Steps before finding deals

[Mary Newman]

I've got the basics down on how a wholesaling deal works but I have a few questions on the steps before even marketing to find the deals. Do you have to register a business with the state, if so, what type of business? Can you use a fictitious name? Can a wholesale deal be done under your own name or do you have to use a business name? When it comes to dealing with the contracts, do you have to have a tax ID .. etc? Any insight helps, thank you! I was looking to use LegalZoom to handle all of the paperwork and filing of a new business but want to make sure I'm going the right route. 

[Larry Turowski]

@Mary Newman You don't need a business. You can only use a fictitious name if you register a DBA (doing business as). For instance, you could register Mary N Buys Houses. But I would recommend just using your own name. You do not need a tax id.