How to Vet a Wholesaler's Deal Sheet: Re-Run the ARV, Rehab, and Assignment Fee Before You Send Earnest Money

What a Wholesaler's Deal Sheet Is Really Telling You

A deal sheet lands in your inbox late on a Tuesday. It lists a three-bed ranch with an ARV of $320,000, a $40,000 rehab, and a $185,000 price, plus a bold line saying offers close in 24 hours. Run the 70% rule and you get ($320,000 x 0.70) - $40,000 = $184,000. The price sits almost exactly on the line, which means you are looking at either a fair deal or a sheet built backward from the price the wholesaler needs.

Most deal sheets use the same format. Before you judge the deal, know what each field actually represents:

• ARV: the wholesaler's resale estimate, usually based on comps they chose.
• Repair estimate: one rehab number, rarely broken out by trade.
• Asking price: their contract price plus their assignment fee, combined into one figure.
• Assignment terms: whether you take over their contract or they double close, and when the fee is due.
• Access: lockbox, scheduled showing, or drive-by only.
• EMD: the earnest money amount and whether it is refundable.

The wholesaler earns the spread between their contract price and your price. Every dollar they add to ARV or cut from rehab makes the deal look like it supports a bigger fee. That does not make wholesalers dishonest. It means their incentives point one way, and an optimistic ARV paired with a light rehab is the natural result even when nobody is lying.

So treat every number on the sheet as a claim to verify. It is not data. The ARV claims that nearby renovated homes sold for that much, and the rehab claims the roof, HVAC, and foundation need nothing major. If the true ARV is $295,000 and the true rehab is $60,000, the formula gives ($295,000 x 0.70) - $60,000 = $146,500. That is $38,500 below the asking price.

The 24-hour deadline exists to keep you from checking. Your job is to re-run ARV, rehab, and the fee the deal can carry before the clock runs out. When the math fails, walk away.

Worked Example 1: Rebuilding the ARV and Rehab From Scratch

Say a wholesaler sends you a 3-bed, 2-bath ranch with an ARV of $320,000, a rehab estimate of $40,000, and an asking price that looks like a steal. Before you react to the price, set the sheet's conclusions aside and rebuild both numbers yourself. Start with the comps. Here, the top comp is a fully renovated house 1.2 miles away in a different school zone, and the second is a 4-bed with 400 more square feet.

Neither belongs in your ARV. Pull sold comps within 0.5 miles, closed in the last six months, with a similar bed count, square footage, and post-rehab condition. Then adjust for differences like a garage or an extra half bath rather than taking sale prices at face value. Done that way, the realistic ARV lands at $295,000, which is $25,000 below the sheet.

Next, price the rehab line by line instead of accepting a round number. A walkthrough (or listing photos plus the seller disclosure) shows an aging roof, a furnace near the end of its life, and a dated kitchen and baths:

• Roof: $11,000
• HVAC: $8,500
• Kitchen: $18,000
• Baths: $12,000
• Flooring and paint: $12,500

That totals $62,000, not $40,000. Now run the 70% rule both ways. Sheet math: ($320,000 x 0.70) - $40,000 = $184,000. Verified math: ($295,000 x 0.70) - $62,000 = $144,500. That is a $39,500 gap, so a $175,000 asking price that looks fine on paper is actually $30,500 over your real maximum offer.

This rebuild is the step most investors skip because it eats an evening of comp searches and spreadsheet work. FlipSmrt does the same job in under 5 minutes. It pulls MLS sold comps within 0.5 miles, adjusts them, and prices rehab by trade for the property's county, so you can check a wholesaler's numbers before the earnest money deadline instead of after it.

Worked Example 2: How Big an Assignment Fee the Deal Can Actually Carry

Once you have verified numbers from Example 1, stop anchoring on the wholesaler's asking price and start from the exit. A cost-based MAO works backward from what the house will sell for and subtracts every dollar it takes to get there, including your profit. Whatever remains is the most you can pay all-in, meaning contract price plus assignment fee combined. Here is the cost stack on this property:

• ARV: $295,000
• Rehab: minus $62,000
• Selling costs at 8%: minus $23,600
• Holding for 6 months (hard money interest, taxes, insurance, utilities): minus $17,200
• Buying costs: minus $3,500
• Target profit: minus $30,000

Run the arithmetic: $295,000 minus $62,000 minus $23,600 minus $17,200 minus $3,500 minus $30,000 equals $158,700. That is your maximum all-in purchase price. For comparison, the quick 70% rule gives ($295,000 x 0.70) minus $62,000, or $144,500. The itemized stack lands a bit higher here, but only because you priced each cost instead of relying on a rule of thumb.

Now lay the wholesaler's offer on top. The underlying contract is $150,000 and the assignment fee is $35,000, so you would pay $185,000 total. That is $26,300 over your ceiling, which shrinks your $30,000 profit to $3,700 before a single surprise turns up behind the drywall. The fee this deal can actually carry is $158,700 minus $150,000, or $8,700.

Use that number as your counteroffer, and show the math. Send the wholesaler your cost stack and offer an $8,700 fee, or $158,700 total. Many wholesalers would rather take a smaller fee than let a contract expire, and a written breakdown makes your offer read as arithmetic instead of a lowball. If they will only come down to $12,000, you are at $162,000 and a $26,700 profit, so decide whether that justifies six months of risk. If it does not, walk, and never send earnest money hoping the numbers improve later.

Edge Cases: Double Closes, No-Access Deals, and Contracts That Can't Close

Not every wholesale deal is a clean assignment. In a double close, the wholesaler buys the property and resells it to you the same day. That means two sets of closing costs, and some of them usually get baked into your price. On a $180,000 purchase, an extra 2% in title, escrow, and transactional funding fees is $3,600 that never appears on the deal sheet. Ask which structure the wholesaler is using before you run numbers, then add those costs to your buying line.

No-access deals change the math too. If you can't walk the interior, or the contract has no inspection period, you are pricing a house you have never seen. Raise your rehab buffer from the usual 10% to 20-25%. On a $45,000 scope, that moves your contingency from $4,500 to roughly $10,000, and your MAO drops by the same amount. If the deal only works with a 10% buffer, it doesn't work.

Many wholesalers also require non-refundable earnest money at signing, often $5,000 to $10,000. That is acceptable only if you have already verified the deal on paper. Before you wire anything, run through this checklist:

• Get the underlying purchase contract and confirm it allows assignment. Look for "and/or assigns" in the buyer line and no anti-assignment clause.
• Check that the closing date leaves you enough time to line up funding.
• Order a preliminary title report to surface liens, judgments, unpaid taxes, or open code violations.
• Send EMD to a title company or closing attorney, never directly to the wholesaler.

Watch for daisy chains. Sometimes the person sending you the deal doesn't hold the contract at all. They are marketing another wholesaler's deal and adding their own fee on top. Two stacked fees of $15,000 each can turn a fair deal into a money-loser. Ask directly whose name is on the contract, and if the answer is vague, ask to see it. Always price the deal on your own MAO, not on what either wholesaler needs to earn.

Common Mistakes Investors Make With Wholesale Deals

The most expensive mistake is anchoring on the sheet's ARV. Once you see $280,000 printed in bold, every comp you pull gets judged against that number instead of on its own merits. If the real sold comps within half a mile support $255,000, the 70% rule drops your ceiling from $156,000 to $138,500 on a $40,000 rehab. That $17,500 gap is often the wholesaler's entire fee, so pull comps before you read their ARV.

The second mistake is accepting a lump-sum rehab like "needs $35K, mostly cosmetic" without line items. A single number hides whether the roof, HVAC, electrical panel, or foundation were even considered. Ask what each trade costs in that county, or build the list yourself. The third mistake makes the first two worse: letting a "24 hours or it goes to the next buyer" deadline skip verification. Real deals survive a day of due diligence, and the pressure is usually there to stop you from doing it.

Fourth, many investors ignore holding and selling costs because the 70% rule "already covers it." The rule leaves 30% of ARV for everything else, but that pool has to absorb agent commissions, closing costs on both ends, loan interest, insurance, utilities, and your profit. On a $255,000 ARV, selling costs near 8% eat about $20,400 before you count a single month of holding. Run those costs explicitly instead of assuming the margin will stretch.

Fifth, never wire non-refundable earnest money before you've read the assignment and the underlying purchase contract. You need to confirm the wholesaler actually has the property under contract, that it's assignable, and what the closing date and contingencies say. Hard EMD on a contract you haven't seen is a donation, not a deposit.

The final mistake is judging the deal by the spread on paper. A sheet showing a $70,000 gap between price and ARV feels like a win, but spread isn't profit. The only number that matters is your own MAO, built from your ARV, your rehab, your costs, and your target profit. If the asking price sits above it, walk away.

FAQ: Vetting Wholesale Deals

Is it rude to ask for the underlying contract? No. You are about to put earnest money on a contract you have never seen, so asking to review it is basic diligence. Serious wholesalers expect the request and will usually share it, sometimes with the price redacted until you commit. If a wholesaler refuses outright or gets defensive, treat that as information about the deal.

How much of an assignment fee is normal? Skip "normal" and ask what the numbers can carry. Say your comps support a $300,000 ARV and your rehab estimate is $45,000, so your MAO is ($300,000 x 0.70) - $45,000 = $165,000. If the wholesaler's contract price is $150,000, the deal can absorb a fee of up to $15,000. Every dollar above that comes straight out of your profit.

What if I can't get inside before EMD? Underwrite as if the expensive problems exist. Budget for roof, HVAC, electrical, and plumbing unless photos clearly rule them out, and carry a larger contingency than usual. Ask for an inspection period or a walkthrough before your earnest money goes hard. If neither is available, your price has to reflect the risk, which usually means negotiating a smaller fee or passing.

How fast should I respond to a deal sheet? Respond fast enough to stay in the running, but only after you have re-run the numbers yourself. Good deals tend to go to the buyer who shows up first with proof of funds, so build a routine that lets you check ARV, rehab, and MAO the same day. Speed that comes from a tight process is an edge. Speed that comes from skipping the math is how you inherit someone else's mistake.

Can I re-run a wholesaler's deal with just the address? Yes. FlipSmrt takes a US address or a Zillow link and, in under five minutes, returns an ARV from adjusted MLS sold comps within half a mile, a line-item rehab estimate priced for that county, and an MAO based on your costs and target profit. Put those figures next to the deal sheet, and the gaps show you exactly where to push back. The first three analyses are free, so you can test it on the next sheet that lands in your inbox.