Attempting to wholesale Grandmothers Uncle house...

[Jordan Foster]

Hello Bigger Pockets community!

Ive recently moved back to my hometown with aspirations of learning the ins and outs of real estate, as I have goals to reach financial independence utilizing real estate investing as one of my streams of income. Outside of Monopoly, I've never been involved with anything real estate related so its all pretty daunting. I understand that you dont learn much in your comfort zone so Ive made a decision to chase whatever I can grab a hold of.

As I make this decision, I come to find out that my grandmother has been made responsible for my great-uncle properties (paid off) and everything has been put in her name. Due to my uncles deteriorating condition, he didnt keep up the properties too much, so all of them are vacant. My grandmother has her own stresses and doesnt have time to put energy into the upkeep either, so shes looking to sell everything. 

I keep reading everywhere that wholesaling is a great way to get into real estate, then I read its an illegal shady business that turns desperate individual victims. Being that I dont really understand the process in its totality, I kinda feel stuck. Ive had conversations with my grandmother in attempts to explain to her the value of the property and potentiality to establish wealth thru renting, but shes tired and wants to get rid of it. So I look at this as an opportunity to wholesale the property and learn a little bit more about real estate while actually gaining something to jump start my journey into real estate. She has handed me the keys to look at the property (doing that tomorrow), but I still dont really know how I should proceed...

My thoughts were that I have to find out how to assign a contract, then get in touch with a realtor/title company??? Idk, but that why I hoping someone could give me insight into my situation so I dont do anything backwards. 

Thanks guys for the help and I appreciate giving my situation and attention or consideration!

[Lydia R.]

@Jordan Foster I am a firm believer in never wholesaling property that belongs to friends or family. It gets complicated...

What I will suggest you do in this case is this: 1. Find out how much your grandmother wants for the properties. If she has absolutely no idea then just split the profits with her 50/50. Also make sure she doesnt have any benefits that would be negatively affected by her receiving a lumps sum of money. For example, people who receive disability payments are only allowed to receive X dollars a month and anything beyond that makes them ineligible to continue receiving benefits

2. Get your grandmother to sign the ownership of the properties over to you. Please do not screw over your grandmother here. If she has any concerns you can have her seller finance them to you...but thats a lot to put an older person through so just dont screw her over and you can skip making this more complicated.

3. Find a flat fee listing agent who will list the properties for you for a flat fee. You will get all the calls and inquiries. This will be a fantastic learning experience for you because you get to deal with investor/buyers. You will essentially be wholesaling the properties, but instead of doing an assignment you will own the properties out right and you can sell for a discounted but profitable price. You could also skip the agent and put the properties directly on Zillow but you get better exposure on the MLS.

4. When you get inquiries you will get a ton of hands on experience negotiating with buyers and handling the closing aspect of wholesaling. It will help you get a lot more comfortable with the process.

5. Close the deal with your buyer and split the proceeds with your grandmother. Use the extra cash to get your wholesaling business off the ground.

This is exactly what I would do if I were in your shoes. Good luck!! Feel free to reach out if you have questions!