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Both are ways for a wholesaler to profit from a deal without holding the property long-term, but they differ in structure, cost, and how visible your profit is to the seller. Here's the breakdown.
An assignment of contract is the simplest wholesale exit: the wholesaler puts a property under contract, then sells (assigns) their equitable interest in that contract to an end buyer for an assignment fee, at a single closing where the end buyer pays the original seller directly. It's fast and requires no financing beyond the earnest money deposit, but the assignment fee is often visible on the closing statement, and not every contract is assignable.
A double close involves two separate closings, often on the same day: the wholesaler actually purchases the property from the seller (closing A), then immediately resells it to the end buyer (closing B), pocketing the spread between the two prices. This keeps the wholesaler's profit margin private from the original seller and works even when the purchase contract prohibits assignment — but it requires short-term "transactional funding" to briefly own the property, and doubles the closing costs.
Use an assignment when speed and simplicity matter most, the contract allows it, and you're comfortable with your fee potentially being visible to the seller. Use a double close when your margin is large enough to justify transactional funding and extra closing costs, the seller might balk at seeing a big assignment fee, or the contract simply isn't assignable. Many active wholesalers keep both exits available and choose per-deal based on the seller's sensitivity and the contract terms.
Usually yes, unless you have enough cash to buy the property outright for a few hours or days. Transactional funders provide short-term, same-day capital specifically for this A-to-B-to-C structure, typically charging a flat fee rather than interest.
Assignment is legal in most states, but a few (like Illinois and Oklahoma) impose specific wholesaling disclosure or licensing rules, and individual purchase contracts can explicitly prohibit assignment — always read the contract and check your state's current regulations.
A double close, since the wholesaler becomes the actual buyer and seller of record on two separate deeds, versus an assignment where the fee is often itemized on the settlement statement the seller can see.
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