 Is there going to be a housing market 'crash'? |
| As a first-time buyer, getting on the property ladder is fairly daunting at the moment. There seems so much uncertainty withing the economy....is it best to wait and see what happens over the coming ... |
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 Would you rather sell or rent out your home? |
| If you moved into a new house and had the option of selling your old house or renting it out until the housing market stabilizes what would you do?... |
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 Can I ask a realtor to hold a house for 6 months with some kind of legal agreement? |
| We would like to buy a house but will not have enough money for a down payment until 6 months from now. So can I ask the realtor to not sell the house for that time period?... |
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 What happens if my loan amount is more than my house is worth today cuz of the housing market? |
| Three years ago, we refinanced our house, got into a 3 year ARM, didn't know anything about refinancing so I did that, thinking that was the best thing to do. It was worth $182,000, the loan was ... |
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 My rented house flooded, my basement was packed with stuff, who has to pay to get all damaged stuff out of? |
I currently rent a house. This morning I went down stairs to switch over my laundry and to my supprise there was a foot of water in the basement.
When it rains I always seem to get a ... |
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 Should I get an interest only 30 year fix mortgage? |
I'm considering an interest only 30 year fix mortgage but I'm still a bit confused.
After the 10 years, will the interest rate be changed to the rate at that time, or will it ... |
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 Typical Water Bill? |
| I am moving into a 708sq.ft. 1 bedroom apartment in Irving, TX. It has a dishwasher and I'll have my own washer & dryer. I have my own water heater so I'll only be billed for my ... |
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 Can landlord change locks before we get our stuff out? We still have another week.? |
| She says that she has to let us in now, when we were suppose to have until the end of the month. T... |
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 The house i'm renting was sold out from under me, what exactly can i do? |
| i'm extremely upset. The duplex that i have been living in for 3 years was sold out from under me. we just re-signed a lease with our landlord in December and in March, a lady (who our ... |
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 Lender wants to pay me 5% to refinance my loan? |
I just purchased my first home a little over 1 month ago. I have a score of 740ish and received a fixed rate of 6.38% for 30yrs. It was a 100% loan in the amount of 150k.
Today I received a ... |
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 Selling my home, how do i get the tenants out gave them notice but wont leave cause they have no where to go? |
| i own a home and im now selling it. i have three days before escrow closes, and i have to turn in the house and the current tenants in the house wont leave. i gave them a two months notice. but they ... |
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 Does anyone else get frustrated not OWNING a house? |
| I am so SICK of renting, but I have no money saved up, tons of school loans, just screwed up my credit (4 months of bad luck = a DESTROYED credit report/score), so I doubt I will ever have my own ... |
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 My house is in foreclosure, what legally can I do if I dont have the money to pay up front? |
| I have a sale date of june 5 the loan company is giving me the run around back and forth about a loan modification but never can give me figures. I am trying to keep my home and re-establish my ... |
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 Should I Stay or Should I Go? |
| I currently have an offer for a modification of my home loan with Wachovia. The payment is literally cut in half which is very nice and I can finally afford to keep my home. But I’m now thinking ... |
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 I have a landlord that harasses me about rent before it is due and keeps going into my basemant when im away? |
| he will call me on sundays asking for rent when it is not due will not show me copys of the light bill i have to payy to him when i ask he goes in my house with out my consent and is always hateful ... |
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 How easy is it to become a realtor? |
is the test to get a license hard?
Is the carreer outlook good or are there too many realtors already?... |
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 House is repossessed & bank auctions 2 recover debt+fees, & there is $ left over frm sale, do you get it back? |
Please help me settle a debate. Here is the scenario:
Say you buy a house for $100,000 and get into a 30 year mortgage with a bank. Over the years, you manage to pay off 70% of the ... |
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Jill | How much earnest money should I put down? |
I found my dream house and will make an offer tommorrow. How important is the earnest money? The house is vacant, so the seller is motivated. |
 |
 
thetoothfairyiscreepy
|
first of all, disregard what BUD says below...he is wrong!
the earnest money is not required with your offer, but you should offer as much as you possibly can, in order to let the seller know you are serious about purchasing. you need a realtor, if you don't have one already. in your offer, make sure you state that it is contingent upon financing, a home inspection, & be sure to purchase a home warranty if the buyer doesn't provide one.
if the offer is accepted, and you cannot meet the above contingincies, such as your financing wouldn't go thru, or the home inspection showed major problems (with plumbing, heat/AC, etc), then you can easily void the contract and have your earnest money returned.
and, if everything goes well and you DO purchase your dream home, at closing the earnest money you put down will be credited back to you--basically, whatever you give as earnest money will be applied toward the amount of cash to bring to closing. say you need to bring $2500 for closing costs, and you put down $1,000 deposit, then you will really only need $1500.
also remember though, you are "buying" a bit of the seller's market time with the earnest money. the more you put down, the more serious you appear about buying the home.
and, if you back out because you change your mind, or decide you found something better, don't expect to recieve the earnest money back. if you change your mind and decide not to purchase this home when you have a contract, you breach your contract and teh seller can seek damages from you, and withhold your earnest money.
good luck with your dream home! have a great independence day! |
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scarlett o'hara
|
I have bought three houses in 10 years ranging form 60k to 200k and never paid more than $500 down for earnest money. |
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sunyscott
 |
I'd avoid any property where the seller wanted more than a 3% deposit. I'd expect the range to be between $1000 and 3%. |
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charmer
|
normally it is 10% |
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bostonianinmo
 |
$500.00 is typical in the US. £500.00 is typical in the UK.
The usual contingencies will protect your earnest money -- inspection, mortgage, etc. -- so if the deal falls through for one of those reasons you'll get it all back. If you simply withdraw your offer or change your mind you will lose your earnest money.
The seller's motivation has nothing to do with the amount of earnest money that you put down. |
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BUD
 |
Do NOT put any earnest money down, so you realize that this is money that you can NOT re-coup if the deal falls through? it is not a wise decision unless you are pre-approved for a loan or something of the sort... You need to think this one over |
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Meadowlark
 |
$500 should be sufficient..no more |
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DAVID F E
 |
Ultimately this is a matter of agreement between buyer and seller.
The purpose of the earnest money is to assure the seller that the buyer won't waste the seller's time, with the house off the market while the sale is processed.
I never put down more than $1000 --- though last house I bought was ten years ago.
I have been asked for 20 percent "down payment" from an agent who didn't know what she was doing---that was before offer was accepted and any closing date was set.
If the buyer is motivated, a reasonable amount of earnest money is likely to be accepted--I shouldn't think more than $5000 for a $300,000 house, taking into account inflation since my personal experience--but that is my opinion.
You might try making a phone call to a couple of real estate agents to find out what current practice is in your area.
As a buyer, you can always go to another agent if you think the agent you are dealing with is "sticky". The agent almost always is the agent of the seller and not the buyer so you owe him or her nothing. |
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Erica
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When I worked in a real estate office, people would usually give from $500-$1000. They may require more in a different state. I was working in Idaho then. |
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