Wholesale in the family?

[Joe Odere]

Hello,

I have an idea for my first deal to be one that helps my family out. My uncle in Georgia just passed away, leaving behind a house that is paid off. His kids (my cousins) are college-age, and are still waiting to see what is in place in terms of estate. But I'm positive he left everything to them, as my uncle was divorced. I don't think they are going to want to deal with the property at all, but it's way to soon to run my idea by them. That's why I'm here:

My idea is to enter into a contract with them, where I put up holding costs (taxes, insurance, utilities, etc.) until I find a cash-buyer for them. Once the house is sold, they get a cut of what it was sold for, minus my holding costs. I'm thinking my take would be 52%, and a 24% take for each of my cousins.

I don't have a ton of capital, which is why I ruled out paying my cousins something up front. But I do work full-time, and hopefully could budget holding costs out of my salary. Also I'm based in Chicago, but my cousins are in the Atlanta area. Listening to the Low (or No) Money Down audiobook is what got me thinking along these lines. But I need to run this by you more experienced folks out there, to make sure there isn't something I'm grossly overlooking.

Feel free to tell me that this is the dumbest idea you've ever heard. Just please spare no detail as to why!