Assigning the option instead of exercising it, $18k spread, what breaks

The consent clause is the whole deal and you already signed it. Once the owner sees an $18,000 assignment on a $305,000 strike he knows he priced too low, and his leverage is that you can't close without him. Some people handle it by taking title through an entity from the start and selling the membership interest in the entity instead, which sidesteps the assignment language. Whether that works depends entirely on how the clause is worded and on your state, so that's an attorney question, not a forum one.

Why not just exercise and immediately resell? You said no closing costs on the assignment, but two closings on a $305,000 to $328,000 flip isn't the whole $18,000 in fees, and you'd own the outcome instead of asking permission.

ember, the reason is money. Exercising means finding $305,000, even for a day, and a transactional lender wants points plus fees on that. Then you eat transfer tax twice in the states that charge it on both legs.

keystone, on the licensing side the question in most states is whether you're advertising an interest in real property belonging to another for compensation. Marketing your own option interest and marketing the house are different activities, and how a state licensing board sees the difference varies enough that I'd get a written opinion from a real estate attorney where the property sits. I wouldn't run a listing that reads like an agent wrote it.

Third thing you haven't raised: the end buyer's lender. Someone financing at $328,000 has to see a purchase contract, and a chain that runs owner to option holder to assignee makes underwriters nervous. I've watched deals die at underwriting on the paper trail rather than the price. If you find an assignee, find out who's funding them before you spend a month on the consent fight.