Pre-selling Houses Strategy

[Nick O.]

I have 2 buyers who liked a remodel I already have under contract. They basically want me to find another house, do the same style/finishes and sell to them once complete. Anyone have any experience doing this and if so how would you suggest best way to structure deal, clauses, down payment, etc. Any help would be much appreciated!

[J Scott]

I would recommend just continuing with your business as you otherwise would, and when you have a couple new deals that those buyers might be interested in, offer it up to them first.

But:

- I wouldn't look for deals they specifically want, unless they are deals you'd be willing to do otherwise;

- I wouldn't customize a house for them unless they were willing to put a large enough deposit down that it would cover having to remove all of their customizations should they not follow through on the purchase;

- I would pre-qualify them as you would any other buyer, and not give them any preferential treatment.

In other words, go into the deal assuming the worst case -- they will ask you to do a lot of customizations and then back out of the deal.  If you assume that worst case scenario -- and take action based on it -- you should be fine.