4 ms·

here's a tip (seriously). if you're ever talking real estate and someone even so much as hints at a "good faith" deposit, walk away. absolutely NO money (zero

here's a tip (seriously). if you're ever talking real estate and someone even so much as hints at a "good faith" deposit, walk away. absolutely NO money (zero, zip, nada) should be exchanged directly between the buyer and seller in a legitimate sale. there should be at least two outside parties (generally a bank and a licensed escrow company) involved in proxying the transaction. some people even buy additional protection on top of that. if you decide to throw all these protections out the window, that's nobody's problem but your own.

ufmace 13y ago
Not sure what area you're in, but standard real estate practice in Houston is that the potential buyer pays 1% or so in earnest money, escrowed through the title company, up front, with various contractual conditions for who gets it if anything goes wrong, and an option fee, usually around $200, paid directly to the seller, in exchange for the right to have 10 days or so to inspect the property and walk away from the deal if they find something they don't like. I would regard anything outside of that as very suspicious, though.
- reboog711 13y ago
  In Connecticut, when I bought my house. We paid some amount into some type of independent escrow account. A copy of the check went along with the offer if memory serves me. The amount was small relative to a house purchase, in the range of $200 I think. My real estate agent told me if the deal went sour, we'd have a hell of our time getting the money back from the escrow folk. I assumed such an approach was common everywhere.
  - beachstartup 13y ago
    > My real estate agent told me if the deal went sour, we'd have a hell of our time getting the money back from the escrow folk i don't mean to sound short, but what is the point of escrow in your state then?
    - reboog711 13y ago
      At least it didn't go to the buyers? I honestly I have no idea if this was just the real estate agents 'approach' or if it relates to CT laws or something entirely different.

ufmace 13y ago

Not sure what area you're in, but standard real estate practice in Houston is that the potential buyer pays 1% or so in earnest money, escrowed through the title company, up front, with various contractual conditions for who gets it if anything goes wrong, and an option fee, usually around $200, paid directly to the seller, in exchange for the right to have 10 days or so to inspect the property and walk away from the deal if they find something they don't like. I would regard anything outside of that as very suspicious, though.

reboog711 13y ago
In Connecticut, when I bought my house. We paid some amount into some type of independent escrow account. A copy of the check went along with the offer if memory serves me. The amount was small relative to a house purchase, in the range of $200 I think. My real estate agent told me if the deal went sour, we'd have a hell of our time getting the money back from the escrow folk. I assumed such an approach was common everywhere.
- beachstartup 13y ago
  > My real estate agent told me if the deal went sour, we'd have a hell of our time getting the money back from the escrow folk i don't mean to sound short, but what is the point of escrow in your state then?
  - reboog711 13y ago
    At least it didn't go to the buyers? I honestly I have no idea if this was just the real estate agents 'approach' or if it relates to CT laws or something entirely different.