Assigning a contract during the closing is our second-favorite way we like to do our transactions. You tie up the property and assign the contract before the closing takes place. The assignee takes your place in the closing and then winds up closing the escrow.

Assigning after the closing is the final way we like to do our transactions. Again, you tie up a property with an assignment clause in the contract. If you dont find a buyer before closing and wind up closing the property yourself, you can quickly transfer your interest in the property to another buyer after closing. Essentially, you are going to flip the property using what we call an assignment deed.

Look at the timeline for assigning contracts. This will give you a way to visualize the different times you can use an assignment. Anytime you can assign a contract and make money is a good time to do an assignment.

The timeline is the same for assigning in the foreclosure arena. You can assign your contract after you write the offer to buy the owners equity and before an escrow is opened. You can assign your contract to buy the owners equity during the escrow. You can also assign your contract to buy the owners equity after closing escrow.

Timeline for Assigning Contracts

Write offer Open escrow Close escrow

Assign before closing Assign during closing Assign after closing

Assignment before Closing

We dont ever want to close an escrow. At least not in the traditional way most real estate investors do. We want to close our deals in a different way. In the normal course of events a real estate transaction goes like this.

A real estate investor finds a potential property. The investor writes an offer on the property and presents it to the owner. There is a negotiation back and forth between the owner and the investor. There is an agreement as to price and terms. Then the owner and the investor open an escrow or go to a closing.

Once the escrow is complete, the escrow closes. The owner receives money or other valuable consideration from the investor. The investor receives the title to and possession of the property.

Close by Assigning We close our deals by assigning our owner-accepted real estate contracts. By using an assignment of contract, we use a one-page escrow instruction between us and the buyer to whom we are assigning the contract. In the case of a foreclosure we have the owner give a quitclaim deed to the new buyer.

Assignment during Closing

An assignment during closing is a very common occurrence in our real estate investing. We have said that our favorite time period to do an assignment is before closing, but doing an assignment during closing runs a close second.

The difference between assigning before closing or during closing is whether you have formally opened escrow. An assignment before closing means you have written an offer and had it accepted but have not opened escrow before you assign the contract. An assignment during closing means you have done all of the above and opened an escrow.

The new buyer steps into your position as the buyer in the escrow. The assignment fee can come to you through the escrow or outside the escrow. Either way is fine.

An escrow will be opened for two reasons. If the owner requests an escrow, an escrow will be opened. If the new buyer requests an escrow with the owner, an escrow will be opened.

Assignment after Closing

At first blush it might seem out of place for us to talk about assigning after the closing. However, as we have taught you to do with every contract you write, you used the clause and/or assigns when you wrote the purchase contract.

What do you do if you decide to close the transaction yourself because it is such a good deal or you have not found a new buyer before the closing date comes?

The fastest way to assign your interest in a property after you have closed escrow is to quitclaim the property to a new buyer. Whatever interest or title you have in the property is transferred to the buyer.

We are the only people who will tell you that you can assign a piece of real estate after you have closed escrow. We call a quitclaim deed an assignment deed. We use this deed when we want to quickly get out of a property that we wind up owning.

Once you assimilate the assigning tactic into your foreclosure investing strategy, you will begin to find all kinds of contracts to assign. Real estate contracts to assign will begin to find you. We look to assign every foreclosure contract we write.

In the next chapter we will show you how to use real estate option contracts to make Quick Cash in foreclosures. There are many advantages to using an option contract in general. When you see the advantages of using an option contract in the foreclosure arena, you are going to get very excited. Of course, we will recommend you think about assigning your real estate option contract!