How Do You Wholesale a Property Listed on MLS?

Question

Hi BP members. Well I have a cash buyer ready to buy a wholesale property now. The property is listed on MLS. Do I just sign an Option Contract with the realtor and then assignment the Option to the cash buyer for my assignment fee? or do I sign a standard realtor contract stating that I can assign the contract and the EMD is be paid upon acceptance? (upon acceptance I can get the EMD from the cash buyer). The seller and cash buyer would pay the realtor fees. Thanks.

JR T. · Answer

If you think the property you could put it under contract and then wholesale it. Note the Realtor form contract is not assignable you will need your own. I've bought properties off MLS and used a private contract.

If the deal is still on MLS though I'd run all the numbers again to find out why nobody agrees with you, enough to buy it anyhow.

Selling a reliable cash buyer an MLS lead will be the end of that relationship. Most people with cash to purchase real estate are sophisticated enough to search MLS. This is more an opportunity to give that lead for free to your buyers to add value to the relationship.

If you're going to wholesale quit wasting time on MLS. You need unique leads for the resulting deals to be worth anything to a middleman wholesaler.

Dan Kelley · Answer

And yes, an investor/flipper CAN go and find these deals on the MLS. But, realistically, their business is to flip houses, not to market. They make they're money when they are in the building, running the numbers, doing the demo, etc. They're not looking to start a marketing business and find motivated sellers on the MLS. I would think, though I'm not in their shoes, that a flipper would be just as happy if i brought them an MLS deal as if it was not from the MLS as long as there is a significant discount over the list price and there is a reasonable amount of profit to be made.

JR T. · Answer

Hedge Funds, in particular, are in no need of people to bring them MLS deals. Those deals are free. A REALTOR did the work and their 6% or so fee will be paid by the seller.

Yes if you have the money you can buy anything you want o  MLS resell to any type entity. Most people wholesale because they lack the cash or capacity to complete a deal.

You have to actually do real work to create a deal with your sweat that is worth some money. All of the resources on how to generate that business are here on BiggerPockets. But they'll take more time than searching MLS and likely at least some money to obtain and work through the leads.

I have two final pieces of advice:

1) Contact a hard money lender and see if they will underwrite you a loan for the project. If they can't it's because there is no profit there. You don't have to take the loan.

2) Divorce yourself from the notion that money can be made in real estate with little or no work. The first question you should ask yourself is: What am I going to bring to this that would make it more valuable than a 6% realtor commission? Unless you have some inside info there's a reason that deal is still sitting there to be analyzed.

Christina R. · Answer

In Maryland the standard MAR contract is not assignable.  Now, you can try to strike that language (or use an addendum, to make it assignable) but any Realtor or agent - myself included - is going to look at that cross-eyed because that's pretty much stating you are not the ultimate end buyer.  It's hard enough getting a 'standard' deal to the settlement table at times; a Realtor that does not have a good grasp of wholesaling and a relationship that is established and PROVEN with an buyer that engages in such is NOT going to want to have anything signed by anyone but the end buyer.

Everyone's comments about why pay a fee for something off the MLS... perhaps the person has locked up a HUD listing who has time to data mine and has watched and found something that is actually a deal... I don't think it happens a lot, but it does happen.

@Joshua Martin - EMD is earnest money deposit

If your cash buyer gets wind it's on the MLS, s/he's not going to be happy... why pay you and essentially overpay when they could go to the listing agent directly.. unless it's a HUD, perhaps?

The very first thing I do when someone brings me a property or I see one in some listserv that I want to check out is run the address through the MLS for active, contingent, rented, sold temp off market.  In Maryland  www.homedatabase.com is the public version of the MRIS system here.

Dan Kelley · Answer

I recently marketed in my area with door hangers and had a gal contact me. Her house is currently listed on MLS, however she is in a bind and wants to sell quickly. She has it listed for $92k, but within my first phone call I found out that she'd take as low as $79k to get it sold. Now I haven't even tried to negotiate lower with her, but that is a perfect example of an MLS listing that would be a good deal to an investor. I'd likely put it under contract for $79k or less, add my $3,000 assignment fee, and sell to the investor for $82,000. Still considerably less than it was listed for. And, ideally, I would actually get it under contract for closer to $70k to leave more room for profit for the investor.

So, if my investor happened to look and find it on the MLS, he would see that I've already negotiated $19,000 off the asking price, so I wouldn't think he would be too inclined to end our working relationship. Especially if I've left enough room for him to make a solid profit ($10k +) on a property that needs very little work.

Christina R. · Answer

I never said that "a property only appraises for what the sale price is."  Quite the contrary in my experience.      Clearly THE MARKET is saying "this is not worth 92K."  Why? Because  whatever state it's in, etc., no one bought it.

Dan Kelley · Answer

@Christina R.  ...huh? So because I purchase a property at $79k, that automatically means it's ARV is 79k? That's absurd. Buying a property at a discount does not automatically mean the property is now worth less. This house was purchased several years ago for $35,000 as a foreclosure. Does that means it's ARV is still only $35k? It's ARV is equal to whatever comparables are selling/ have sold for. I'll never understand why some agents/ appraisers want to try to say that a property only appraises for what the sale price is. That makes absolutely zero sense. If I purchase a $100,000 property from a family member who is helping me out and sells it to me for $50,000, the ARV doesn't magically deflate to $50,000. The house is still comparable to multiple $100,000 sales.

JR T. · Answer

@Chris I would describe MLS as delivering the occasional bluebird to an experienced wholesaler/investor who monitors the changes daily to be current on the market.

The #1 thing that will kill MLS deals for wholesalers is the involvement of a REALTOR. A real estate agent has an ethical obligation to explain a bad deal to their client when they receive one. Wholesalers live in the perfect mix of there being no laws against a bad deal and their only duty being to themselves.

What they're doing in Tampa runs afoul of the FTC Act. It's a deceptive practice 8 encourage you to unite with local colleagues and report instances you can find to the Florida Attorney General, Florida Real Estate Commission and the FTC. The Commission has the clout to get a law passed requiring that a seller sign disclosures indicating they understand they're unrepresented, directions on obtaining representation and a statement indicating whether the purchase is intended to be resold prior to the contract date.

It will take years of educating legislators before this will be solved, but wholesaling is a messy part of the market that needs a cop on the beat.

Chris Kennedy · Answer

@JR T.

I also concur that typically, a wholesaler that pitches MLS deals will ruin relationships. I've gotten to the point that I am hesitant to deal with many of our Tampa wholesalers. Unless they explain otherwise, if you aren't able to give me the address on the first call/email then the conversation is over. "I can't tell you the address but I can tell you its 100k 3/2 1600sqft in xxx town." Are you serious? SMH. I will gladly explain an option contract to them if they are new, but if they start the "it's complicated story I'm out".

I also agree with the MLS comment regarding running all the numbers again. Typically, in high activity markets, unless you are there day 1, hour 1 on the listing, it's already been looked over by dozens.

With that being said, I've spent hours looking at MLS deals. There are some that sold for a substantially lower priceand then immediately re-marketed and sold. The underlying trend in the ones I saw was POOR or incorrect marketing.

Some Examples:

Two Duplexes (4 units) being erroneously listed in MLS as one duplex. Pictures of both duplexes were very similar. At first glance it seemed like an overpriced duplex, until you realized what happened.

Inground pools. I've come across two low comps that sold with pools. However, the pool  feature was not listed in MLS and there were no pictures of it. In our area, many agents will exclude the pool pictures if the pool is not currently maintained. Permit, satellite and house visit confirmed there were pools.

Horrible pictures. This one speaks for itself.

I want to comment that these are VERY rare, however, when you spend alot of time on MLS, you do see them.

Andrew Posner · Answer

I just made an offer off MRIS. I am not an agent, I sent them my contract. Under name you can just put your name and/or his assigns. Also there is a check box where you can make it assignable. You just have to be careful. Also, I believe you could do a double close.

How Do You Wholesale a Property Listed on MLS?

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