wholesaling Earnest Money and Due Diligence

[Chandler Williams]

Hey guys,

This might be a super basic question, I'm still very new to wholesaling.

I've been a Utah realtor for two years now and a beginner investor. My buddy and I have been finding wholesale deals and are in the process of starting a new wholesaling business.

The one thing I am unsure about is how earnest money works when you have yet to find a willing buyer to assign the contract to?

Does EM still have to be delivered in 3-4 days? And if we don't have an actual buyer in that timeframe, does the EM have to come out of our pocket?

Is the normal practice in wholesaling to analyze a deal -> find a buyer -> then offer the price to the seller and form agreement? Or find a deal first then market it to buyers, then offer on the house and create an agreement with the seller & buyer?

What is the standard process from start to finish so we can eliminate as much risk as possible?

Is it better to have a willing seller and buyer before sending the initial purchase/sale agreement? or should we get the seller to agree first and then find a buyer?

Hope this makes sense