Wholesale marketing and the double close

[Christopher Bohar]

Hello all,

This is my first post on BP. I am getting ready to go hunting for my first wholesale deal here in eastern Pennsylvania. After doing much research, I've been hearing time and again that (besides having a real estate license) the best way to legally wholesale properties without coming under legal scrutiny is through double closings. I have already located a title company that is investor friendly and has no problem doing these transactions and already found a transactional lender who can help me. Transactional funding would be my only option as I would not have the money to purchase from the seller outright with my own cash (on a really tight budget with this). So therein my question arises. I have to market the property and find a buyer first and then secure their contract BEFORE I can obviously do a double close. This clearly seems to violate the law then. Attorneys are saying get the double contract done and you will be alright but I am in the catch-22 of having to find the buyer first as the transactional loan is only for a day or two. So my question boils down to the wholesalers doing double closings. The double closing sounds great but how do you go about marketing your property in a legal manner if you do not have an RE license? (I plan on getting one, btw). I really need to start making money ASAP though as I am in heavy debt. Thanks for any and all help! -Christopher