Wholesale Deal

[Mehul Mehta]

Dear Community Members,

I have got a proposal from an wholesaler for buying a property deal, so need your suggestions and advice on things to keep an eye on. As I am based overseas and will not be in a position to physically check the property.

The wholesaler has prepared an 'Assignment of contract' but before signing I want your help in giving some insight on the following questions that I have in my mind

1. How do I check if the property exist (can I check government record online to know who is the owner of the property?, Can I get in touch with local realtors who will do this for me? Will the realtor charge me anything for this?)
2. How do I check on the category of neighborhood (A or B or C etc) for the property?
3. What is a good assignment of contract price to be paid for this (like 10% of the property purchase price, or a fix price 3K to 10K?)
4. How do I check if the assignment of contract is legally correct/binding (can someone recommend a lawyer?)
5. What will be the charges for the closing cost? ( Is there a standard matrix to calculate this?)

Some answers for the following questions are still not clear from the agent
How much work needed to rehab the property & estimate for the same?
How much time it will take for rehab?

Once I acquire the property based on the above,
1. How do I check in govt records that I am the owner of the property?
2. What is the average rent in the area for such property?
3. How fast I will be able sell the property in the particular area


Regards

Mehul

[Aaron Thivierge]

Mehul, from your post, I assume a couple things:
a.) you have not done a deal with this particular wholesaler yet.
b.) you are unfamiliar with the market in which you are considering investing.
c.) you do not 100% trust the wholesaler otherwise you wouldn't be asking for details on how to vet this deal
d.) you are unfamiliar with how the USA real estate is recorded and where records can be verified on a particular property (taxes, insurance, utilities, neighborhood logistics (a,b,c,d class).  
e.) you do not have a real estate attorney or accountant familiar w/ US real estate law and process'.   

ALL of these pieces of the puzzle must be in place for you to be successful from afar investing. Otherwise, you run a EXCELLENT RISK of being taken to the cleaners for the money that you assign to others (wholesalers, partners, etc…). 

There was an EXCELLENT podcast number 89 w/ Engelo from Australia that answers every one of your questions..in a nutshell.  Are you familiar with the podcasts on iTunes? 

There is a fundamental TRUST issue that you have to have in place to make your arrangement work.  I am sorry for not answering your questions directly, but your post makes you potentially a very easy victim for fraud or at least a sucker for a bad investment.   Does this make sense?