Wholesaler · Southwest Michigan · Member since 2026 · 2 posts · 0 votes
Hello!
I am just beginning my wholesale business in southwest Michigan. I have few questions, and any guidance would be greatly appreciated! I established an LLC but have not yet drafted an operating agreement to state that I am authorized to sign contracts. This is required with my title company. Most of what I have watched about it is more for investors with flips or rentals.
Would it be more ideal to just sign with my name for now until I can have an attorney draft my operating agreement?
Could anyone recommend any videos or someone to follow for structuring the OA with respect to wholesaling?
Real Estate Broker · Portage, MI · Member since 2015 · 50 posts · 12 votes
1w
A boiler plate OA from online or AI would probably do fine for you in the beginning or until you can get to the attorney. If you are the only person in the LLC, its probably a moot point. Feel free to send me your deals. Good luck!
Real Estate Broker · Portage, MI · Member since 2015 · 50 posts · 12 votes
1w
A boiler plate OA from online or AI would probably do fine for you in the beginning or until you can get to the attorney. If you are the only person in the LLC, its probably a moot point. Feel free to send me your deals. Good luck!
Wholesaler · Southwest Michigan · Member since 2026 · 2 posts · 0 votes
1w
Thank you for your recommendation! I don't have anything under contract as of now, but I'll send them when I do. Do you have any particular buying criteria? Also, do you know any attorneys in the area that deal with wholesaling specifically? Again, thank you!
Wholesaler · NM · Member since 2026 · 24 posts · 7 votes
7h
Arielle, don't wait on the attorney for this one. If you're a single-member LLC, the operating agreement is a short document. You can get a basic single-member template, fill it in, and sign it tonight. The part your title company cares about is one line saying you're the sole member and manager, with full authority to sign contracts and buy and sell real estate for the company. Send that and you're good.
Have an attorney review it later when you're doing more volume or adding a partner.
On signing in your own name: you can, but then you personally are the buyer on that contract, and you'd want "and/or assigns" on it so you can assign it. It works, but you set up the LLC for a reason. Signing as the LLC keeps your name off the deal and keeps things clean with the title company from day one.
Not legal advice, just what's worked cleanly for most wholesalers I know.
Investor · Pacific Northwest · Member since 2026 · 536 posts · 298 votes
5h
Arielle, I think you’re solving the wrong problem.
If your Michigan LLC's Articles of Organization do not say it is manager-managed, Michigan law defaults the LLC to member-managed. In that structure, the members are treated as managers, and a manager acting in the ordinary course of the LLC’s business can bind the company—including by executing instruments in the LLC’s name.
So your title company asking for an operating agreement may be less about creating your authority and more about their underwriting file wanting documentary proof of who has authority.
I would ask them one very specific question:
“What exact document will satisfy your underwriting requirement for signing authority—a signed operating agreement, member resolution, certificate of authority, or something else?”
That may save you from paying an attorney to draft a 25-page document when the title company really needs a two-page single-member OA plus a resolution.
I would not start signing contracts personally simply to get around the paperwork. Then you are the contracting buyer, not necessarily the LLC, and moving that contract later can create an entirely different assignment/consent/title issue.
Also, be careful with the advice to just generate a wholesaling OA with AI and call it done. Michigan currently has proposed legislation specifically addressing real-estate wholesaling and assignment disclosures. HB 5366 is still pending—not current law—but it’s another reason to build this correctly rather than optimize for the cheapest document today.
Get the title company’s exact requirement first. Then pay an attorney for a narrow review of the document and your wholesale contract process, not an open-ended “build my whole business” engagement.
That’s probably the cheapest way to do this without making the cheap part expensive later.
Attorney · 10451 Mill Run Cir #755 Owings Mills, MD 21117 · Member since 2024 · 340 posts · 124 votes
4h
Quote from @Arielle Dejnowski:
Hello!
I am just beginning my wholesale business in southwest Michigan. I have few questions, and any guidance would be greatly appreciated! I established an LLC but have not yet drafted an operating agreement to state that I am authorized to sign contracts. This is required with my title company. Most of what I have watched about it is more for investors with flips or rentals.
Would it be more ideal to just sign with my name for now until I can have an attorney draft my operating agreement?
Could anyone recommend any videos or someone to follow for structuring the OA with respect to wholesaling?
@Arielle Dejnowski, I've seen closings get delayed over something that seemed this small, so I would get the LLC paperwork cleaned up before you start putting deals under contract.
I would first ask the title company exactly what they need to show that you have authority to sign for the LLC. Then I would make sure your operating agreement, the name on the purchase contract, and the way you sign all match. I would not sign personally just to get around the paperwork unless you understand what that does to the contract and how you would later move or assign the deal. I also would not use a generic operating agreement only because it gets you through this one closing. It should actually fit how you plan to run the business.
Happy to stay connected as you build this out, @Arielle Dejnowski. Getting the business side organized now can save you a lot of cleanup once you start putting deals under contract.