Investor · Cary, NC · Member since 2008 · 218 posts · 29 votes
Has anyone put a house under contract and found an agent to list the property for you on the MLS since you now have an equitable interest? I'm thinking of doing this and disclosing to the seller my intention of marketing the property and hopefully selling for a profit immediately after I buy. I would do a double close and collect my proceeds after paying both the listing agent/buyers agent's their commission.
While legally the agent can probably market it for you with the seller's permission (though this will be state-by-state), it's unlikely the MLS rules will allow you to market the property on the MLS before you own the property. Though again, it's probably on an MLS by MLS basis, so you may want to call your MLS and find out what their rules are.
Where I live, the MLS will not allow listings by anyone other than the owner.
While legally the agent can probably market it for you with the seller's permission (though this will be state-by-state), it's unlikely the MLS rules will allow you to market the property on the MLS before you own the property. Though again, it's probably on an MLS by MLS basis, so you may want to call your MLS and find out what their rules are.
Where I live, the MLS will not allow listings by anyone other than the owner.
Thanks J Scott...there's a section on our state listing agreement that asks if you currently own the house and you can check yes or no...so I'm guessing that would take care of it...
Thanks J Scott...there's a section on our state listing agreement that asks if you currently own the house and you can check yes or no...so I'm guessing that would take care of it...
Is that the listing agreement you sign with the broker/agent?
If so, that won't necessarily have any influence over whether or not the MLS in your area will allow a listing of a property you don't own.
Just because you have a listing agreement with a broker doesn't mean the MLS will allow the listing (though, again, it's going to vary by MLS)...
If you want to get houses listed on the MLS and sell them to retail buyer's, why not just get a license? Wholesaling is better done with cash or hard money buyer to avoid hassles with conventional lenders refusing to pay your fees.
I have listed wholesale properties on the MLS with an agent/broker.
Once in a while, I find a a wholesale deal that I call a tweener. This is a property that is somewhere between a rehab and a turnkey property. My usual buyer's sometimes pass on deals and I will try to find other buyer's using the MLS. It works pretty well too.
As J Scott has already said, you will need to meet with broker's in your area to determine whether that association will allow this type of listing. Check with the smaller broker's first.
But, also very important, you should have a very good reason for listing the property as I agree with what Jon has said, your better off with a cash buyer becasse a lender will not generally finance a property being from someone other then the owner of record.
For instance, light rehabs with small margins may not be enticing to your usual buyer's, so you should still target investors or handymen with cash or hard money. There are a lot of buy and hold investors that like light rehabs.
My mls allows us to list a property as long as it isn't already listed (either active or pending). With that said, it's common for people to list outside their area (like if a florida MLS accepts a nevada listing) so that they can get on realtor.com and the other websites that feed off it. At that point send 2-3 mass emails to all the agents in that market area and you should have good exposure to try and table flip.
If you want to get houses listed on the MLS and sell them to retail buyer's, why not just get a license? Wholesaling is better done with cash or hard money buyer to avoid hassles with conventional lenders refusing to pay your fees.
Jon, I get tons of motivated seller leads who often have fairly nice houses with very minimal repairs who can't quite let go at 60-70% of market value. But often times when I look at the area, they would be the best deal out of any house currently available on the market in that immediate area.
I would not have to worry about a conventional lender refusing to pay my fees because I would do a double close where I would actually buy A-B and resell B-C with transactional funding.
Have you actually done a deal like this, Alex? I thought the lender in your B-C transaction would run title before the deal closes and discover you're not on title. If the lender does have any seasoning requirement, you won't meet it.
I've done a double closing on a short sale. I have a few local lenders that don't have seasoning requirements as long as the house appraises...which makes complete sense.
Alex, personally if I were all selling a home, I would try to stick with cash buyers that I cultivated on my own. Even if you find a way to put the property on the MLS, you will be opening a can of worms with so many real estate agents in the area that may not understand you, or the transaction. Although you're probably not doing anything illegal, you may end up having to explain yourself to the board of realtors.
I would much rather spend my time finding good deals and selling them quickly, rather than spending my day explaining my business plan to a bunch of folks that would rather have me just go away.
I've done back to back with short sale and reos also. But the end buyer has always been cash or private money. I would love to add buyers into the mix who can get a more traditional mortgage. That's why i was asking. So you're saying just find a small local bank who portfolios their loans?
As a listing broker, I will occasionally list wholesale deals on MLS when the seller is excersing an option. My MLS permits this because they view the seller as the person who signs the listing contract and who is offering to pay the commission. As long as there is a legitimate listing contract in place and the co-broke commission gets paid at closing, our MLS is fine.
The problem my sellers run into (all the wholesalers I work with choose a limited-service flat fee option in which they handle showings, phone calls, etc), and Rob hits it on the head, is other real estate agents just don't comprehend what the wholesaler does. Most lenders don't either, so the wholesalers that work with me try to choose properties that will attract a cash buyer. If at all possible, just treat the transaction as a normal A-B transaction and you should be fine. Honesty is the best policy, but the less the agent on the other end knows about your role as a wholesaler, the better, and it's not to be deceitful; it's to keep things simple.
If you receive an all cash offer with no contingencies, you had better be able to deliver that property because you will be held liable by the co-broke agent for their commission and the buyer could also sue as well.
I've done back to back with short sale and reos also. But the end buyer has always been cash or private money. I would love to add buyers into the mix who can get a more traditional mortgage. That's why i was asking. So you're saying just find a small local bank who portfolios their loans?
Right, I've only flipped a couple short sales and every time they were to retail buyers just looking for a good deal instead of cash investors. I just called around to a bunch of local banks...not Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, etc....I would ask if they had seasoning requirements, it took a few calls but I have found a couple banks who won't enforce seasoning requirements as long as the house appraises.