Assignments vs. Double closing and more - Posted by Nate

Posted by Bob-Tx on March 19, 1999 at 09:53:06:

Do you have a buyer lined up? If not, get cranking on that asap.
My take on this is that if you have done business with an investor/buyer before and/or you know him well - do an assignment. If, on the other hand, you don’t know your buyer I suggest a double closing. If I don’t know the guy from adam I like to have some serious earnest money and a solid contract with no contingencies to give him wiggle room.

Regarding the seller - I write all my contracts “and/or assigns” and have never had a seller baulk. Generally I don’t even see them at the closing, nor does my assignee. Heck, they are getting exactly what they contracted for so there can be no reason for them to be unhappy.
Congratulations on your first one.
Bob

Assignments vs. Double closing and more - Posted by Nate

Posted by Nate on March 17, 1999 at 15:11:55:

There was a bit of conflicting information mentioned at the convention regarding the best way to flip a property. While double closings were talked about in pretty fine detail, some comments were made about assigning the contract which left me confused. I always understood a simple “Assignment of Contract” form to be the easiest “hands off” method of flipping…?

I wonder if anyone has any clarifying input on this subject…

I have a property now tied up on contract at 25k below FMV. I recently had a realtor call me regarding a discussion he and I had on this property. He claimed he had a client who was interested in this property, and wondered if I had gone on and put the deal together as we had originally discussed. I told him that I had, and that was the end of the conversation.

I am now looking to flip the property instead of own it, as originally planned. The sellers think I am buying the property for myself, which may not matter, but I have a strange feeling that they may throw a fit if they find out I have sold the contract. I did, as a point, make sure to have the correct verbage (“or nominee”) on all places in the contract which stated “buyer”. I used a CS contract with an addendum containing all my cute contingencies.

Do you think I have anything to be concerned about with the sellers? Do they have any room to balk considering the terms and verbage set forth in the contract–regardless of whether I told them I would be assigning it or not? Do they need to be notified of my intent to assign, or can I proceed and let them know after I have done so?

This is my first “flip”, and want to make sure I am covering all my bases. I plan to use a standard Assignment of Contract form, unless my concerns on the first issue I addressed are valid.

Any clarification, and/or advice on what steps to take from here would be greatly appreciated. I hope to flip this contract soon so I can put the first “notch” on my REI shotgun. After that, it’s open season.

Thanks in advance for the tips on what, to many of you, is like tying your shoelaces :slight_smile: ! The convention was outstanding, and gave us newbies a recharge that I know will keep me going full throttle. It was a pleasure to meet many of you, and I look forward to next year…

Nate