. If they don't go "what?" your probably in business.and they are familiar with them.

Dry close is the funds from the b-c closing are used in the a-b closing. Wet close is independent funds are used in the a-b. But both are known as back to back closings.

Some investors call the dry close a simultaneous close, and a wet close a double close. And both are back to back closings. But most investors just use any term they heard along the way no matter what.

An Agent being in the business 20 years and an escrow agent that has never heard of a double close is a huge red flag, especially an escrow agent. Yikes! :wowie:

I would suggest finding an agent that is well-versed in working with investors. You need an agent that is on your side and won't be throwing a monkey wrench in your deal!

Additionally, seeking out a title company that specializes in working with investors and understands your investment strategy would be a good idea. Many of these title companies will give investors and their buyers up to a 50% discount on closing costs which can really add up. :D

You should never tell the listing agent what you plan on doing with the home. Here are a few simple rules you should follow:

1. Submit your offer
2. Once offer is excepted, sell the home to end buyer
3. Have buyer close the same day you do with a double close.
4. Put money in pocket
5. Repeat!!

Oh yeah, keep your mouth shut and dont blab to the agent about what you plan on doing!! Residential agents have not a clue in most cases what investing is. They know how to sit at an open house on a Sunday from 2pm-4pm and bake cookies. Using terms like double closing, wholesale investing, flipping, etc. is a foreign language to them. Now Im done.

I'm sorry Carla but the stereotype has been well earned by your comrades.

95% of realtors are clueless about investing, and my biggest complaint is that they normally act like they actually do know something about investing when in reality they know absolutely nothing.

Now 5% of realtors are NOT clueless. So the point being that if we're trying to help a new investor understand what they are going to find in the reality of investing then we need to share with them that 19 out of 20 realtors are going to be a waste of their time. Stereotype or not, its the truth, and if we shared something different we would be lying.

Now let's talk about the 5%. That 1 out of 20 twenty realtor that understands investing and has an active network to find and sell deals is an absolute gold mine. A true investor oriented realtor can make you a lot of money, and they are a prize to find.

On a side note, I love cookies. What's wrong with baking cookies? I would love my realtors even more if they made me cookies.

Good explanation of back-to-back closings by Brian P. As a suggestion, when speaking to title and when you are working with a bank property (short sale or REO) do not mention dry closing (also known as simultaneous closing). You want to make sure they understand that you will be doing two seperate distinct transactions and will be cloing with your funds, or borrowed funds, on the A-B deal. In other words you will be "wet funding" the purchase.

I totally disagree. Wholesaling is not all about disclosure. That sounds like a realtor statement.

Yes, the buyers lender needs to understand the situation, but you should be dealing with cash or cash equivalent buyers anyway. Obviously the title agent needs to understand the situation also, but not the real estate agents. Fully explaining a wholesale flip to an agent will CAUSE you problems down the line. I know this from personal experience on multiple occasions.

Carla, I absolutely agree that most investors don't have an understanding of investing either. Most "real estate investors" never buy a single property. I would probably put that percentage up in the same range as the percentage of realtors that don't understand investing. The difference to me is that a realtor is supposed to be the "expert", and most of them are too arrogant and full of themselves to admit when they have no idea what they are talking about. I always love it when a realtor who has never bought an investment property in their life starts telling me what I should be buying or how I should be buying it, or even better, when they tell me that what I'm doing is illegal.

No, I don't have any empirical data to back my 95% of realtors are clueless about investing statement, but my own extensive experience with realtors definitely supports it. Really and truly I can only think of one realtor that I've ever met out of hundreds and hundreds that I would say truly understands investing EXCEPT for those that have done quite a bit of investing themselves. I would put the percentage of realtors that are experienced investors at about 5%, probably even less.

I have to agree with Jackie on this issue. It's not so much disclosure if that word bothers you, it's cooperation I'm seeking.

An agent who isn't in the dark is much more cooperative after I've explained what I'm going to do in the deal and when their commission check will be drawn.

I have done a few double closes with REO properties and can only speak about what has worked out best for me. I am an agent myself and have to agree with the majority of the crowd here. It seems that because questions regarding double closings or contract assignments were not included in the real estate exam most agents look at you like you're from Mars if you ever mention it to them. Probably isn't because they're too ignorant, its just a side of the real estate industry that they have chosen to stay out of...better for me because it would be pretty annoying to hear them ask about required petty repairs during a wholesale deal!

Personally, I don't tell an agent about any plans that I have for a property. I don't even bring it up unless they ask. The one thing that I double check these days is the bank addendum and any reference that it makes towards limiting the amount that the property can be resold for during a certain time period. Usually doesn't effect us anyways because a wholesale deal is normally less than 120%, but I still like to cover my basis.

Other than that you can open a second escrow with your end-buyer to have them set their earnest deposit and just make it contigent upon the successful closing of your concurrent escrow to acquire property. BTW, I do use my own funds to pick up the property and close the "B-C" part the next business day. It just keeps things simple and cleaner for the agents and escrow/title officers involved that way.

I know I'm probably preaching to the choir here but I thought I would throw my opinion in anyways.