Do you tell the seller you're a wholesaler on the first call or wait
Building a list right now, no deals yet, and I'm rehearsing calls with a friend so I don't freeze. The part I keep changing my mind on is whether the words "I'm going to assign this to another buyer" belong in the first conversation or somewhere later.
Case for saying it up front: the contract has an assignment clause in it anyway, and if the seller reads it at signing and feels ambushed, the deal dies and you've burned the parcel. Absentee land sellers are often out of state and doing everything by email, so a surprise later is worse than a fact now.
Case for waiting: on a first call the seller mostly wants to know if you're real and whether the tax bill goes away. Explaining the assignment model to someone who inherited 12 acres they've never visited can turn a simple conversation into a lecture, and some sellers hear "I'm not the real buyer" and hang up. A few people told me they cover it when they send the contract, in writing, which is where it matters legally anyway.
Disclosure requirements around this vary by state and some states have been tightening on wholesaling specifically, so I'm not asking what's required, I'm asking what you actually say.
When do you tell a land seller you plan to assign?
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