@John Thedford you are correct and I agree 100%. One cannot advertise, sell, or lease a property without a license unless he owns it or falls under one of the other various exemptions.
According to the part of the statute you referenced:
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475.43 Presumptions.—In all criminal cases, contempt cases, and other cases filed pursuant to this chapter, if a party has sold, leased, or let real estate, the title to which was not in the party when it was offered for sale, lease, or letting, or such party has maintained an office bearing signs that real estate is for sale, lease, or rental thereat, or has advertised real estate for sale, lease, or rental, generally, or describing property, the title to which was not in such party at the time, it shall be a presumption that such party was acting or attempting to act as a real estate broker, and the burden of proof shall be upon him or her to show that he or she was not acting or attempting to act as a broker or sales associate. All contracts, options, or other devices not based upon a substantial consideration, or that are otherwise employed to permit an unlicensed person to sell, lease, or let real estate, the beneficial title to which has not, in good faith, passed to such party for a substantial consideration, are hereby declared void and ineffective in all cases, suits, or proceedings had or taken under this chapter; however, this section shall not apply to irrevocable gifts, to unconditional contracts to purchase, or to options based upon a substantial consideration actually paid and not subject to any agreements to return or right of return reserved.
History.—s. 3, ch. 22861, 1945; s. 3, ch. 76-168; s. 1, ch. 77-457; ss. 27, 42, 43, ch. 79-239; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 28, 30, ch. 88-20; s. 10, ch. 91-89; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 15, ch. 93-261; s. 376, ch. 97-103; s. 41, ch. 2003-164.
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It seems that as long as a "wholesaler" has placed a deposit "substantial consideration" when getting the property under contract and then merely marketed the contract to other known investors he will be ok. As mentioned above I strongly recommend speaking with an attorney who will advise on the best contract to use, wording and be able to defend you should you get sued (unlikely).
@Richard Foster your method also seems to be catching on more and more. I know of a few local investors who are sending out contracts with this financing clause.
@Terrence Rivers you will want to make sure that if you do go the "double close" route that you work with a title company familiar to wholesaling since in many cases a wholesaler has little to no money in the deal and they plan to use money placed in escrow by the end buyer to finance the first close. This can be problematic and not all companies will do it since in essence the title company is using someone else's money to fund your transaction. There are various ways to circumvent this problem but the best way is to get a team that is familiar with what you're doing.
