RunningBum
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2007
- Messages
- 13,249
Whenever I buy a place, I put down $1,000 earnest money.
Oh you should hear the real estate agents scream about "showing my seriousness" etc.
But the real reason they want a big payment is then you are screwed out of the money if something goes wrong. While I understand I would still be liable to be sued for screwing up a deal, if I'm immediately out only $1,000 instead of $15,000, I'm in a better position.
Plus it does not tie up a lot of money if the deal collapses and the Realtor is supposed to return it to me.
If I were a seller of a mid to high priced property, I probably wouldn't accept your offer, especially if the market was pretty good for sellers. $1000 isn't worth it to take my house off the market when you are showing strong signs that you'll back out.