@Bill Plymouth Hi Bill, most of the time it's agents who are so uppity about it because they don't understand the concept or the specifics, or are simply threatened by market competition.
1. Wholesalers focus on a specific real estate niche... people who need to get out of property ownership quickly due to a variety of life factors. Divorce, death, sickness, health issues, debt, legal issues, etc. They don't have the time, money, energy, or patience to deal with their property or work with an agent. Many agents are threatened by this because it's competition that cuts into their potential commisions.
2. Wholesalers provide below value offers on homes for a reason. It's what they do. Many of these houses need alot of work or the owner needs out of the situation fast and has no desire to wait the typical 30 days to close on a conventional sale. Whatever the offer the wholesalers make, the HOMEOWNER has ACCEPTED. Which is their choice and right to do so. For some reason some people have a problem with other people making choices for themselves.
3. Wholesales have specific terms in their contracts that clearly state they can advertise the property and assign the contract; to which the homeowner signed off on. My understanding is that these properties cannot be listed on a regional MLS unless there is a signed listing agreement (correct me if I'm mistaken), HOWEVER, they CAN be listed on the less sophistated, sub-standard, second rate sites like Zillow, Craigslist, etc. These sites exist for a reason and people have the ability to use them at their discretion. If a wholesaler believes they can sell a property for more, so be it. Maybe they can, maybe they can't. Either way they should honor their offer, just as buyers that are represented by agents should do. But exit strategies are built into contracts for a reason.
4. The signed contract is fully enforceable in court. It signs over the rights to sell the property to the wholesaler during a specified time period. The homeowner cannot sell the property to someone else during this time, but the wholesaler can. This is a legal practice in many states.
5. Agents have more rules and regulations than wholesalers and they get very offended by the wholesale practice more often than not, which is asinine... if a homeowner agrees to a sales price then what is the problem? The home owner is agreeing to an amount. No-one is forcing them to do anything. There are more and more wholesalers and wholesale companies in the real estate market now than ever before.
People need to adapt and evolve instead of complain if they are going to stay relevent and successful in this industry.
I don't understand the animosity towards wholesalers..the majority of them are honest and working hard to help people who are in a really tough situation. I am a former wholesaler and now licensed real estate agent in Arizona and in my opinion, here is plenty of real estate available for many different business models to be successful.
