Is wholesaling legal in Orlando FL?

Question

Hello BP community i'm a newbie in the world of real estate investing with a plan to build a long term rental portfolio. I plan on building this portfolio through direct mail and driving for dollars. Since i might run into owners that will want "all cash" offers i also wanted to use the wholesale strategy for those properties that i don't have the cash for. While researching how wholesaling works i ran into different opinions on it's legality, some say its legal, some say it's illegal and some say it depends on your state,county and how you do it. I'm in Orlando FL.

Has anybody had this conversation with their attorney here in FL?

Braden C. · Answer

@Adonis Hernandez This is something discussed pretty often on BP so be prepared for a lot of different opinions. The short answer is yes, it's considered brokering without a license, I have this in writing from FREC. If you don't own the property you legally can't advertise to sell it, even with what some consider "equitable interest" by having a contract to purchase the property. That being said, it's not something that I have personally ever seen enforced. It will likely be enforced one day, and they will make an example out of that person.

To avoid any issues, just get your license and disclose to potential sellers that you're a licensed real estate agent but not acting on their behalf. You'll not only be doing things legally, but you'll probably earn quite a bit of extra money each year just by helping friends/family when they purchase or sell real estate.

Shawn McCormick · Answer

@Adonis Hernandez Wholesaling is legal in Florida and is done at a very high level by many people/companies. There are legal implications if you do thing incorrectly or unethically. There is plenty of good information out there and I would be happy to connect you to a few wholesalers in Orlando that I work with and/or a mentor that could teach you all about it and the do's/don'ts. Feel free to reach out if I can help. Good luck.

Braden C. · Answer

@Adonis Hernandez It's a very gray area but I can almost assure you that the argument of FREC would be you're connecting a buyer and a seller and collecting a fee for doing so, AKA brokering real estate, even if you aren't "advertising" the property. A good attorney might be able to argue in your favor but that's going to cost WAYYYYY more money than a RE license.

Again, I've never seen or heard of it being enforced in Florida and I'd say there's a very very good chance it will never be an issue for you not to have the license. I personally look at the risk vs. reward and having the license is a no-brainer for me, but not for everyone else.

Adonis Hernandez · Answer

@Braden C. thanks for taking the time to help me. I might consider getting my license if i decide to go after wholesaling.

Adonis Hernandez · Answer

@Shawn McCormick Thank you, i sent you my info.

Adonis Hernandez · Answer

@Braden C. I read that as long as you don't advertise the property and the seller and buyer are aware of what you are doing by putting on the contract that it is an assignable contract then its legal.

Is wholesaling legal in Orlando FL?

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