Double Closing vs. Assignment: Costs, Risks, Which to Use

Educational only. This explains how these situations generally work. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and the rules differ by state — talk to an attorney or CPA about your own situation before you act on any of it.

How an assignment works

You sign a purchase agreement with the seller that allows assignment. You then sign an assignment agreement with an end buyer, who pays you an assignment fee and steps into your position. There is one closing: the seller deeds the house directly to the end buyer. Your fee is paid out of the end buyer’s funds and appears on the settlement statement.

You never take title, you never need purchase money, and your closing costs are usually close to zero. The trade-offs: your fee is visible to the buyer and often to the seller, the contract has to permit assignment, and some sellers, lenders and institutional sellers will not accept it. Our full guide to assignment of contract covers the clauses and where assignments break.

How a double closing works

A double close is two real transactions. In the first (A to B), you buy the house from the seller. In the second (B to C), you sell it to your end buyer on a separate purchase contract. They usually close back to back, often at the same title company on the same day.

The catch is money. You have to fund the A-to-B purchase. Some title companies will let the end buyer’s funds from the B-to-C closing pay for the A-to-B closing; many will not, because each closing is supposed to fund on its own. When title will not allow it, wholesalers use transactional funding: a short-term lender wires the purchase money for the A-to-B closing and is repaid, with its fee, out of the B-to-C proceeds, often within hours. Transactional lenders commonly require that the end buyer’s contract and funds are in place before they commit.

Because you are buying and reselling, you pay closing costs as a buyer on one side and as a seller on the other. That is what makes double closes more expensive.

Worked example: the same deal both ways

Take a house under contract with the seller at $120,000. Your end buyer is paying $140,000. Your gross spread is $20,000. The cost figures below are illustrative — settlement fees, title premiums, recording fees, transfer taxes and funding fees all vary by state, county and company, so get real quotes.

On these assumptions the double close costs about $5,000, a quarter of the spread. On a $6,000 spread, the same fixed costs would take most of your fee, which is why double closes rarely make sense on small deals. On a $60,000 spread, $5,000 might be a fair price for privacy.

Two things the table hides. First, on an assignment the end buyer is usually paying the closing costs that you pay on a double close, so an assignment may let you ask a slightly higher fee. Second, depending on your market and the buyer’s title requirements, you may need an owner’s or lender’s title policy on the A-to-B leg, which adds premium. Ask title before you quote the buyer a price.

Fee privacy: what each side actually sees

On an assignment, the fee typically sits on the settlement statement as a line item. The end buyer sees it. Depending on how title prepares the documents, the seller may too. When a seller who agreed to $120,000 sees a $20,000 fee, some call a lawyer, some call their agent and some refuse to sign.

On a double close, the seller gets a statement for a $120,000 sale to you. The end buyer gets a statement for a $140,000 purchase from you. Neither sees the other’s numbers on their statement. The deed record will still show both conveyances, so privacy is practical, not absolute.

Privacy is not a substitute for disclosure. Several states now require wholesalers to disclose their intent to assign or sell their interest. Per a 2025 summary from Leonine Public Affairs, Maryland requires disclosure of intent to assign and lets the owner cancel without penalty if the disclosures are missing; Tennessee and Oklahoma require disclosure of intent to assign; Connecticut adds registration, a three-business-day seller cancellation window and a 90-day cap on closing. Whether a double close changes what you must disclose under these laws is a question for an attorney in that state. Our guide on whether wholesaling is legal covers the rest.

Educational only — talk to a real estate attorney in your state before you rely on this.

Seasoning and lender problems

A double close puts you in the chain of title for a few hours. That matters when the end buyer uses a loan.

FHA buyers. Under HUD’s resale rule, 24 CFR 203.37a, a property is not eligible for FHA insurance if the resale date is 90 days or less after the seller acquired it. The resale date is measured from when the FHA buyer’s sales contract is executed. A same-day double close to an FHA buyer does not work.

Other lenders. Conventional, DSCR and hard money lenders each have their own rules on recently acquired property. Some will lend on the price you paid instead of the price the buyer is paying, or ask for the prior settlement statement. Your cash-buyer end buyer may be fine; your end buyer using a hard money loan may find their leverage based on your $120,000, not their $140,000. Ask the buyer who their lender is before you pick a structure.

Title. Some title companies and underwriters are cautious about insuring rapid resales at a markup and may ask for more documentation. Talk to title before you commit a buyer to a date.

When to use which

The thresholds are judgment calls, not rules. Run your own net numbers on each deal.

How a TC runs each one differently

An assignment is one file: one title order, one set of closing documents, the assignment attached, the fee on the statement. The coordination work is nesting the end buyer’s deadlines inside yours, which we cover in our guide to the wholesale transaction coordinator role.

A double close is two files that must close in a set order. The coordinator has to open title with both contracts, confirm the title company will do a back-to-back closing, line up transactional funding if needed, get the funder’s wire instructions verified by phone, schedule signings so the A-to-B closing is funded and recorded (or ready to record) before the B-to-C closing funds, and review two settlement statements instead of one.

Here is the part people get wrong: switching from an assignment to a double close late. If you marketed the deal as an assignment and the seller balks at the fee a week before closing, you now need a new B-to-C purchase contract (not an assignment), the buyer’s EMD moved to that contract, the title order restructured, funding sourced and costs you did not price in. Decide the structure before you sign the buyer, and have your attorney set up a buyer contract that allows either path. That single decision saves more files than anything else a transaction coordinator does on these deals.

One more: the funding wire is the biggest wire on the file and a target for fraud. The CFPB’s advice on closing wire scams — confirm instructions by phone at a number you sourced independently, such as the company’s website or a prior closing, never one from an email — applies to funders, title and end buyers alike.

How Restar helps with either structure

Our transaction coordination service handles both: assignment agreements, opening title, EMD receipt tracking, double-close coordination, deadline tracking and closing day. It is a flat fee per file, quoted before we start, and we reply the same business day.

What we will not do: tell you which structure is legal in your state, act as your closing attorney or escrow holder, or promise a title company will accept a same-day double close. We will tell you plainly if the numbers say a double close is not worth it.

Two related services: if you are short on the deposit for a business-purpose deal, look at EMD funding; if you would rather sell the contract to us, submit the deal and see our screen live as you type. For the full disposition process, read how to dispo a wholesale deal.

Common questions

What is the difference between a double closing and an assignment?

An assignment transfers your purchase contract to the end buyer, with one closing and your fee on the settlement statement. A double closing is two transactions: you buy the property, then resell it, usually the same day, with separate settlement statements.

Is a double closing more expensive than an assignment?

Usually yes. You pay buyer-side and seller-side closing costs, possible transfer tax on a second conveyance, and often transactional funding fees. On small spreads those costs can consume most of the fee.

Does a double close hide my wholesale fee?

It keeps the fee off each party's settlement statement, since the seller and end buyer each see only their own transaction. Both deeds are still recorded, and several states require wholesalers to disclose their intent to assign or sell their interest regardless.

What is transactional funding?

A short-term loan that funds your purchase in the first leg of a double close, repaid out of the end buyer's funds in the second leg, often the same day. Funders commonly require the end buyer's contract and funds to be in place first.

Can I double close to an FHA buyer?

Not on a same-day basis. HUD's rule at 24 CFR 203.37a makes a property ineligible for FHA insurance if the resale contract is signed 90 days or less after the seller acquired it.

Can a transaction coordinator handle a double close?

Yes. A TC coordinates both title orders, the funding, the signing order and both settlement statements. The TC does not replace the closing attorney or title company, who actually close and record.