Wholesaling - Realtors are your friends

[Randy Charboneau]

Hello!  Full disclosure - I'm a Real Estate Broker with 30 years experience so I'm writing this from a Realtor's perspective.

A lot of wholesalers I have met have a mix of experience.  Some have done dozens of transactions and they work pretty much like a Real Estate firm.  Others are a bit wet behind the ears and have very little idea when it comes to Real Estate contract law and title issues.  I recall one wholesaler I met who was trying to break into the business.  I offered to help him with his first deal for a fee.  He found a property and googled a contract and filled it out himself.   Then he hit a forum and found an investor who was willing to pay him $10,000 over the contract price!  Everything was going great the thought.  He didn't need me or anyone!  He was on the road to big time!   Well, the investor wanted the contract assigned over to him so the wholesaler transferred his interest.  Then the wholesaler decided to contact me to show me how great he's doing.  I looked over the forms and I asked him how he was getting paid?   He said "The investor said he'd give me $10,000 after he closed!".  Hahahaha!   I'm still laughing about that one.  That was an important lesson he learned about verbal vs. in-writing when it comes to compensation!

Realtors are knowledgeable about contract law and title issues and it makes sense to have them involved if you aren't 100% sure you know what you're doing.  Whether you're buying or selling or assigning its important you don't make mistakes and miss important red flags.  They will charge for their time and services but in the long run they are saving you money and you are gaining knowledge and experience from them that will help you make much more money in the long run.   Don't be afraid to work with one if your experience is lacking with wholesaling.

Some wholesalers are leery about working with Realtors to find buyers because they don't want another middleman dipping into their spread.  To avoid this, just explain to any Realtor what your asking price is and have them handle compensation with the buyer.   I charge a flat fee from buyers to assist them with wholesale deals in West Michigan and have wholesalers from Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Muskegon and other areas nearby just sending me their deals so I can push them out to my network of buyers.   Realtors are a great source for buyers so if you have a property you need to unload, don't be afraid to build a network of Realtors.  You're probably reaching 10x more buyers than you realize with every Realtor that gets your list!

If you have questions on Wholesaling and Realtors feel free to reach out and I'll be happy to assist!  It's a great partnership that helps everyone!