Why lining up two buyers with the same box protected a 13,500 wholesale fee
A case worth studying in reverse wholesaling: an operator spends two months collecting written criteria from small buyers rather than chasing houses first. Two buyers end up wanting nearly the same box, post-1970 single family in the same three older suburbs, 1,300 square feet and up, open to deferred maintenance but not structural issues without a number attached, both cash, both willing to close in 30 days. A probate lead sitting for weeks turns into a contract: an heir who has moved out of state, a house vacant for fourteen months, under contract at 141,000 with a 45 day close and 2,500 earnest money, the longer close chosen specifically because probate title tends to run longer than expected. Buyer one sees it first and agrees at 154,500, then after an inspection flags a foundation crack on the rear corner, comes back asking for 148,000, a change that would have cut the assignment fee from 13,500 to 7,000. Calling buyer two, who has the same criteria and had already stated a price for a rear corner crack with a report attached, secures an agreement at 154,500 with no re-trade. Buyer one calls back the next day willing to match, but the assignment is already signed. What nearly disrupted the deal was a second heir in another state whose signature had not been mentioned upfront, adding nine days to title work. The 45 day close absorbed the delay comfortably; a 30 day close, which the buyers had originally wanted, would have meant asking a seller who had already gone cold once for an extension. Two useful habits stand out: qualifying more than one buyer per box shape, and writing a close date longer than the buyer's stated minimum.
