When to share property address on a wholesale deal?

Question

Newbie question here: I have read throughout BP completely mixed reviews on whether to share a signed contract's property address without a non-disclosure or not. I have advertised this property with several great pictures and a property summary throughout an investor group but ALSO on a really public medium, Facebook Marketplace. I'm getting quite a few inquiries just "asking for the address". I asked one interested party to please sign a SUPER simple non-disclosure just to protect the owner/assignee relationship and he took offense and said no thank you. I would think if they were serious this would be no problem at all. Your thoughts BP community?

Thank you for your replies :)

Will Fraser · Answer

Hi @Karla K., this is a really good fundamental question.  This comes down to how do you as a wholesaler give the information needed for the buyer to make a decision while protecting your ability to earn from the situation.

As a buyer of wholesale properties I feel that, at least in my first dealings with a wholesaler trust has not been built yet.  For this reason I definitely will want to verify the address and pull my own property records before I move forward with an offer. After trust has been established through some repetition together I will do this step later in the process, or perhaps forego it altogether, but at first you better believe it'll happen.

For that reason, a buyer like me would need the address.  When present with an NDA we would balk, and not because it is unreasonable, but rather because of the icky low-trust feeling that pervades the whole industry.  Asking for an NDA simply plays to that same story.

So, back to the tension: how do you provide the info and safeguard yourself. . . .I would imagine that it comes down to your contract with the seller.  If you are bulletproof with that contract, then give the address away!  You have an equitable interest in the property and know what it takes to execute it.  That's some good security :)

Kyle J. · Answer

I never really understood why some wholesalers are so hung up on getting a NDA and not giving out the address. So what if it's a 3 bdrm, 2 bath that needs only $20k of "minor cosmetic" rehab (in their mind)? That doesn't tell me anything, nor does it mean anything if it's located in a bad neighborhood that I don't want to own a house in. I need the actual address. Even a zip code doesn't always help. Some neighborhoods change from good-to-bad street-by-street.

Give me the address and I can probably tell you in 5-10 minutes if I'm your buyer or not.

I'm not sure who or why wholesalers are so worried their potential buyers are going to disclose the address to, but if you already have it under contract, who cares?  (And if you are that worried about buyers on your list doing something shady, perhaps you just need to get a better buyers list.)

Can you imagine if every time a Realtor got an inquiry on a listing they said "That's great that you're interested in my listing, but I can't even tell you where this property is until you sign this NDA."  I don't think they'd last very long.

Nick C. · Answer

The problem you're going to run into is most serious buyers are comping out dozens if not hundreds of houses a day trying to find a deal. And most "deals" wholesalers present are hot garbage. It's really not worth the effort of signing these to then comp out a stinkbomb. Casual buyers who analyze houses for fun and other piggybacking wholesalers might not mind.

It's possible that someone tries to backdoor you every once in a while, but if you have a solid contract, that should mitigate that risk. The risk you're running now is turning buyers away before they have a chance to analyze the deal.

Jonathan Oh · Answer

@Karla K. Without an address to look up, you'd lose a lot of interest from people because they have no idea where the location is.

Caleb Brown · Answer

It's usually an automatic pass if there is no address and it's vague. As far as signing an NDA that's time wasted and I have never seen that for wholesale deals in my area. If you have the relationship with the seller and have the contract in place you should be okay.  There will always be people trying to go to the seller behind your back, relationship is key.

Stephen J Davis · Answer

Make sure that you have a solid contract on the property. Join a local real estate investor group to build your buyers list. I never had a buyer go around me because they did not want to ruin their reputation at the club. If you just have a bunch of random people on your list, you are more likely to have a problem.

Joe S. · Answer

There’s no real way of making a business selling properties if you cannot give out the address.

Karla K. · Answer

Thank you all. GREAT replies. Deeply appreciated :)

When to share property address on a wholesale deal?

Most Popular Reply