Illegal for Wholesailer to Create Deed?

Question

Hello,

I do not wholesale (yet). Usually I buy a property, take title, then sell it and transfer title to new buyer. I have a few deals a seller called me with and I would like to make some money off them. However I do not want to take title to these houses and am considering wholesaling them. My question is if I wholesail it can I make the deed for the transaction myself or do I need a lawyer? As long as I am not charging to prep the deed then I am not acting as an attorney correct? I prepare my own deeds for my usual flips but I am the recoreded owner of the property. I am not sure of the legalities of this being just the guy in the middle. Thanks

Rob Gillespie · Answer

Michael,

You could fire your dentist and buy a pair of pliers to pull your own teeth too! LOL!

I would not try to save money there. I even have my attorney draw up my lease purchase agreements. I say spend your time makin deals and let the attorney make a couple of hundred bucks.

Not illegal, but not a great idea, just my 2 cents. :mrgreen:

Michael R. · Answer

Thanks for the replies. Deal never panned out anyway title had some issues. I am talking to a new attorney now though to get things set up correctly for the next deal. She will do a dead prep for me for 125$ each so it is not worth the hassle to do it myself.

Brian P. · Answer

Strongly agree with Bill, your not giving title you possess to anyone, and your not receiving the deed to get title, so don't you think your doing legal work for someone else without a license. Don't worry about it though because some guy with a real license to practice law will provide a chance for you to learn down the line sometime, not free lesson though.

Leave it to the title and escrow people to draw the deed per the instructions of the real title owner and the new owner to be.

Bill Walston · Answer

Michael, I strongly recommend that you check with a local attorney before preparing a deed that you are not signing.  In most states, preparing a legal document to which you are NOT a party is considered the unauthorized practice of law.  Even if it's totally legal, why put yourself at the risk that one of the parties might later come back and sue you for some "error" they think you may have committed?  Better to wholesale your deal and move on.  But that's just me :-)

Michael R. · Answer

Thanks for the reply Rob! I know I am always trying to save money and looking for things to cut. After studying how my attorney drafted deeds for the last few years I decided to do the last few myself and they worked out ok. 
The only real problem is the cheapest attorney I found will be 700$ to draft a deed and record everything. I am in the process of looking for someone cheaper but cant seem to do any better. 
I think if I go ahead with this deal though I will use an attorney anyway just to cover myself. Thanks for your help

Illegal for Wholesailer to Create Deed?

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