Best way to get paid by an out-of-state buyer

[Gumby]

You could arrange to do the closing at your own bank, so that you can immediately deposit the cash or certified check.

 

[CoolChange]

Rich,

Gumby beat me to the punch.

We have sold several cars via old fashioned classified adds in the local papers and one online. In all cases, we sealed the deal at our local branch office where we could immediately deposit the cash/bank-check and the bank would deal with verification. This also allowed us to easily provide a notarized bill-of-sale that some of our buyers requested. We have never had a buyer balk at this arrangement.

Good luck.

 

[Nords]

Cashier's check = bank check
Certified means a bank officer attests that the funds are set aside for that check.

Cool, thanks. The PayPal era has rendered me ignorant of banking vocabulary...

 

[Gearhead Jim]

(Amounts in the story below have been adjusted to 'today's dollars')

When we went to close on our newly contructed home, we took about $40k out of our credit union and put it in our no-interest checking account, because the closing was supposed to be a few days later. Well, the builder had problems and the closing got delayed for about a month. When the Big Day finally arrived, I went to our bank and requested a certified chack for the closing amount. The lady replied there would be about a $25 fee for the check. I politely mentioned that they had been holding our money interest free for over a month, and could she perhaps waive the fee? She got huffy and said "Listen, that's the way it is, you just pay the fee." I said "Well then, I'll just take it in cash please." She looked like I crapped on her desk and was so flustered/angry she couldn't even speak for a minute. But she didn't offer to waive the fee. So I got all of their hundreds, all of their fifties, and a few twenties to finish it off. When I walked into the closing and opened a briefcase stuffed with $100's, it looked like a scene from "Miami Vice." I told the story to everyone there, they all had a good laugh and said our bank was famous for that kind of attitude. We also switched our checking account the next week.

 

[Darryl]

Rich, the last few deals I've done like this are cash only. It is way to easy to counterfeit a check. One other thought though.

What bank does the buyer use? If his bank has branches in Florida you could meet him at a branch local to you and get a check issued from the bank to you. That would take the unknown buyers identity and creditworthiness out of the mix.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

What I know now is that he is taking a loan from his credit union. The check will be certified by the credit union and made payable to me. When the deal is confirmed, I will take the check and give him a receipt. We will then authenticate the check with a call to his credit union. I'll make sure the number jives with the public number given for the credit union.

 

[audreyh1]

I may have a buyer for my RV (with eyes on a bigger one down the road). He will be driving in from Michigan to close the deal.

With all the warnings from Craigs List, Ebay etc. against taking money orders, cashier checks, etc. what is the best way to have him pay me for this? It's too expensive to expect cash (~$20k). And he will be driving off with it the same day, so I can't wait for a check to clear.

I do have a Paypal account but not sure that does the trick.

Any ideas to protect everyone's interests?

Here is how we did it when we sold our Casita. The buyer drove from NC to Texas to buy our RV. We went with the buyer to a local branch of his bank, and they issued us a cashier's check payable from the bank (not the buyer) right there. Totally secure.

Of course, it helps if the buyer has a national bank with branches all over the country. Our buyer was with Bank of America and there was a branch close to our house.

Audrey

 

[audreyh1]

To get back to the original topic, why not a wire transfer?

One problem with a wire transfer is that you have to give the buyer all your bank information.

BUT I think you can go with the buyer to your bank, and he can give the teller his bank account information and they can do the transfer and even call to verify funds, etc.

Audrey

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

There's a loan involved here on his part so I think that pretty much means a certified check - shouldn't be hard to authenticate by phone.

 

[kumquat]

One problem with a wire transfer is that you have to give the buyer all your bank information.

You need routing number & account number. That doesn't give anyone access to remove money. Where is the problem?

 

[Dave J]

I've sold some high end motorcycles, and I gave a zerox copy of title until check cleared, then mailed original. Also, made copy of driver's license and took a photo of buyer.

Prob. overkill, but they knew what I was going to do beforehand and never had a problem.

 

[Curly]

There's only one way to do this, the buyer shows up with CASH. We recently purchased a boat in a neighboring state. We showed up with 170 - $100 bills. Just make sure the title is clear when you hand over the cash. And get a detailed, written receipt, signed by the buyer and seller - include serial numbers, vehicle numbers, registration numbers, etc. - state that the sale is paid in full.

Also, if you are wanting to negotiate, there's nothing like sitting at a table with a pile of $100 bills to motivate a seller.

 

[JustMeUC]

Certified checks can be faked. I took one once and it took almost a week before coming back. By then, I was Poop out of Luck!!

I'll only go bank to bank Wire or Cash from now on. My bank tells me that the absolute safest thing to do is a wire. The person can fill out all the forms necessary, then call when they arrive and have the deal completed. It takes a few only a few minutes for a domestic transfer to complete.

In deals like this, 99% of people are honest I believe, but when dealing with such high value items, whey take the chance that you are dealing with that 1%?

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

I'll only go bank to bank Wire or Cash from now on. My bank tells me that the absolute safest thing to do is a wire. The person can fill out all the forms necessary, then call when they arrive and have the deal completed. It takes a few only a few minutes for a domestic transfer to complete.

So the guy does all the paper preparation for a wire transfer, and I supply him with whatever he needs for my account to receive the transfer.

He arrives from out of state, likes the goods. We then stroll to the bank, he makes a call to his local bank, they wire it while we wait, and 15 minutes later it's a done deal?

Not doubting, just asking. Last time I made a wire transfer, admittedly a few years ago, it didn't show up in my balance for days.

(In this case this was not an option since it was a loan-related paper check from the bank.)

 

[JustMeUC]

I don't think you would even need to go to the bank. Everything can be handled via phone.

However, I strongly suggest taking 5 minutes and call your branch manager at your bank to get it straight from someone that deals with this kind of stuff daily. Too much money at stake to take advice from me!! LOL

 

[Texas Proud]

Are you selling that small one you bought a year or two ago? I think it had a small diesel engine? If so, why sell so cheap?

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Are you selling that small one you bought a year or two ago? I think it had a small diesel engine? If so, why sell so cheap?

The Sprinter you are referring to was traded in on the one mentioned above (huge improvement in living space) - actually got a big check back from the dealer to make the trade work.

By now, we've decided we really liked the way RVing fits into our ESR plans and lifestyle and will probably go for the Class A late this year. Then we can start trading up to fancier Class A's, in the tradition of SteveR .

 

[Curly]

Regarding wire transfers. I've done it a lot for funding bank or brokerage accounts. Works great. BUT, be careful. As I understand it, if you are not using a Federal Reserve to Federal Reserve qualified bank, there may be a multi-day delay period for the funds to clear. What you need to ask the receiving bank is whether you can withdraw the funds the moment they are received at the receiving bank. JUST BECAUSE THE FUNDS MAY SHOW UP IN YOUR ACCOUNT - DO NOT ASSUME THAT THE FUNDS HAVE CLEARED THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ACCESS TO THE CASH BEFORE YOU DELIVER THE ITEM TO THE BUYER.
Of lesser importance, as a seller, check to see if you must pay an incoming wire charge (and then incorporate that charge into the selling price).

 

[kumquat]

I once bought a car in the US and paid by wire from a Canadian bank. It showed up in the seller' account immediately (and showed gone from mine when I checked a couple of hours later). Whether he had access to the money, I don't know, but I couldn't retrieve it.

I paid a fee to sent the $. I doubt, but don't know, that he paid to get it.

 

[USK Coastie]

Hey Rich a little off topic but... Have given any consideration to a super C RV? Most are built on a Kodiak chev 5500 chassis while almost all the rest are on and International truck Chassis. The Kodiaks are gas or diesel,the Internationals are diesel. You might want to drive and compare prior to going straight to a class A DP.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Hey Rich a little off topic but... Have given any consideration to a super C RV? Most are built on a Kodiak chev 5500 chassis while almost all the rest are on and International truck Chassis. The Kodiaks are gas or diesel,the Internationals are diesel. You might want to drive and compare prior to going straight to a class A DP.

No decisions made, but we're only looking at gasoline for now, Triton V10 or Workhorse in most of them.

 

[Martha]

Your plans regarding the certified check sound find. Calling the issuer should take care of any forgery issues.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I mentioned this a couple days ago, went back through all the posts and can't find an answer to this question. Lets say that the transfer of funds or bank check or a suitcase full of case is all taken care of and there is not a problem with the funds. This is great if you are holding the clear title. What happens if there is a lien and you have to pay it off to get the title and the lien holder is in East Jesus, Iowa? So, how to get the funds there and get the clear title back. No bank branch in your area.

 

[Bikerdude]

I've sold some high end motorcycles, and I gave a zerox copy of title until check cleared, then mailed original. Also, made copy of driver's license and took a photo of buyer.

Prob. overkill, but they knew what I was going to do beforehand and never had a problem.

I've done the same. I always include the phrase "title will be sent once check #XXX has cleared and funds have been deposited" on the bill of sale document. Please note that a bank will clear even a fake check so an extra 2 or 3 days may be required to be certain.

 

[Martha]

I mentioned this a couple days ago, went back through all the posts and can't find an answer to this question. Lets say that the transfer of funds or bank check or a suitcase full of case is all taken care of and there is not a problem with the funds. This is great if you are holding the clear title. What happens if there is a lien and you have to pay it off to get the title and the lien holder is in East Jesus, Iowa? So, how to get the funds there and get the clear title back. No bank branch in your area.

Most of the time you can arrange with your own bank to help with a closing with the other bank, with a wire transfer of the funds between the two. We sold our first motorhome to a person out west, who wired the money to our bank and our bank actually sent the title to his bank upon receipt of the funds. Although no debt was involved it helped with trust issues. The person who bought it never even looked at the vehicle and had it shipped on a fatbed to him.