Is this a good deal?

[Isis Franco]

Hello everyone, I have a situation that I'm hopping to get some advise. So there is this wholesaler I just met. I have not done any business with him. He says that he works with an attorney who comes across homes that he needs to sell. So I went to see a property that he is waiting for the court to approve to sell. He is selling the home for $180k it needs about $5k or less to fix. Nothing major it's in great condition. Arv is $350k. Very nice area in Riverside CA. Now here is the thing. He is asking for $50k deposit. And says that we can start working on the property until the attorney gets the approval from court that might take 1-2months. The $50k is to make sure that I'm serious about buying the house. Which I am because I think it's an awesome deal. He says that we can put it in writing that I'm not going to loose my deposit. That the worse that can happen is court will say to sell it for more $10-30k more. Is anyone familiar with this type of transactions? Any input, advice or suggestions would help. I really don't want to let go of this deal or this contract because he says that they come across this properties very often. Thank you for reading.

[Aaron Mazzrillo]

This to me, is a classic example of someone appealing to the greed factor - smoking deal that you just can't pass up, BUT the seller just needs this big *** EMD to make the deal happen. Why is that?

Let's look at the numbers; $180K purchase price. Only $5K to fix. Wait, $5K? Does it only need carpets? I've never bought a house that only needed carpets. How can that be? A turnkey flip house for just over 50 cents on the dollar. Man, too good to pass up. Right? TOO GOOD TO PASS UP!! He could sell this deal all day to any investor on here for an easy $80K wholesale fee. IF IT WERE A REAL DEAL.

Sounds to me like you're about to watch $50K magically disappear unless of course, it comes with a bridge. Does it come with a bridge?