I'm a pretty dedicated Craigslist checker, which mainly consists of sifting through the same ad for a BRAND NEW (mobile) HOME for $89,900. Pretty boring most of the time and on most days it's fruitless.

However, a few months back I spotted a listing for a house in Royal Oak, MI. I generally scroll through Craislist quickly only looking for listings based on the area (i.e. A or B areas). Royal Oak is definitely an A. I scheduled a showing thinking it would be a nice BRRR. It was a cute house from the exterior and sat on a street full of new builds that replaced teardowns. When I stepped inside, I immediately realized the interior had some significant challenges that would make the BRRR approach a lot more difficult. My wife and I were ready to walk away, but didn't want to waste a trip. Instead we stepped outside, chatted, and picked a number that would let us either complete a complete interior gut or just sell it as a teardown. I was very clear that I was absolutely prepared to purchase the home, but that I might also look to wholesale the property. I outright said that putting it on the MLS was the best move, but they had reasons for not wanting to do that. The seller accepted within about 24 hours.

Shortly after I had it under contract, I called a few local builders, including one who built the house across the street. He ended up making the best offer. One bidder did approach try to scoop the deal from me after I presented it, even though it was under contract, but fortunately the other party was honest and nothing came from that. A good reminder to always have your paperwork in order, be transparent, and good to work with.

I took a $22,500 assignment fee. Definitely left some meat on the bone but it was outside my geographical area so I was fine with that. I won't become a full time wholesaler, but it was interesting to use it as a different tool to achieve a successful deal.