Wholesaling Real Estate: Pricing the Deal So Your Buyer Says Yes
Wholesaling is a pricing business. You contract a property below market and assign the contract to an investor for a fee. The entire craft is one question: does the math still work for the person you're selling to?
Price backward from your buyer
Your end buyer is usually a flipper or landlord running the 70% rule. So your ceiling is their ceiling:
Buyer's MAO = 70% × ARV − rehab. Your maximum contract price = buyer's MAO − your assignment fee.
$300K ARV, $50K rehab: buyer's MAO = $160K. Want a $15K fee? You must contract at $145K or less. Contract at $158K and your "deal" leaves the buyer $2K of room — it will die in your inbox, and your reputation with it.
The three numbers you cannot fudge
- ARV — from renovated comps, not hope. Every party downstream re-checks it
- Rehab estimate — walk it or get eyes on it; "about $40K" guessed from the curb is how assignments fall through
- The spread — deals with real spread move in days. Thin deals burn buyer lists. Your list is the business; protect it with honest numbers
What separates real wholesalers from contract gamblers
Real wholesalers underwrite like the buyer they serve, price to leave meat on the bone, and treat their buyer list like the asset it is. Run any contract through the wholesale calculator before you sign — or type the address into the analyzer and get the max contract price plus the spread at your fee, computed by the same engine either way.