In a perfect world, all real estate wholesale transactions would be completed by simply putting a property under contract, and then assigning that contract to an end buyer via an assignment agreement. While this is the quickest and easiest way to wholesale a piece of property, unfortunately, it is not always possible to accomplish.
When dealing with bank owned properties and short sales, for example, most lenders will not allow contract assignments, so instead of doing a simple assignment to your end buyer, you are required to close on the property yourself (in what is commonly referred to as the A-B transaction), and then sell to your end buyer in a separate transaction (commonly referred to as the B-C transaction).
This creates a problem for many wholesalers who do not have the funds available to close on the A-B sale themselves. While there are some title companies who will allow you to do a simultaneous closing and use your end buyer’s funds to finance both the A-B and the B-C transaction, the majority of them will require you to bring your own funds to closing. This is where transactional funding comes into play.
What is Transactional Funding?
Transactional funding is a short term loan used to finance the A-B side of a short sale or REO wholesale transaction. When using transactional funding, there is no credit check or income verification required. The only stipulation is that you have to have an end buyer lined up to purchase the property from you immediately after you close the A-B sale. Transactional funding sources will not fund your deal unless the end buyer is in place and ready to purchase the property from you.
Most transactional lenders will cover all closing costs associated with the A-B sale, and their fees (which can range from $1500-$5000 per transaction) will be deducted from your profit, so you will not have to show up to closing with any of your own cash.
If you’re going to be using a transactional lender to fund your REO or short sale wholesale deals, just be sure to do your research before you start making offers. You’ll need to know what fees will be incurred when borrowing the money so you can be sure to take these costs into consideration when you are crunching your numbers.
Photo: Renjith Krishnan
Related posts:
- How to Close REO Wholesale Deals (Part 3 of 5): The Double Closing
- How Helping Other Companies Can Make Your Real Estate Business More Money
- Wholesaling Real Estate Basics
- USDA Loans: More Funding On The Way?
- Five Real Estate Wholesaling Tips
Article Author: Stephani DavisStephani has written 47 articles for us.
Visit Stephani's Website: http://www.flipthiswholesaler.net/
Formerly a bartender, Steph Davis is now a full time wholesaler in Tampa, FL. If you'd like to get an idea of what it's really like out there in the trenches, head on over to her blog: FlipThisWholesaler.net!
Joshua Dorkin
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
This article is a good concise description of Transactional Funding. It is also a good suggestion to shop for your transactional lender, as fees can and do vary from lender to lender.
Hi Ted,
Anything new on the extended terms for transactional funding? e.g. 30-60 days.
David.
Great article Stephani! A lot of investors still don’t even know that Transactional Funding exists, so they are passing on good deals. Investors should be careful in choosing a funding partner – making sure they understand all of the lender’s requires prior to closing and that their lender has the funds and is comitted to getting the deal done.