A wholesaler has two ways to get paid: assign the contract or double close. The calculator compares your net from each in seconds; here is how they work.
01Assigning the contract
You sign a purchase contract with the seller and then sell your rights in that contract to a cash buyer. Your fee is the difference between the buyer's price and your contract price, minus a small assignment cost. It is cheap and simple, but the seller and buyer usually see your fee on the closing statement.
02Double closing
You actually buy the property (the A–B closing) and resell it to your buyer (the B–C closing) on the same day. Your fee stays private, but you pay transactional funding (often 1–2% of the A–B price), a second set of title and escrow fees, and in many states transfer tax on your purchase.
03A worked example
You contract a house at $140,000 and your buyer pays $160,000: a $20,000 spread. Assigning with $500 of costs nets $19,500. Double closing with 1.5% funding ($2,100), $2,000 of title fees and 0.4% transfer tax ($560) nets about $15,340. Assigning keeps about $4,160 more.
04How wholesalers choose
- Assign when the fee is moderate and the contract allows assignment.
- Double close when the fee is large, when the seller might object to the fee, or when the contract or local rules do not allow assignment.
05Getting the contract in the first place
Both exits start with a motivated seller who accepts a price below value. LeadCounty finds them in county records every week: tax delinquent, inherited, absentee and 33 more lists, scored and explained.
