BRE is telling me that Wholesaling is Illegal in California, is it true. Help?

Question

Just contacted the BRE of real estate here in california and they told me that Wholesaling is illegal because it is considered brokering without a license since i  had no intent of purchasing the property and am assigning a contract over to a new investor . Can anyone help me out? I thought it was legal

Rick Pozos · Answer

I am NOT a lawyer nor do I play one on TV, so here is my unofficial legal advice.

Wholesaling is legal. Always has been, always will be. Legal in all 50 states and territories. Legal all across the world.

When you contract the property, YOU ARE A PARTY TO THE TRANSACTION, not a broker. The next day, you change your mind and say, "I dont want this property after all.  I think my buddy Rick would like to buy it. Rick is willing to give me 5k for an assignment fee". You assign the property, Rick closes, no problem.

Everything is legit.

You just have to be a party on the contract. If you find Mr Seller and find Mr. Buyer, they contract the property and give you a fee for that, then there is a problem. That is brokering. That is what licensed real estate agents do.

I (and so should you) put earnest money down, I sign a contract with the seller, if I assign to someone, there is no problem because I am a party in the transaction.

Mike Thompson · Answer

Would it help me if i got my real estate license