Investors ask us, often, how a small team sources, structures, and closes deals across Texas and Oklahoma without a big-company back office. The answer is a real estate workflow: six steps, run the same way on every file, from the first seller call to the exit. Nothing about it is secret. It is just consistent, which is what lets private lenders and partners plug in without wondering what happens to their money between contract and closing.
Here is that workflow step by step, with what each stage is trying to accomplish and where the creative finance work happens.
The short version
Every lead is screened on the first conversation for motivation, condition, loan position, and timeline, then sorted into a cash purchase, a creative structure, or a hybrid. Qualified deals are underwritten against several exits at once (subject-to, seller financing, wrap resale, rental, note) so the seller can be offered a menu of options rather than one low number. Contracts, title review, payoffs, and lender coordination run on a checklist, closings are set up so the title company understands the structure, and the exit is chosen before we close. Purchases run through NTX Realty Trust, our principal buying arm; funding comes from private lenders, partners, and seller terms depending on the deal.
How do leads come in and get screened?
Leads reach the acquisitions team from direct marketing, agent referrals, wholesalers, and off-market channels, and the first conversation is built to capture the same things every time:
- Seller motivation and what a good outcome looks like for them
- Property condition notes, with photos when available
- Mortgage details or payoff information
- Deadlines and distress factors, such as a foreclosure date or a relocation
- Early repair estimates
From those answers, we decide whether the file fits a traditional cash purchase, a creative structure, or a hybrid, and whether it is worth pursuing at all. The goal is to identify opportunity and motivation quickly without spending days on leads that will not convert. Our note on why some agents refer clients to investors explains how the referral channel works from the agent’s side.
How is a deal evaluated and matched to a structure?
Once a lead qualifies, we run it through our internal underwriting, which tests every viable exit rather than just one:
- Subject-to viability, based on the existing loan’s rate, balance, and payment
- Seller financing options, if the owner has equity and wants monthly income
- Wrap resale potential, if the existing loan is worth keeping and an end buyer would pay more with owner financing
- Rental or note cash flow, for a hold
- Private money usage, and what it would cost over the realistic timeline
- Exit-based return projections, so the structure is chosen on the numbers
Because the same property is scored against several structures, we can usually make an offer that works even when the seller thinks they are out of options. The goal is to present multiple solutions that work for both investor and seller. Deal structure vs. price explains why we treat structure as the main lever.
How are offers presented to sellers?
Instead of a single low cash number, sellers get a menu, and they choose. A typical set of options:
- A full-price offer with seller financing
- A subject-to takeover with the arrears covered
- A cash offer with a fast closing
- Hybrid terms that combine the above when the situation calls for it
Solving the seller’s actual problem, whether that is time, a loan that needs to be caught up, or a price they need to hit, is what closes deals other buyers walk away from. The goal is a trust-based conversation that ends in an agreement both sides would sign again. The cash version is laid out on our cash offers page.
What happens between contract and closing?
Once a seller agrees, the file moves to a checklist, and the funding plan runs alongside it.
Due diligence and paperwork
- Contract preparation on the state’s promulgated forms (TREC in Texas)
- Creative finance addenda for subject-to, wrap, or seller-carry terms
- Lien and title review
- Ordering payoffs from the existing lender
- Private lender coordination
- Insurance updates and escrow review
- Document packaging for the closing attorney
For partners and lenders funding a deal, every document is organized and available before closing. The goal is clean paperwork and risk-managed due diligence that protects all parties, including the seller.
Funding and closing
Funding depends on the structure. A cash purchase may be funded by a private lender or an equity partner; a subject-to deal needs reinstatement money for the arrears; a seller-carry deal needs little outside capital; a wrap resale is funded, in effect, by the end buyer’s down payment and monthly payments. We coordinate the parties, schedule the closing, and make sure the title company or attorney understands the creative structure before closing day, because a closer who has never seen a wrap can stall a ready deal. Hard money vs. private lenders compares the two most common outside sources.
What happens after closing?
The exit was chosen at underwriting, so after closing the property simply moves onto that path:
- Wrap resale: owner financing to an end buyer
- Rental hold: long-term cash flow and appreciation
- Fix and flip: a renovation and retail sale
- Note sale: selling a performing note to lock in the profit early
- Partnership split: on investor-funded deals, distributions calculated and reported to the partner
Because the exit is planned from the beginning, the handoff is smooth and nobody is improvising after the money has moved. The goal is repeatable, long-term cash flow rather than a one-time win.
Why does this workflow matter to investors and lenders?
It rests on three things: speed, structure, and repeatability. Fast intake and underwriting mean fewer deals lost to hesitation. Creative structures unlock deals a cash-only buyer cannot touch. And a documented process means a private lender, JV partner, or capital investor can plug in and see where their money is, and what protects it, at every step.
One point of clarity, because the entity matters. Purchases in this workflow are made by NTX Realty Trust, our principal cash and creative buyer in Texas and Oklahoma. Listing and buyer representation are separate and run through the brokerage, The McDonald Group via Fathom Realty in Texas and Dillard Cies Real Estate in Oklahoma. A seller who wants to list rather than sell to us is referred across that line, not squeezed through this one.
Frequently asked questions
What does Mac Does REI look at first on a new lead?
Motivation, condition, loan position, and timeline, captured on the first conversation. Those four answers decide whether a file goes to a cash offer, a creative structure, or a pass.
How does a private lender or partner fit into the workflow?
At funding, with full visibility: organized documents before closing, a clear place in the structure, and, on partnership deals, a transparent distribution calculation at exit. Details are on our private lending page.
Does every deal get the same offer options?
No. The menu depends on the loan, the equity, and the seller’s timeline. A free-and-clear house might get a seller-financing offer, a house with a low-rate loan and no equity might get a subject-to offer, and a house that needs speed gets cash.
Where we land on it
Behind every deal that closes cleanly is a workflow that made it boring. Ours takes a seller’s problem in on the first call, structures a solution, documents it, funds it, and exits it the way we planned. If you are a private lender, JV partner, or investor looking for a team that treats real estate like a business, the private lending and partner page explains how to plug in, and the Mac Does REI investors page is where the deal flow shows up. None of this is legal, tax, or lending advice; creative structures need an attorney and a CPA on your side of the table.
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