What's the good amount/% for earnest money? I have been in multiple unsuccessful bids where seller goes with little lower bids for high earnest. I have been giving 40 to 50k as earnest non refundable with all contingencies waived. Not sure how high to go further. TC: 300k #housing #seattle
Dude come-on poker game easy day you pay x percent higher earnest /price than the highest offer. Don't bid against yourself
100K
My in laws were recommended to do $150K on a $750K condo. Nuts. You can do high earnest money with say 2% going to seller immediately and another 8% held in escrow to be released after all contingency dates pass. It sounds like a lot but is basically just your down payment anyway.
“Going right away”? What if seller doesn’t accept your offer?
Well that’s the thing. It’s a check right? Made out to the seller. There is a contract that spell it out saying that it’s for an accepted offer. So if they say no, they are supposed to immediately return it. And they almost certainly will but . . . That why huge earnest money seems risky to me.
Where did the earnest money shit come from? In a market where you have multiple over asking bids and the buyer stills wants earnest money. People are fucking greedy.
I don’t get this either. As a seller it doesn’t sweeten the deal for me. It may simply be a signal that the buyer has a lot of cash.
I think people are always paranoid that a buyer will change their minds and walk, so high earnest money makes it way less likely. Even in a market where they'll find another bidder it's probably a pain to deal with (not that it doesn't suck for the buyer to put up with)
We put $225k earnest on a home and still lost the bid, go figure.
I did 4-6%..: maybe why I never won compared to what some people are offering
They can only ever keep 5% of sale price if things fall through
Is there a rule on this?
It’s all in the contract you sign with the seller. Usually there are three contingencies 1)appraisal 2)financing 3)inspection. Each of threes have an associated date. After that date you lose the right to back out for that reason. Imagine the appraisal contingency is 10 days. After 10 days you can’t back out because the house appraises too low. If you do back out they keep your earnest money.
Try bid 30% above asking price
Even did that but unfortunately there was someone doing the same with higher earnest money