Squashing the "Wholesaling is illegal/legal" argument!!!

[Mike Hendrickson]

I have read through a lot of forum post about the topic of wholesaling (the latest by and it seems like the argument of wholesaling being legal/illegal could be squashed once and for all by getting your RE license.

With your RE license, you are required to hold your clients interest above your own by law. So if your client's interest is selling their property quickly and you can satisfy that interest with a cash buyer, regardless of the price, I don't see how that could be looked at as unethical.

On the other side of the coin, if your clients interest is to get the most money from the of their property as they can (as a licensed RE agent with your clients interest before your own) most likely it would be listed on the MLS.

I am curious to here what others here have to say!! Especially you 

[Alan Johnson]

@Mike Hendrickson From what I am seeing, there actually seems to be two separate issues that are  used interchangeably depending on the author's viewpoint.

1. Is it legal?
2. Is it moral / ethical?

The second question seems to hit the hot button of a lot of contributors on BP, probably because it comes down to differing individual core values.

To illustrate, consider this hypothetical example:

Scenario 1: You're in a shabby second hand store and notice a dusty Van Gogh that you know to be worth $1 million dollars.  You ask the shop owner how much he wants for the painting, and he says he doesn't know.  He asks you to make an offer.  What is the moral and ethical price you should offer the shop keeper to purchase the painting?

Scenario 2: Same as above, except that the painting has a price tag of $100 on it.  Do you buy it for the asking price of $100, or do you offer more?  If so, how much more? (Or do you offer less!)

There is, of course, no universal answer to either situation.  It's different for all of us and, accordingly (at least in my view) not worthy of debate in a forum that exists for the purpose of sharing knowledge and experience rather than passing judgement on perceived motivations.

This is the primary reason why I chose the tagline "I would rather be judged by the quality of my contributions rather than perceptions of my motivations" in my profile.