Wholesaling Story Time: Sub 2 deal goes sideways and I end up in court shaking in my boots
In this YouTube storytelling episode, Nathan Payne recounts his first subject‑to (sub‑2) creative‑financing deal that spiraled into a courtroom eviction battle. He introduces the purpose of his "Wholesaling Storytime: Tales from the Trenches" series – to share raw, unfiltered experiences rather than only success stories. The deal began with a pre‑foreclosure seller, "Joe," who wanted $145,000 for a small, distressed house. Nathan and his partner Corey could not meet that price with a traditional cash wholesale offer, so they structured a contract‑for‑deed/subject‑to agreement: they would purchase the property, cover the seller’s arrears, give him a cash incentive, and allow a four‑month period for him and his family to move out. Nathan did not take title himself; the paperwork was handled by a title company and was somewhat unconventional. After four months, the seller’s family had not vacated, claiming they were unaware of the deadline. Tensions escalated, leading Nathan to hire an eviction attorney, James Dean. The seller hired his own counsel, and the dispute went to court. Nathan describes his nervousness, the judge’s confusion over the creative‑financing documents, and the seller’s daughter publicly accusing him of fraud. The judge offered a settlement that required the seller to post a fee to continue fighting; the seller refused, and the family vacated three days later, returning the property to Nathan. He reflects on the key lessons: never allow occupants to remain after closing on a subject‑to deal, ensure clear post‑possession terms, use a skilled title company, and retain an eviction attorney if needed. He also shares the long‑term outcome: the house is now a cash‑flowing rental worth about $300,000, turning the painful experience into a profitable win. Throughout, Nathan promotes his Painless Flipping newsletter, offering contacts, calculators, spreadsheets, and marketing materials to help other investors avoid similar pitfalls.
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Oh, hey, didn't see you there. What's going on? I know why you're here. You're here for Nathan Payne's Wholesaling Storytime: Tales from the Trenches. And boy, do I have a story for you guys today. Look, this story is— it's unfortunate I had to go through this, but when I first started, my first subject-to deal, this one is actually a little crazy. This is a contract for deed. If you guys don't know what that is, it's just some legal terms, but it actually landed me in court. I was going to say jail, but I didn't go to jail. It landed me in court. And look, the reason why I'm telling you guys this story, if you guys don't know what Nathan Payne's Wholesaling Storytime is, It's to tell you guys how I started from going from $0, no knowledge on how to wholesale, to doing over $2 million in fees. And I'm laying out the whole story to you guys. And if you're new to this, the reason why I'm doing this is because I believe media, not half, but like 90% of it is, that's a big percentage, but a lot of it is fake. People just put out what is good. They only put out their wins, okay? I am giving you the real story about wholesaling, okay? The ups, the downs, the wins, the failures. And I will say that even though this seems like a failure, uh, looking back, this was when I did one of my first deals. It's, it's a win now. The property they have now actually rented, cash flows really well. But I'm going to tell you guys exactly how I ended up in court because I did a subject-to deal, a creative finance deal, contract for deed. You like, if we want to get, uh, super technical about it, how it landed me in court. I don't want any of you to go to court. I don't want any of you guys have to face the pain, the agony Again, this is painless flipping. We want to make this journey painless for you, even though you have to go through a little bit of pain in order to learn, or a lot of pain, it's up to you. I don't want you going to court, everybody. I want you to succeed and I want you to crush it. So learn from my experience. I'm about to tell you the story of how I ended up in court, unfortunately, because I did a deal the wrong way. Don't do it the way I did it. And as you listen, if you're a part of my email, if you've subscribed to the weekly newsletter where these stories come out, we give you resources. I'm giving you guys my contact in Utah that, that helps me now to structure my deals, make sure I don't go to court, make sure I do my sub-2 deals, my creative financing deals right. So if you want that contact, I'm giving it to you as a gift. I'm giving you that person. Subscribe to the newsletter. Not only do you get the contact, but you get calculators, you get spreadsheets, you get a bunch of marketing materials that's going to help you maximize all for free. Because again, I've been in your position. I know how it feels to not have everything at your fingertips and you just wish you had someone to talk to, I'm here to give you what I can. And I'm here to give you the real truth because again, a lot of that's crap. All the crap out there, it's just showing you the wins. Time to hear some losses. But again, failures are good because they help you progress and they end up turning into wins you see down the line. So let's dive right into this story, everybody. And again, if you haven't subscribed to the weekly newsletter, to Nathan Payne's Wholesaling Storytime: Tales from the Trenches, Do it, do it, do it. Okay. It's just painlessflipping.com and then you can subscribe, buddy. All right. So let's dive in. And if you're watching this live, tell me where you're watching from. I read the comments and I'll get to those and I'll respond, but let's dive right in. So this was like my 5th deal I did. Okay. And the other deals that I had done in the past were all just strictly wholesale deals where you just get it and it was either a vacant property or it was just, you know, easy. It was like, okay, you're going to buy it and then they've moved out or they know they're moving out. But this, this one was not like that. Okay. So let's, let's rewind back. This was about 5 years ago. So let's go back to how this story began, everybody. So we're going to call this seller Joe. Okay. Joe Joe, we'll call him Joe. And, um, this is, this is what was happening at the time. Me and Corey, my business partner at the time, we were knocking doors. We were cold calling. We're flyering neighborhoods. And we started hitting up the pre-foreclosure list. Okay, if you guys don't know the pre-foreclosure list, these are people who are, you know, about to go and get their homes foreclosed. They're behind on their payments. Notice of default is another way to call it. So this guy was on the notice of default list. We actually called him, he answered, and we went and talked to him a couple of times, went to his house, and he was letting us know that multiple offers were coming in. He's— he would— every time we went over there, he'd be like, yeah, man, I'm still trying to think about what I'm doing. Blah, blah, blah. Uh, so we went, we met with them multiple times. Okay. It wasn't just like a one and done. It was multiple times to go chat with them. And he had a price in mind. He wanted, uh, about $145,000 for the property. And that was 5 years ago. It was a smaller house. So that was a good price. I wish you're not really finding that right now in Utah, but anyway, he wanted $145,000, but nobody including us on a wholesale cash offer was able to come to that because the house, 600 square feet, maybe even a little smaller, like it needed a lot of work. It wasn't going to get that. The ARV was probably like $200,000 at that time. Maybe a little bit less, but he wanted $145,000. And we're like, man, how can we make this work? So we had been— Corey, my business partner, he had done lease options in the past and he knew about seller financing, like creative financing. So we said to Joe, we're like, Joe, the only way we can get you $145,000 because the house is not worth that in its current condition, the only way we can do this is if we, we do it on terms. We can, we can buy the house for that price. We can pay that. But you got to take payments. And he's like, well, if you can get me that much, that money. If you can get me my purchase price, that's fine. And we explained to him, okay, so this is what we're going to do. We're going to— you're in pre-foreclosure, you're behind maybe $14,000. We're going to catch your payments up and we'll give you about $5,000 so you have enough money to move out. He's like, that's fine. And we said, we're going to do a balloon payment and cash you out in a couple years for the rest of the equity you have. Okay. And there was like maybe $30,000, $40,000 equity he had, but he's like, yeah, as long as I get that higher price, that's fine. So we agreed on that, and it was in the dead of the winter, okay? So, and he was a little older, and he had his family in there in the house. So we were like, hey, how— this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna give you that price, and then we're gonna let you, uh, since we don't— you know, you, you don't want to move in the winter, and we get it, uh, Christmas time, all that stuff. We're gonna give you 4 months to move out, okay? We're gonna give you 4 months to find a place. We're gonna give you 4 months to, to look for something and pack up. It's not a big house, but we're gonna give you some time. So he agreed. We signed and we did a contract for deed. So I did not actually go on title on the property, but I did own the property and it was like a contract for deed subject to like hybrid. So anyway, so fast forward 4 months down the line, what do you think happened? Well, this is the first time I've ever let someone stay in a property after I've closed. Okay. And by the way, like the way it was structured, I wasn't on title. Like it wasn't set that again, I didn't really even know all this stuff. I was just like, hey, this is what they, they said, creative financing is great, let me just do it this way. So I let him stay in the property. 4 months go, and I'm checking in on him like every month. Hey man, how's the move going? Are you— have you found a new place? Have you— do you have— have you moved your stuff? Oh yeah, man, we're working on it, we got some stuff lined up. So 2 weeks before the 4 weeks is up where I'm taking over the property now because I gotta rent it, I've been paying the mortgage and, you know, just floating it, uh, since you know, all the costs and all that stuff. Um, and I actually closed on it with my bro, you know, my brother-in-law. We, we owned it at that time. Um, I go there 2 weeks before and I knock on the door, say, hey, uh, just checking in. And I noticed that, uh, not even a box is packed. Nothing is packed. Nothing. They didn't do anything. 4 months down the line, nothing was moved. The family is like nothing. They didn't even know they were supposed to move. So I'm like, guys, you know, you know, we've been paying them. We bought the house. We gave you 4 months. It's time for you to move. And they're like, it was like news to them. They're like, what? Are you serious? I'm like, yeah. So I'm talking to Joe and he's like, yeah, man, don't worry. Like, I'm moving. And his family. So he had one of his, his daughter was like, that was mooching off of him that was living in a parked trailer in the back. Comes up to me while I'm talking to the dad and being like, hey, what's going on? She's like, what are you doing here? Like, we're like, what do you mean we're doing about the house? And she's like, you forced our dad to do this. We're not going anywhere. And I'm like, what are you talking about? You were there. Like, everybody knows what's going on. Like, this isn't news. I've talked to you before. Like, why are you coming at me now? And the whole family like surrounds me. Like, uh, like the daughter, her husband that's living in the trailer in the back, and they just like come around me like I don't want to say a pack of dogs because they weren't, but it just felt like, oh, I'm getting ambushed. And they were starting to get mad. And I was like, look, I'm not trying to deal with this. Like, you guys know what's going on. So I didn't know what to do at that point. They, they were supposed to move. I own the house. They didn't. So I ended up being like, dude, they're not being reasonable. They're not going to move now. They're, they're saying they won't move. So I reached out to an eviction attorney. I'm like, yes, we got to evict them. I guess that's like the next step, right? Like, they— we own the house, we gave them— we gave them money up front, we caught them up, and they're not moving. So unfortunate, uh, situation to be in for both of us. I didn't want to be in that situation. I thought we had agreed on something. So we— I get the eviction attorney, James Dean, classy guy. He's just like, you know, ready to rock and roll. He's been dealing with this for a long time. I explained the situation that we bought it on terms, and it was kind of funky the way the paperwork is done because it didn't look like I owned it like on the paper, but I really did if you dived into the closing docs, but just didn't— it wasn't like that easy to see. And I didn't know how to explain anything that was going on because I was new. I just had done what they told me, like the title company I was using at the time. So James Dean's like, hey, they're fighting this bad boy. They're not moving. They actually got an attorney themselves. Like, they're trying to fight this. And the seller had gone in and networked with someone that was like, I think the person that got him the loan was like trying to keep him in it. And I was like, I don't know what's going on. This is nuts. And I'm so scared because I'm like, I just bought a house now. Like, maybe I'll lose it. I have no idea what's going to— what can happen here. And it ended up that they fought. They fought it. And when you try to evict someone, they fight it. You got to go to court. So I went to court and I was super nervous. I was like, I didn't know if I would have to stand and testify. I don't know what, what was gonna happen. I was shaking the night before. And this, this job has kind of taught me like how to be relaxed and have like nerves. I don't say nerves of steel, but to be a little stronger and not be so worried because, uh, you know, I'm a little bit more— I am more prepared now. But anyway, so I go to court with me, Corey, and, uh, I think my spouse came with me too. And I was, I was concerned because I thought I had done everything— not thought, I had done everything correct in the sense of like you know, let them know, but they just decided they didn't want to, uh, to move. So I'm in court, the judge, our case comes, and I'm tripping, I'm tripping out, you know, I'm shaking. The judge is like, so what the heck's going on here? He's just reading the document and he's like, so what's going on? And then, you know, his, the attorney of Joe is like, you know, kind of explains, hey, these guys are trying to steal this dude's property. And it's like, what are you talking about? Like, we agreed on this whole thing. My attorney gets up and explains the situation, and the judge is trying to understand what the heck is going on with the subject to creative finance contract for deed, whatever you want to call it, paperwork. He's like, he doesn't know. He's like, I don't know what this is. Do you own the property, son? And he's like, yes. I'm like, yes. He's like, okay. Then the daughter in the middle of the courtroom, she stands up and she's like, this young man, lied to us. He tried to— he forced my dad to sign these documents. And I'm like, what are you talking about? You weren't even a— like, you're making all this up. You were there. Like, you saw that. Like, no one was forced to do anything. But she's out there slandering me in the middle of the courtroom, and everyone's like— and unfortunately, she looked a little, you know, like crazy. She might have been, you know, doing some things that she's not supposed to. So I don't know if that was a good look for her or not, to like shout that in the middle of the courtroom. But, uh, she was like, This guy's a liar. I'm like, hey, I don't know why I thought we were friends. Now you're hating on me in front of everybody. That's— that doesn't look good for me or anybody. So anyway, she's hating on me. This is what happens. The judge says, look, you guys can fight this. How much do you think you'll be able to rent this place out for? He says that to me. And I said, I don't know, it's probably like $1,000, $1,100 after we fix it up. And he's like, okay, Joe, your squad, if you want to fight this, it's probably going to take 6, 7 months to fight this. And, and attorney fees, you're gonna have to, uh, pay up front, like, the, the losses that he might incur, like I might incur through, um, you know, fighting this. So if it takes like 6, 7 months, you guys are gonna have to come up with about $7,000 and you can fight this. Uh, so that was like the solution that the judge came up with, and he's like, you got to come up with the money within like 2 days if you're gonna do And what ended up happening is they were like, screw that. They didn't want to come up with the money. Maybe they didn't have the money and they were probably going to lose any— well, not probably they would lose because we did, we did it above board. It's other than the paperwork being kind of funky and no one really understanding how to read those creative finance documents. Right. So what ended up happening is we ended up getting the property back. They left like 3 days later. I got the house. And, uh, man, it was a sigh of relief. I was like, oh my gosh, that was like the most nerve-wracking thing I've ever been through is going to court over a property that I had purchased on creative financing. So anyway, the showdown in the courtroom was nuts. I was very nervous. I was very nervous. Never, never been to court. Never thought I'd go to court, but that's what happened. And it was interesting. Um, so anyway, I learned a lot of lessons from that. Lesson number 1, if you are going to buy a property on subject to creative financing, contract for deed, anything like that, post-possession is not a good idea. It is— don't do it. If you're going to buy a property like that, you need to make sure they're out of the house before you close. Because if they fight it and you have to evict them, when you go to court, it's going— the documents are going to look weird, right? Because either they're on title or you're on title or however you structured it, it's just funky. So that's what happened. Now, if I did it again, I wouldn't, I wouldn't have let him stay in the property after. I would have just said, hey, look, we're going to close on it, but you got to make sure you're out. Um, so make sure again, if you do something like that and you're going to let them, if they want to do a post-possession, don't— make sure they're out by the time you close because it can get funky. Okay. Don't do that. I've talked to too many people that do subject to and creative financing deals and they're like, yeah, don't do that. Um, make sure you hold money back and give it to them once they leave, like incentivize them to get out. Be prepared emotionally and mentally and physically, everything for this job. Like, you're going to run into some ups and downs. Obviously, if you don't do what I did, you won't have to face that, that problem. But you— this job, like many other jobs, comes with trials and errors and, you know, tribulations, failures. You got to be mentally prepared. Thankfully, I had a good support system. I was honest in my dealings with my fellow man. I was honest with what I did. So I was— I knew I had not done anything wrong in the sense like lying.. But just make sure you, you're honest and you, uh, you do everything to your best ability, right? Like you should always do that. Be transparent. We told them exactly what was going on. We gave them 4 months, like, come on. And the importance of having a skilled title company to work with that can navigate this, uh, like doing the paperwork right. And an eviction attorney, you shouldn't have to have an eviction attorney, but It is important if you do buy properties and you're going to keep them and you let people do post-possession, that you have an eviction attorney that's legit. Now guys, I started this story out, Nathan Payne's Wholesaling Storytime, Tales from the Trenches, saying that for subscribing, I want to give you the contact that I use right now in Utah that helps me prepare my paperwork, that does my title work. She's got my back. I want to give you that contact. So subscribe to the newsletter and you will get— I will get you that contact info. If you are outside of Utah, I will make sure I can connect you with someone that can navigate you. Because if you do paperwork the wrong way and you land yourself in trouble, um, you could go to court, you could get in trouble. I don't want that to happen to you. I was very nervous if I even went to court again, right? Knock on wood that I don't, and I don't think I will. But, uh, yeah, it's nerve-wracking because you don't really know what's going to happen. You don't know if the judge is going to go in their favor. You don't know if they're going to lie and slander you like that, like the daughter standing up in front of him and say, this guy's a jabroni, this guy's a liar, he lied to all of us. It's like, no, 'Look, that's not true. You're lying.' And I guess I know I can't prove that other than me saying he said, she said. So avoid all that. Do the paperwork the right way. Just, just try to, to make wrap up and make sure your deals are done solidly. And you can do that with the right, the right people on your side, the right team. So anyway, I just want to say that was my story. First time landing in court. This was in my first 6 months of wholesaling, guys. This was like my 4th or 5th deal. It was something that I was not— I had never faced before. Before that, I was like a door-to-door sales guy. You don't get in any trouble in door-to-door other than maybe a cop saying, hey, no soliciting, get the heck out of this neighborhood. And you're like, okay. So new experience. I don't want it to happen to you. I don't want you to go through the pain. I want you to feel the gain and not the pain. So, you know, keep on staying with us at Painless Flipping, uh, and we'll teach you the right way. And I hope this story, you feel the realness. I hope you feel the realness that my goal is not just to give you all the fluff and the crap and be like, hey, yeah, this job is rainbows. It's ups and downs. So is everything. And I'll give you the— I'll give you the real truth, guys. So by the way, this deal ended up being a major win. I still have the rental. I got it for $145,000. I rent it out. I cash flow and it's worth about $300,000 now. Okay, so it's been 5 years, so it's appreciated quite a bit here in Utah. So great deal. And I had to catch up the payments and put some money down to the seller. But would I do it again? Well, yes, I would do the deal again, but I would definitely restructure it. Maybe not let him do the post-possession and made sure he was out and moved on myself, like paid for a moving company. So there wasn't the excuse of 4 months of him saying he was moving. So if you like that story, hit this, hit the like button so more people can see it. Subscribe, do all these great things that help me grow. I want to get in front of more people. I appreciate you. If you enjoyed Nathan Payne's Wholesaling Storytime, share with a friend. Tales from the trenches, guys. I'm in the trenches still. I'll probably always be in the trenches because I like the trenches. That's where you learn. That's where you grow. So hope you enjoyed it. Have a great weekend. It's Friday. Love you guys. And if you don't like this story, if you think I'm a jabroni, I want to hear about it. If you think my stories suck, let me know because it's important to me. I always want to progress. I want to grow. So if you think I'm not a good storyteller, I think I am, but if you don't think so, let me know how I can improve, because I'm always looking to improve. Peace out, have a great weekend. Later, everybody. Gaetano, you like that story? All right, later.
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