Wholesaling Real Estate Contracts

Cody Sperber

A wholesaler is a middleman. He is the connector between seller and investor. Because he’s not buying the properties himself, wholesaling real estate contracts is a fast way to get into the game and to create almost immediate cash flows.

Wholesaling real estate contracts are used when a real estate investor is buying or selling a wholesale deal. In a typical wholesale transaction, a wholesaler puts a property under agreement and then tries to match it up with an investor-buyer. Wholesalers do not want to have to close on a property. In fact, the faster they can put a property under contract and then assign it, the better.

Wholesalers work on a volume basis. They keep their fees low and make their money by moving anywhere from a few to twenty or more properties per month. Fees vary depending on the profit potential of a deal – the bigger the profit potential, the larger the fee. Their fee is low compared to the amount of money a rehabber might make if they fix and flip a property or a buy and hold investor may make in the long run. That’s because the amount of time and effort a wholesaler puts into a property is minimal. They find and negotiate the deal and then assign the contract. Most wholesale deals, from the time a property is put under contract until it is assigned, take less than a week or two.

The important thing to remember when constructing a wholesale deal is that you position yourself on the acquisition side of the transaction to have the best terms possible in your Purchase and Sale Agreement. Terms such as not having to put up a big Earnest Money Deposit, or an escape clause such as having a long “inspection period” where you can back out of the deal and get your earnest deposit returned.

Then on your “flip” where you are selling to your back-end cash buyer, you will again want terms that protect you such as getting a “Non-Refundable Earnest Deposit”, and an “As-Is” clause. Obviously there are many more terms you will end up using, but the point is:

The more familiar you become with your paperwork…the more profit you will earn as a wholesaler! The good news is you can use standard “Realtor” contracts with some added addendum's, or custom “Investor” contracts you get from a local real estate attorney.

How To Deal With An Owner When Wholesaling Real Estate

Explaining to the owner that you are not actually going to be the person buying their house doesn’t have to be tricky or deceitful. If an owner is truly motivated, he won’t care who ends up with his property as long as he gets his money. Other people may care very much, especially if you are negotiating a subject do or owner financing deal.

One of the best ways to explain this is to say that you work with a group of investors who buy properties on a regular basis. You’re negotiating the property for the group but you don’t know whose name the property will be put in yet. Therefore, you create an agreement that names you or your assigns as the buyer.

You can transfer the contract using a simple Assignment of Contract agreement. As the assignee, your buyer investor steps into your shoes and agrees to perform under the terms of the original purchase agreement.

Making Sure the Deal Closes When Wholesaling Real Estate Contracts

One of the problems that wholesalers sometimes encounter is that the person they assign the contract to doesn’t close on the deal. If the wholesaler has collected his assignment fee up front, he may not care whether or not the deal closes. However, the wholesaler was the person who sat down with a motivated seller, someone with a problem and presented a solution for them. There may be no legal obligation to help the seller, but there may be a moral or ethical obligation for some people.

If the wholesaler was supposed to be paid at closing and the deal doesn’t go through, he is out his fee as well as his time. That is why it is best to get your fee upfront or at least a substantial chunk of it upfront.

How can you avoid this happening at all? You need to know your buyers. Once you are in the real estate community, you will know who is all talk and who is walking the walk. Some investors will tie up your deal and never perform. Within a short period of time, they get a reputation in the community. That’s why it’s important to go to investor meetings and talk with other investors. It doesn’t take very long for someone’s reputation to catch up with them.

When you are working with an investor you have never flipped a contract to before, get your assignment fee up front. Not being able to afford to pay the assignment fee upfront is a red flag that the investor may have trouble performing when it comes time to close the deal.

Find Cash Investors & Hard Money Lenders

Find out who your cash investors are. Cash investors can make a decision quickly and are eager to close sooner rather than later. Cash investors may use their own money or have a network of private and hard money lenders. While you may negotiate owner-financed deals, look for the investor who doesn’t need every deal to be owner financed.

Get to know some hard money lenders. If you are finding good deals at below market rates, a hard money loan may work well for an investor. Introduce your investors to hard money lenders. Encourage them to get prequalified with one or two hard money lenders so that when a deal comes available, the financing can be put in place quickly. Most hard money loans can be arranged within seven days and some lenders can do a “rush” loan turn around in three days. Lining up hard money lenders for your buyers will help you move more deals.