Wholesaling a foreclosure?

[Eric Abel]

Wholesaler from Milwaukee here. I'm wondering if wholesaling forclosed properties is a thing? Can this be done? If so, how?

[Will Barnard]

With the exception of @Don Konipol and @Jonathan Greene, all these answers should NOT be followed as they are all wrong. Getting paid from an agent when you are not licensed is NOT legal and the licensee could lose their license. 

Any bank owned property (REO), or a short sale requiring the lenders short sale approval (pre-foreclosure) will have specific language in the contract that does NOT allow assignment clauses.

Now that we have cleared up the misinformation here, can you wholesale an REO or a short sale approved property? The answer is YES if you know how. Every single one of my wholesale deals in which I was the seller (all of which occurred between 2010-2014) was with an REO or short sale and I was not a RE license holder. How did I do it legally you may ask? I used a trust, I had a buyer waiting in hand who was all cash, I used my POF (proof of funds) from my business account - Barnard Enterprises, Inc., and I named myself the Trustee of the trust. My personal name matches the entity POF and my buyer was named as the beneficiary. At closing, I simply sold my rights as trustee to my buyer for my "trustee fee" and they named their new trustee. No assignments, no lying, no brokering without a license.