Selling to a Wholesaler in Tennessee —
What to Watch For Before You Sign

Somebody knocked on your door, or you filled out a form online, and now there's a purchase agreement on your kitchen table. The person was friendly. The number sounded fine. And six pages of legal language later, you're being asked to sign.

I'm going to walk you through what's actually in those contracts. Not to talk you out of selling — I buy houses for a living, so I'd be a hypocrite. But you should understand what you're agreeing to before you sign it, and most people don't.

First: What a Wholesaler Actually Is

A wholesaler doesn't usually buy your house. They put it under contract at one price, then sell that contract to an actual investor at a higher price and keep the spread. You close with the investor. The wholesaler never owns the property and often never spends a dollar on it.

That's legal in Tennessee, and plenty of people do it honestly and tell you exactly what they're doing. The trouble starts when they don't tell you — and when the contract is written so that all the flexibility sits on their side of the table.

Tennessee Law Is On Your Side HereKnow This)

In 2025 Tennessee passed a wholesaling disclosure law — Senate Bill 909 / House Bill 781, Public Chapter 72, now sitting in the code at Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 66-4-401 through 66-4-403. Hardly any homeowner I meet has heard of it. Here is what it actually says.

A buyer who has your house under contract may wholesale it only if they disclose to you, in writing:

• Their intent to market their equitable interest — meaning their intent to sell the contract rather than buy the house — before the contract is signed.

• The effective date of any assignment, at least three (3) business days before it happens.

And the statute is specific about how: those disclosures “must be in bold, large font print, and included in the written agreement.” Not mentioned casually at the kitchen table. Not buried in paragraph nineteen. Bold, large, in the contract.

“And/Or Assigns” — Four Words That Change Everything

Look at the buyer's name on the contract. If it reads “John Smith and/or assigns” or “ABC Properties LLC and/or assigns,” that language lets them hand the contract to anyone. You may have shaken hands with one person and end up closing with a stranger from another state.

This by itself isn't a scam — assignability is normal in investment real estate, and I use it myself sometimes. The question is whether they told you. If you had to find those four words yourself, that tells you something.

The Long Inspection Period

A thirty or forty-five day “inspection period” or “due diligence period” sounds reasonable. For a buyer arranging a loan, it is. For a wholesaler, it's shopping time — a month to find somebody willing to take the contract off their hands.

Here's what that costs you. During those weeks your house is off the market. You've told other buyers no. If nobody bites on the assignment, you'll hear from them around day twenty-five — and it won't be good news.

Terms That Only Work One Direction

Read these carefully. Each is a normal-looking clause that quietly puts all the risk on you:

“Buyer may terminate for any reason during the inspection period, and earnest money shall be refunded in full.” If they can walk for any reason and lose nothing, you don't have a sale. You have given them a free option on your house.

Earnest money of $100, or $500. Earnest money is a buyer's skin in the game. A real buyer puts down real money, held by a title company or attorney. If backing out costs somebody a hundred dollars, backing out is free.

Extension rights. Look for language letting the buyer push closing back fifteen or thirty days — sometimes more than once, sometimes automatically. Your closing date isn't a date, it's a suggestion.

An open-ended closing. If the agreement says closing happens “on or before” a date with no hard deadline, or ties it to something vague like “buyer obtaining satisfactory financing,” there may be no real endpoint at all.

Specific performance in their favor only. Some agreements let the buyer sue to force you to sell, while limiting your remedy to keeping that $100 deposit if they walk. That's not a two-way street.

The Price Drop Before Closing

This is the play that costs people the most, and it runs on a schedule.

You agree on a number. You sign. Weeks pass and you turn down other buyers. Then, close to the end of the inspection window, the call comes: the inspection “turned up” problems. The roof. The foundation. The wiring. Things you told them about on day one, and that any buyer could see standing in the driveway. Now they need fifteen or twenty thousand off.

And they're counting on the fact that you've already mentally sold the house. You've told family. Maybe you've put money down somewhere else. Starting over feels worse than taking the hit.

That's not an inspection finding. That's a negotiating tactic with a calendar attached. A price that moves after you've signed, over things that were visible from the start, is worth asking hard questions about.

What to Do Before You Sign Anything

Ask if they're the end buyer. Straight out. Their answer, and how comfortable they are giving it, tells you most of what you need.

Find the assignment language. Search the document for “assign.” If it's there and nobody mentioned it, ask why.

Check the inspection window and earnest money together. A long window plus a tiny deposit is the combination to watch.

Ask whether they'll record anything against the property. Get the answer before you sign, not after.

Take it to an attorney. An hour of a Tennessee real estate attorney's time is worth more than anything on this page. If a buyer pressures you not to, that is the entire answer.

Sleep on it. Any offer that evaporates overnight was not a good offer. A house is the biggest thing most families own.

I’ve Read These For Free Before

A handful of times now, somebody has called me who was already under contract with somebody else and getting the run-around. Dates moving. Calls not returned. A number that suddenly needed to come down.

In those situations there was nothing in it for me — the house was already tied up and I couldn’t have bought it if I wanted to. So I did the only useful thing available: sat down, read what they’d signed, and walked them through what I was seeing and what to ask about. Then I told them to take it to a lawyer, because that’s where that conversation belongs.

I didn’t make a dime on any of them. I’m telling you that not to sound noble but because it’s the honest reason I wrote this page — I’ve watched decent people get worn down by a contract they didn’t understand, and it’s avoidable.

To be clear about what I am and am not: I’m a house buyer, not an attorney. I can tell you what I’m reading and what I’d want to ask. I can’t tell you what’s legally enforceable or what your rights are — that is genuinely a lawyer’s job, and anybody who tells you different is doing you a disservice.

How I Do It — Including the Part Where I Wholesale Too

Let me be straight with you, because I’d rather you hear it from me than find it out later: I sometimes assign contracts too. Not every house I put under contract ends up being one I rehab myself. So I’m not standing here telling you wholesaling is evil — I’d be a liar.

What I’m telling you is that how it’s done is the whole thing. Here’s how I do it.

I tell you which one it is, before you sign. If I’m buying it myself, I say so. If I think it’s going to one of my investors, I say that instead. Tennessee law requires that disclosure in bold print in the agreement now — but I told people before the law passed, because it’s the part that actually matters.

My buyers are local people. When I do assign, it goes to a small group of investors I know personally, here in the Tri-Cities. Not a nationwide list of strangers who’ve never seen Kingsport. That means somebody local is standing in your house, and if it falls through I’m the one you call.

The price is the price. I look at the house myself — that walkthrough is my inspection. My agreements aren’t contingent on financing, an appraisal, or a later inspection. I don’t come back on day twenty-five asking for fifteen thousand off because of a roof I already stood under.

Three Ways I Can Help — One of Them Pays Me Nothing

When I walk a house, there are really only three honest answers, and I’ll tell you which one yours is.

1. I buy it and take the headache. The house needs work, or you need it gone fast, or you just don’t want to deal with any of it. I pay cash, you leave what you don’t want, and you pick the closing date.

2. I bring it to my local investor group. Sometimes a property fits somebody else in my circle better than it fits me — different budget, different plan, different part of the county. You’ll know that’s what’s happening, in writing, before you sign anything.

3. I tell you not to sell to me at all. Sometimes listing it is the better move. I won’t know until I walk it, but when that’s the answer I’ll say so and point you toward a good local agent. No referral fee for me in that — I just think you ought to hear it.

About half the folks I talk to end up in that third bucket. I’m fine with that. I’d rather be the guy somebody calls in three years, or tells their neighbor about, than squeeze a deal that shouldn’t have happened.

I was born in Bristol, I still live in Kingsport, and I run into people I’ve bought houses from at the grocery store. That’s a pretty strong incentive to do this straight.

If you’re facing foreclosure or back taxes, the timeline pressure makes all of this worse — read my guide on stopping foreclosure in Tennessee or what happens when you’re behind on property taxes. And if you’re weighing a cash offer against listing, I wrote up the real numbers side by side.

What to Expect If You Call Kenny

No lectures, no judgment — I've seen every version of this and the story is always more human than the bill makes it look. You tell me the address, I'll pull what's owed, look at the house, and give you a straight cash number. If selling makes sense, we close at a local title company in a few weeks, the county gets paid, and you get the rest. If keeping the house makes more sense — tax relief, a payment plan — I'll point you that direction instead. Either way you'll know exactly where you stand by the end of one phone call.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I lose my house over unpaid property taxes in Tennessee?

Yes — eventually. Delinquent taxes become a lien, the county can file a delinquent tax lawsuit, and the property can ultimately be auctioned at a tax sale. It takes time, but the clock is real.

How long before a tax sale happens in Sullivan County?

Typically a few years from the first missed payment. Taxes go delinquent March 1, get turned over for court collection after about a year, and the property is eventually included in a county tax sale — with 1.5% monthly interest accruing the whole way.

Can I sell my house if I owe back taxes?

Yes. The back taxes are paid out of your sale proceeds at closing — the title company handles it directly with the county. You don't need the cash up front.

What is the redemption period after a Tennessee tax sale?

Up to one year — but it shrinks the longer the taxes were delinquent, and can be as short as 90 days or nothing for some vacant or abandoned properties. Redeeming requires paying all taxes, interest, penalties, and costs.

Who buys houses with back taxes in Northeast Tennessee?

Kenny Thacker at TNT Real Estate Investments buys houses with delinquent taxes throughout Kingsport, Bristol, Blountville, Gray, and the Tri-Cities. Call (423) 408-2036 — Kenny gets back to you himself.