Specialist · I give advice - [email protected] - I focus on states where investing is profitable, reasonably safe & secure · Member since 2026 · 148 posts · 48 votes
And now for a reality check about wholesaling.
Most experienced wholesalers spend about $2200 per closed deal, and average an occasional deal if at all. Most wholesalers have a life cycle of about 6 months before they move onto something else. Wholesaling doesn't allow you to represent the seller but being a licensed agent does. (I am not a licensed agent so don't interpret that to mean I'm endorsing agents)
Many wholesalers have written about buyers that went around them directly to the seller, leaving the wholesaler with no commission at all and nowhere to turn to for relief. The best bet is to talk to an attorney in the state you plan to wholesale, get versed on the latest local laws, have a solid contract drawn up to use and then start meeting buyers, typically flippers and find out what they are buying. You need to learn comps and just work the ones that fit your buyers. A lot of new wholesalers are simply “daisy chainers” that are trying to sell the property someone else is selling, but for more money. That doesn’t work.
A successful wholesaler knows how to uniquely source a property, get it under contract for a profitable amount using comps, assign to a bona fide buyer and keep everyone happy and honest through closing.
Agree with most of this. From the agent side, what I see most is sellers who signed with a wholesaler at a price 20 to 30 percent under what the house would have netted them on the open market, even after paying a commission, and nobody showed them that math. Some sellers really do want speed and an as is sale and that's fine, they just should know the gap.
Here in New York both sides have attorneys on the contract, so a lot of assignment deals get picked apart before they ever close. Anyone getting into it should do exactly what you said and talk to a local attorney first.
Fair reality check, John. From the buyer's-agent side, the piece I'd add is about your exit: wholesaling is a buying strategy, but it only works if the numbers hold for the end buyer. Every fee stacked into an assignment — including daisy-chained ones — comes straight out of the profit of whoever closes on the property.
So my advice for beginners: learn to run sold comps yourself before you ever commit to an assignment fee. If the wholesaler's math is solid, they'll walk you through it gladly, because good wholesalers want repeat buyers. If the numbers are vague or the property keeps getting passed from one wholesaler to another with each adding a fee, that's usually your sign to walk away. There will always be another deal.