CONFUSED Seller? Or UNETHICAL INVESTOR? Part 1 of 3

My buddy Jason — owner of Dumpster Dudez — texted me last night.

“You know a lady named Tanya?”

“Nope.”

“She says she has a contract on the Sunset house. Thanked me for cleaning it out.”

That got my attention.

Jason had been at the property picking up dumpsters. Five of them. The house came with 6.2 tons of trash.

While he was loading dumpster #3, Tanya stopped by. Jason knew I had already closed and had title, so he grabbed her info for me.

I called her.

She did, in fact, have a contract to buy the house. It was sitting at her attorney’s office, scheduled to close next week.

She’d acquired it via assignment — meaning someone else had the property under contract and assigned their rights to her for a fee.

Totally normal. Happens every day.

But here’s where it gets interesting:

Tanya had no idea I had already closed.

And yes — a seller can sign more than one contract. It’s not smart, but it happens.

In fact, on another deal we’re currently in (Smith St), a seller got upset with me before closing, called another investor, showed him our contract, and signed a second one at a higher price.

Now there are two contracts.

So which one is valid?

We’ll come back to that.

On Sunset, Tanya and I ended the call on good terms. She congratulated me. We even talked about possibly doing business together down the road.

No drama.

Then the next morning, I received this text:

So who is this guy?

He’s another “investor.”

The only issue?

He doesn’t buy houses.

And if you’re wondering how someone can be in the real estate business without ever actually buying property, or why I never heard back from him...

That’s Part 2.