Double close or assign? The decision, the costs, and the Texas wrinkles

Every wholesale exit comes down to the same fork: assign the contract and let your buyer close in your place, or double close — buy it and resell it, sometimes the same afternoon. Both are legitimate. They cost differently, they disclose differently, and picking wrong costs real money.

Assignment: cheap, fast, and visible

An assignment sells your position in the purchase contract. One closing, no ownership, your fee usually a line on the settlement statement. It's the low-cost exit — no second set of closing costs, no funding needed. The catch is transparency: your buyer (and often the seller) sees your fee. On a five thousand dollar spread nobody blinks. On a forty thousand dollar spread, a buyer at the closing table doing your math can get retrade ideas, and a seller can get resentful. Texas adds the legal layer: under §1101.0045, an unlicensed investor assigning contracts must disclose their equitable-interest position — and as a licensed investor-agent, your license status gets disclosed in the deal regardless. Sunlight either way.

Double close: privacy and cleanliness, at a price

In a double close you actually buy the house (A-to-B), then immediately sell it (B-to-C). Two closings, two sets of title and closing costs, and — since Texas title companies overwhelmingly require the A-to-B to fund with real money, not the end buyer's — usually a transactional funding fee for the hours or days you own it. Budget one to two percent of the A-side price plus the second closing's costs. What you get for it: your spread is your business, the seller-to-buyer chain is clean, and complicated deals (multiple entities, picky end buyers, big margins) stay simple at the table.

The actual decision rule

SituationExit
Spread under ~$15K, buyer you knowAssign — don't spend margin on privacy nobody needs
Spread large enough to invite retradingDouble close — the funding fee is cheap insurance
End buyer using conventional financingDouble close — many lenders choke on assigned contracts
Seller relationship is delicateDouble close — the fee conversation never happens
Contract prohibits assignmentDouble close, or renegotiate the paper

Run it in words: assignment is the default because it's nearly free; you upgrade to a double close when the spread, the lender, or the relationship makes visibility expensive. Price the upgrade — if two closings plus funding costs four grand and protects a thirty-five thousand dollar spread from a retrade, that's the easiest math in the deal.

Where deals actually die

Not in the theory — in the paperwork. Sloppy assignment language, earnest money that doesn't match the contract, title companies learning about the B-to-C on closing day. Pick title companies that run double closes weekly (DFW has plenty), tell them the structure up front, and paper the assignment with more care than the purchase. At Myers, closings run through broker-reviewed paperwork with transactional funding available when the deal needs it — which is exactly the support unlicensed operators go without.

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All figures are illustrative underwriting examples, not offers, appraisals, or income projections. Real numbers vary by property and market. This is general information, not investment, legal, or tax advice.