In real estate, “dispo” is short for disposition: the part of a wholesale deal where you sell your position under a purchase contract to the end buyer who will actually close. Acquisitions gets the house under contract; dispo turns that contract into a closed sale and a fee. It runs on a hard clock (your inspection period), it lives or dies on the buyer’s math rather than yours, and it ends one of three ways: a buyer from your list, a direct principal buyer, or a double close.
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.
Wholesaling splits into two jobs. Acquisitions signs the seller. Dispositions finds the buyer who will fund the purchase and gets them to the closing table.
In an assignment you are selling your equitable interest — your right to buy the house on the terms in your contract — not the house itself. You do not own the property, so you should not market it as if you do. That distinction is the legal footing that keeps wholesaling outside brokerage licensing in most states, and it shapes how you write your marketing. Our guide on whether wholesaling is legal covers where states draw that line.
Dispo is also not listing. An agent markets a property for an owner; a wholesaler in dispo is a principal selling its own contract position to another principal, usually a cash flipper, landlord or company that buys in its own name.
Most dispo problems start earlier: a contract at the wrong price, without an assignment clause, or with a two-day inspection period is hard to sell to anyone. Here is the sequence:
| Stage | What happens | What dispo needs from it |
|---|---|---|
| Lead and offer | Seller conversation, walkthrough, offer | Repair notes and photos taken now, not later |
| Purchase contract | Signed agreement with the seller, your EMD to title | Assignment allowed, an inspection period long enough to sell, access for showings |
| Dispo | Price, package, market, show, pick a buyer | Done before the inspection period ends |
| Assignment or B-to-C contract | End buyer signs, posts EMD at title | Non-refundable deposit, clear closing date |
| Title and closing | Title search, payoffs, settlement statement, funding | Fee shown correctly, wires verified, both parties on schedule |
The clock that governs dispo is your inspection or due-diligence period, not the closing date. Inside that window you can still renegotiate with the seller or cancel and get your deposit back. Once it passes, an unsold contract becomes your problem in cash. Plan to have a signed end buyer and their deposit at title a few days before that window closes.
Every cash buyer runs the same test: purchase price plus repairs, divided by after-repair value (ARV). Flippers need room under that number for costs and profit; price above it and good marketing just makes buyers pass faster.
Worked example. ARV is $240,000, repairs are $40,000, and your contract with the seller is $130,000. A buyer whose ceiling is 78% of ARV can spend $240,000 × 0.78 = $187,200 all-in. Subtract repairs: $187,200 − $40,000 = $147,200 is the most that buyer pays for the contract. Your fee at that price is $147,200 − $130,000 = $17,200.
| Asking price to buyer | Buyer all-in (price + $40,000 repairs) | All-in as % of $240,000 ARV | Your fee over $130,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| $140,000 | $180,000 | 75.0% | $10,000 |
| $147,200 | $187,200 | 78.0% | $17,200 |
| $155,000 | $195,000 | 81.3% | $25,000 |
| $164,000 | $204,000 | 85.0% | $34,000 |
| $170,000 | $210,000 | 87.5% | $40,000 |
Each step up the price ladder shrinks the pool of buyers who can say yes. At 85% you are down to buyers with cheap labor or a rental plan; at 87.5% you are mostly waiting. The two inputs buyers attack first are ARV and repairs, so be conservative on both; if a buyer recalculates your ARV at $220,000 instead of $240,000, the same $187,200 all-in becomes $187,200 ÷ $220,000 = 85.1%, and a deal that fit now sits at the edge. The full formula, comp selection and how buyers adjust it are in our wholesale deal formula and MAO guide.
Every dispo ends one of three ways, and many wholesalers run two at once.
1. Your buyer list. You send the package to investors who buy in the area, run a showing, and take the best offer. It gives you price discovery and sometimes the highest number. It also takes time, depends on how many real closers are on the list, and invites retrades from buyers who said yes before doing their math. Building and verifying that list is covered in how to find cash buyers for wholesale deals.
2. A direct principal buyer. You send the contract to one buyer who closes in its own name with its own money and underwrites quickly. You trade some price discovery for speed and certainty: one set of eyes, one answer, one closing. The trade-offs are laid out in selling a wholesale contract to a direct buyer vs. a buyer list.
3. A double close. Instead of assigning, you buy the house from the seller and resell it to your end buyer, usually the same day, on two contracts with two settlement statements. It costs more (two sets of closing costs, often transactional funding) but keeps your spread off the seller’s statement and works when the contract cannot be assigned. A double close is a structure, not a buyer source: you still need an end buyer from your list or a principal buyer. Compare the costs line by line in double closing vs. assignment, and the clauses that make an assignment work in assignment of contract in real estate.
| Buyer list | Direct principal buyer | Double close | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who closes | Whoever wins the offer | The buyer you sent it to | You, then your end buyer |
| Price discovery | High | One opinion | Depends on the buyer source |
| Speed to a signed buyer | Days, sometimes longer | Often one business day | Same as the buyer source |
| Fee on seller’s statement | Usually, on an assignment | Usually, on an assignment | No |
| Extra cost to you | Your time and marketing | Little | Second set of closing costs, funding |
An illustration, on a 10-day inspection period and 30-day closing:
The buffer in days 8–10 is the part people skip, and it is the only thing that saves you when a buyer walks on day 9. The step-by-step version of the first 72 hours is in how to dispo a wholesale deal fast, and if the paperwork between signing and closing is what slows you down, that is the work our transaction coordination service does.
A buyer should be able to decide from their phone whether your deal is worth a drive. That takes five things:
Leading with the bad photos feels wrong and works: a buyer who finds a problem at the showing that was not in the package stops opening your messages.
The end buyer’s deposit is what turns “I’ll take it” into a buyer who shows up. Three rules cover most of it:
Tell buyers to confirm wire instructions by phone before sending money. If your own deposit to the seller is what is holding you back, see how much EMD a wholesale deal really needs and our EMD funding page.
When a deal does not sell, the cause is usually on this list, roughly in order of how often it happens:
Each of these has a fix, and most of the fixes are price. Our checklist on why your wholesale deal isn’t selling walks through each cause with a 48-hour plan.
Market the contract, not the house, and be a real principal who can perform if the deal does not sell.
Disclose to the seller in writing that you may assign the contract or resell and earn a fee. A growing number of states require it. Per Leonine Public Affairs’ summary of 2025 state wholesaling laws, Maryland requires disclosure of intent to assign and lets the owner cancel without penalty if the disclosures are missing, Oklahoma adds a two-business-day owner cancellation right, Tennessee requires disclosure of intent to assign, and Connecticut adds registration, a three-business-day cancellation window and a 90-day cap on closing. Illinois goes further: under 225 ILCS 454/1-10, dealing in contracts, including assignable contracts, on two or more occasions in any 12-month period falls inside the definition of broker.
Expect your fee to be visible on an assignment. Title companies typically show the assignment fee on the settlement statement; most use the standard ALTA settlement statement forms. If the fee is large enough that the seller seeing it would cause a problem, decide on a double close before you sign the end buyer, not the week of closing.
Educational only — talk to a real estate attorney in your state before you rely on this.
Each step has its own deeper guide:
Restar Acquisitions is a family-owned principal buyer of single-family houses. We buy in our own name in the markets on our where-we-buy page, and Trevor McAmis underwrites every deal personally. If you have a contract in one of those markets, you can submit the deal to us the same day you send it to your best buyers.
Our buy box is public. Contract price plus repairs at or under 78% of ARV fits. Between 78% and 85% is close, and we come back with a counter. Above 85% we still read it and tell you the reason it does not work. You get an answer the same business day: an offer, a counter or a no with the reason.
We pay assignment fees; what we look at is the total price to us, not how it splits between you and the seller. Assignments and double closes both work for us. And your deal stays your deal: we never go around you to the seller. The submit-a-deal form shows where your numbers land as you type.
Send it to us and get an offer, a counter or a no with the reason the same business day. Contract plus repairs at or under 78% of ARV fits. Submit a deal.
All wholesaler services · Submit a deal · Transaction coordination · Where we buy
Keep reading: How to Dispo a Wholesale Deal Fast · Selling a Wholesale Contract to a Direct Buyer vs. a Buyer List · How to Find Cash Buyers for Wholesale Deals
