I sure wish I could sell my house to a wholesaler!

[Tyco Bronye]

Sorry if this offends anyone. Also thanks for everyone who has responded to my other questions. This message board is awesome! True learning takes place here at BP forums with real people in real situations.

It seems to me a wholesaler is a middle man who yes serves a purpose to an investor but at the expense of screwing over the seller. It seems like a lose-win-win scenario. I have looked into this and I have heard analogies to a store like Target or Walmart. That in essence they are middle men, since they buy their products for one price then raise the price when they sell it to you the consumer. However, this analogy doesn't seem to work in my opinion because those stores offer a convenience to the consumer that they are willing to pay for. You pay more at the small hardware shop located a block from you than you would at the Home Depot 12 miles from you, but I will still occasionally shop and pay a higher price at the ma and pa store if I want the convenience.

But a wholesaler doesn't offer a convenience. I guess I don't understand why and how real estate wholesaling exists in the market. Basically I'm saying: Sellers and buyers should be able to come together without this middle man. If I want to sell my house fast and it's in bad condition why can't I just put an add out on craigslist saying :

"House for Sale - Priced at 70 percent ARV minus repairs"

Then just hook up directly with the cash buyer, instead of adding this extra person who takes another 20 percent.

Why hasn't 70 percent ARV minus repairs made it to the popular lexicon even for people outside of the real estate business in this age of information?

My parents are not real estate investors but they just bought a second house for retirement and they are familiar with concepts like "comps" "points"

Shouldn't the market have eliminated this unnecessary person called a wholesaler/middleman? I realize there is an advantage of all cash purchase because of the speed you can get your money guaranteed and also if the house is not in good condition you can't sell it on the market. But shouldn't their be a legitimate business out there that where a "motivated seller" can just hook up directly with the buyer and cut out this unnecessary person who is just taking thousands of dollars for doing nothing?

(Doing nothing from the seller point of view, I realize wholesalers put in a lot of work to find their prey)

This seller has to be taken advantage of is all I can conclude at this point.

I've looked this question up on Google: Is Wholesaling ethical?" There was an article that broke this question down into two categories.

1. A deal is a deal. You approach the situation fully trying to deceive the seller.

2. Inform the seller of their options.

The author of the article decided to take the second approach and would lose some deals because of it. I can't understand if you really are informed as a seller why would you sell to a wholesaler?