Sometimes an assignment is not the right tool. If your fee is large, or a party would balk at seeing it, a double close lets you buy from the seller and sell to your buyer as two separate transactions, often minutes apart.
How it works
You actually take title — briefly. Closing A: you buy from the seller. Closing B: you sell to your end buyer. The two closings are coordinated so you are not out of pocket for long, often using short-term transactional funding to cover the gap.
When it makes sense
- Your spread is big enough that an assignment fee on the settlement statement would spook someone.
- The seller's or buyer's paperwork does not play nicely with an assignment.
- Your market or title company prefers it.
The trade-offs
A double close means two sets of closing costs and a funding cost for the gap. It is cleaner in some situations and more expensive in all of them, so use it when the situation calls for it — not by default.