How to Wholesale Real Estate: Step-by-Step Beginner Guide

Learning how to wholesale real estate is the fastest way into real estate investing when you have more hustle than capital. You find a property a cash buyer wants, put it under contract at a price that works for them, and sell your position in that contract for a fee. You never own the house. This guide walks through the whole process, in the order it actually happens, with the numbers, scripts, and checklists you need to take a first deal from lead to closing.

What wholesaling real estate means

A wholesaler is a matchmaker with a contract. Sellers who need a fast, as-is sale sign a purchase agreement with you. Cash buyers who need inventory pay you an assignment fee to step into that agreement and close. The seller gets speed and certainty, the buyer gets a deal they did not have to find, and you get paid for finding it and putting it together.

The key idea is that you are selling your rights under a contract, not the property itself. Your purchase agreement gives you the right to buy the house at a set price by a set date. An assignment transfers that right to an investor, who then closes with the seller directly. Your fee is the difference between what you contracted to pay and what the investor agrees to pay for the contract.

Assignment vs. double close

There are two common ways to get paid. In an assignment, the buyer takes over your contract and the title company pays your fee at the seller’s closing. In a double close, you actually buy the property and resell it to your buyer, usually the same day, with two separate closings. A double close keeps your fee private and works when a contract or lender does not allow assignment, but it costs more because there are two sets of closing costs and you need money for the first purchase. Many wholesalers use transactional funding for a double close to cover that short gap.

Is wholesaling legal?

Wholesaling is a legitimate business in every state when it is done openly: you disclose that you intend to assign or resell, you market your contract rather than the house, and you follow your state’s rules. Those rules are not the same everywhere. Some states require a license to market contracts repeatedly (Illinois, for example, requires one for more than one wholesale deal in a 12-month period, according to Illinois REALTORS), some require specific disclosures, and some restrict how you advertise. Read whether wholesaling is legal in your state and your state guide before your first offer.

Most people start by wholesaling houses, usually single-family homes that need work, because that is where cash buyers are most active and the numbers are easiest to learn. Land, mobile homes and small commercial properties follow the same steps with different buyers. For a plain-English overview with a worked example, read what wholesaling real estate is first.

How to wholesale real estate: the 7 steps at a glance

Pick one market and learn what buyers pay.
Build a buyer’s list before you have a deal.
Find motivated sellers and talk to them every day.
Run the numbers: ARV, repairs, and your maximum offer.
Make the offer and sign a clean, assignable contract.
Market the contract to your buyers.
Close through an investor-friendly title company and collect your fee.

Step 1: Pick one market and learn what buyers pay

Choose one city or county you can learn deeply. Pull the last six months of cash sales and note the neighborhoods, price points, and property types investors are buying. This tells you what “a deal” means in your market before you go looking for one.

You can do this remotely. What matters is that your market has steady investor activity, sale prices where the numbers can work, and a title company that closes assignments. Focus on one area until you can look at an address and roughly guess its value and its likely buyer. Spreading across five markets at once means you understand none of them.

List the zip codes where cash sales happen most often.
Note the typical price range for renovated homes and for homes that need work in each zip code.
Identify the property types that move fastest: three-bedroom houses, small multifamily, or something else.
Write down the names of the companies and LLCs that show up as buyers again and again. They are your first buyer leads.

Step 2: Build a buyer’s list first

Most beginners skip this and pay for it later. Twenty-five qualified cash buyers — landlords (including investors using the BRRRR method), flippers, and the lenders who fund them — means every contract you sign already has a home. Here is exactly how to build the list in 14 days.

A buyer is qualified when you know what they buy, where, at what price, and how fast they can close. A spreadsheet is enough to start. For each buyer, record their target zip codes, property types, price range, rehab level they will take on, and proof of funds or lender. When a contract comes in, you can then send it to the six buyers who want exactly that property instead of blasting everyone. Once you are comfortable with houses, the same buyer-first habit carries over to small apartment buildings and retail, though commercial wholesaling runs on income math and longer timelines.

Good sources include recent cash buyers in public records, local investor meetups, hard money lenders, property managers, and “we buy houses” signs and ads. Call them, ask what they are buying right now, and ask what their last deal looked like. Buyers remember the wholesaler who asked good questions and then sent them something that fit.

Step 3: Find motivated sellers

A motivated seller has a problem the house is part of: an inheritance, a divorce, back taxes, a tired landlord, a vacancy, a move out of state. You find them through driving for dollars, public records (probate, pre-foreclosure, tax delinquency, code violations), direct mail, and calls. Pre-foreclosure timing differs by state; in a court-foreclosure state, our guide to the Florida foreclosure process shows how the clock works. Consistency beats cleverness: 20 calls a day for 30 days outperforms one clever mailer.

Most public-record lists give you an owner name and a property address but no phone number. Skip tracing fills that gap by matching owners to current phone numbers and mailing addresses. For a full breakdown of lead sources and how to stack them, read how to find motivated sellers.

What to ask on the first call

You are not pitching on the first call. You are finding out whether there is a problem you can solve and whether the price can work. Keep it conversational and cover four things:

Condition: What work does the house need? When was the roof, HVAC, and plumbing last updated?
Motivation: Why sell now rather than list it with an agent or keep it?
Timeline: How soon do they want to be done?
Price: What number would make sense to them? Let them say it first.

Take notes on everything. A seller who says “I just want it gone before winter” has told you more than any list ever could, and a follow-up call in two weeks often turns a “no” into a deal.

Step 4: Run the numbers

Every offer starts with ARV, a repair estimate, and the MAO formula: ARV × 70% − repairs − your fee. If the seller’s number is above your MAO, it is not a deal at that price, no matter how much you want it to be.

ARV (after-repair value) is what the house should sell for once it is fixed up, based on recent comparable sales of similar renovated homes nearby. The repair estimate is what your buyer will spend to get it there. The 70% figure is a common rule of thumb that leaves room for the buyer’s holding costs, selling costs, and profit; some markets and some buyers work at a different percentage, which is exactly why Step 1 and Step 2 come first.

Worked example

Here is a simple example with round numbers to show how the formula works. These figures are illustrations, not market data.

ARV from renovated comparable sales: $200,000
Buyer’s price at 70%: $200,000 × 0.70 = $140,000
Estimated repairs: $30,000
Most a buyer would pay for the contract: $140,000 − $30,000 = $110,000
Your target fee: $10,000
Your maximum allowable offer (MAO): $110,000 − $10,000 = $100,000

If the seller will accept $95,000, you have room: you could assign the contract at $110,000 for a $15,000 fee, or price it at $105,000 for a $10,000 fee and a faster sale. If the seller will not go below $120,000, the deal does not work as a wholesale at those numbers, and the right move is to say so politely and follow up later.

Estimating repairs without being a contractor

You do not need exact bids, but you need to be in the right range. Walk the property with a simple checklist (roof, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, foundation, kitchen, baths, flooring, paint, windows), and use rough per-item or per-square-foot figures you have confirmed with local contractors or buyers. When in doubt, estimate high. Buyers walk away from deals that were underestimated, and they stop opening your emails after it happens twice.

Step 5: Make the offer and sign the contract

Use a purchase agreement that says “and/or assigns,” includes an inspection period, and keeps your earnest deposit refundable during that period. Put a small deposit with the title company, not the seller. Every clause that matters is explained here.

Present your offer in person or on the phone, not just by text. Explain how you arrived at the number, what you will handle (no repairs, no showings, no agent commissions), and how fast you can close. Tell the seller plainly that you may assign the contract to a partner or investor who will close. Sellers respond better to a clear explanation than to a surprise later. For wording and structure, see how to write a wholesale offer.

Contract checklist

Buyer name reads your name or company “and/or assigns.”
Inspection period long enough to find a buyer (commonly one to three weeks).
Earnest deposit held by the title company and refundable during the inspection period.
Closing date that gives your buyer time to close with cash or hard money.
Access clause so you can show the property to buyers and contractors.
Any disclosures your state requires for assignments.

Step 6: Market the contract to your buyers

Send the deal sheet to your A-list: address, ARV, repair estimate, your price, and a 48-hour showing window. You are marketing your contract, not the house, and you say so. The right buyer signs an assignment agreement and puts down a non-refundable deposit.

A strong deal sheet includes photos of every room and every problem, the comparable sales you used for ARV, a line-item repair estimate, the contract price to the buyer, the closing date, and the access schedule. Honest numbers sell deals. If you inflate ARV or hide a foundation issue, the buyer finds it at the walkthrough and the deal dies anyway.

Send to the buyers who match first, then widen to the rest of the list if you do not get a commitment. Once a buyer commits, get the assignment agreement signed and their deposit delivered to the title company the same day.

Step 7: Close through a title company

The title company closes between the seller and your buyer and pays your assignment fee from the closing. Find an investor-friendly title company before your first deal; ask any local flipper who they use.

Open escrow as soon as the seller signs. Send the title company the purchase agreement, and later the assignment agreement. They will run a title search, find any liens, back taxes, or ownership issues, and prepare the closing statement. Stay in touch with the seller through the whole period; a seller who hears nothing for two weeks gets nervous and starts taking other calls.

On closing day, the buyer brings the funds, the seller signs, and your fee is paid out on the settlement statement. Then send a thank-you to the seller and the buyer. Both are sources of future deals.

Common mistakes beginners make

Finding a house before finding buyers, then scrambling for someone to take the contract.
Guessing ARV from list prices instead of recent sold comparables.
Underestimating repairs to make a deal look better than it is.
Using a contract without “and/or assigns” or without a refundable inspection period.
Giving earnest money directly to the seller instead of the title company.
Marketing the house itself rather than the contract, or skipping required state disclosures.
Stopping follow-up after the first “no.” Many deals come from the third or fourth conversation.

Your first 30 days: a simple plan

Week 1: Pick your market, study cash sales, and choose a title company.
Week 2: Build a buyer’s list of 25 qualified cash buyers and log their buy criteria.
Week 3: Pull one lead list, skip trace it, and make 20 calls a day.
Week 4: Keep calling, run numbers on every warm lead, and make offers on the ones that fit your MAO.

Victoria’s mentorship students follow the same sequence, because each week feeds the next. The list tells you which leads matter, the leads give you contracts, and the contracts go straight to buyers who already told you what they want.

Want someone to check your numbers before you send an offer? Our real estate wholesaling mentorship reviews your deals, seller calls and contracts with you every week.

Want structured training? Compare the best wholesaling courses before you spend money.

Prefer to read first? Start with our list of the best wholesaling books.

If a term here is new to you, look it up in our real estate investing glossary.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a real estate license to wholesale?

It depends on your state and on how you operate. Some states require a license for anyone who markets contracts regularly, while others allow unlicensed wholesaling with disclosures. Read when you need a license for wholesaling and check your state’s guide.

How much money do I need to start?

Mainly an earnest deposit, which is usually refundable during your inspection period, plus the cost of lead lists and skip tracing. A double close costs more because you need funds or transactional funding for the first purchase.

How much can I earn on one deal?

Your fee is whatever spread you can create between your contract price and what a buyer will pay while still leaving the buyer a profit. It varies with the market, the property, and your negotiation; run every deal through the MAO formula rather than aiming for a fixed number.

Can I wholesale in a market where I do not live?

Yes. Many wholesalers work remotely using public records, skip tracing, phone calls, a local title company, and a local contact who can photograph properties. Learning one market deeply still matters more than being physically nearby.

What it costs and how long it takes

Money: an earnest deposit of $500–$1,000 that comes back if you cancel in time, plus a few dollars for lists.
Time: 5–10 focused hours a week is enough to start.
Timeline: there is no standard timeline. Building the buyer’s list early and making calls every week shortens it, but results depend on your market and your consistency, and some people never close a deal.

The order matters more than the effort. Buyers first, then sellers, then numbers, then the contract. Reverse it and you will end up holding a contract you cannot move.

Wholesaling rules and public records differ by state. Before you start, read the wholesaling laws by state guide, which links to local guides for more than 400 US cities.

Where to go next. Wholesaling is one way in; creative financing and buying with no money down are the next steps many wholesalers take. If you are deciding between strategies, compare wholesaling vs fix and flip, and see how others fit deals around a job in wholesaling part time.