Wholesaling Washington State

[Austin Davis]

So I've only just started my REI journey myself, but I've gotten reacquainted with an "uncle" (family friend) that has dabbelled on/off with real estate over many years. He came to visit us this past week, we got to talking about REI, and he mentioned how he tries trying to do some wholesale deals in WA state (where he lives right) that he just happened into. In our discussion he mentioned he's running into trouble with title companies doing a double closing/simultaneous, especially a dry closing (where you float funds from the end buyer to purchase from the seller). Can anyone shed any light on this? Is this not possible in WA or just extremely uncommon. He's in the greater seattle area, maybe someone coudl recomend a closing or title company that might be familiar/willing to do this?

[Steve Vaughan]

I don't double or simultaneous close here.  WA takes a chunk every time title transfers in the form of excise tax whether title be for held for 30 years or 30 seconds.   Any 'wholesaler' that's been doing it here for more than 5 minutes knows this.  The tax is about 1.7% on average.  Each time. Do it his way and that's 3.4% off the top!

The title co is doing him a favor.  Whether it's legal or not isn't the point in WA.  The knowledgeable assign their interest, never close.