Purchaser deposit on an Existing home
 

My plan is to purchase an existing home in TV. I will offer all cash with few or no contingencies. In Northwest Virginia, such an offer is typically accompanied by a good faith deposit of about $1,000. I assume it would be higher in TV and that the agent or realtor would like it to be as high as possible- the number and type of contingencies might have an effect also.
For any who have bought an existing home in TV, what amount of deposit was requested, offered by you, negotiated or finally accepted. Many thanks.

10k on $260k house. No contingencies. We did do an inspection on a two year old house. They found that the food disposer was noisy. It was replaced.

As a seller, I would not accept any offer without at least $10,000 in earnest money. The money is held in escrow by a third party, not by the seller or by the real estate agent. If you only offer $1,000, the seller needs to take the house off of the market until closing, which can be from 30 to 60 days, even for a cash sale. Not a good deal for the seller. I would suggest that you at least include an inspection contingency, and do a professional inspection of the house. Don't expect to get a better deal just because you are paying cash.

Would never buy a house without a detailed inspection

As a seller who had a deal go sideways I would not take a deposit of more than 7,000.

It's not because I am generous or a fool. It's because the distribution of a deposit, (typically held by a title company), if in dispute can be decided in small claims.

I bet you thought a title company would sort this out and you would be wrong. The title company will not nor will they do anything at all to help or guide you through this process. For this aspect of the transaction the title company exists only to enrich themselves through fees.

For the seller and buyer's protection, keep this in the realm of the small claims court which will not cost you significant legal fees

No, FYI, and don't forget to have that inspector check the irrigation system.
My system is screw up from day one with capped lines going nowhere, and 4-6 sprinkler
heads leaking.

An interesting view. My understanding, I think the op used the term deposit. I think the proper term is earnest money. Basically, put your money where your mouth is.

A CASH offer means they are paying CASH, the seller does not need to be concerned the buyer will be able to qualify for a mortgage. One less potential stumble.

Strangely, I've sold two and bought two in my lifetime. Both sales were for CASH.
One bought for CASH and then asked we wait months for her CD to mature-THAT IS NOT CASH AND I TOLD HER SO. The other was CASH-A CERTIFIED BANK CHECK. It does get complex. A person can stop payment on a bank check-THAT IS NOT CASH EITHER.

A home is likely the most expensive thing most people will ever buy. Not everyone is honest. I make $$$$$$$$$$ oh last year and the year before that were slow years oh and that bankruptcy-forgot about that. Approved mortgage, often it means less than people think. If, what he TOLD US, is true we will give him a mortgage AFTER WE SPEND THE MONEY TO CHECK IF WHAT HE TOLD US IS TRUE.

We sold our previous mortgage paid off home and bought in the villages. I could have paid CASH but, took a mortgage 3.5%. I invested that money and got 12-15% on it over the past ten years and I'm not looking to sell but our villages home would sell for roughly twice what we paid for it. I do think the world is nuts. We read the average age in the villages is 70. They cannot deny you a 30 year mortgage because you are 70 frankly the same is true if you are 90.

RISK? Yes, everything we do has risk.

Everybody need to justify their fee. Food disposer noisy? The seller probably figured cost like $100, not worth fighting about-heck with it. Could well be one of the lookers wanted to see what would happen if they ?????????????????

From what I'm told, the VA loans operate like that, no age limit and can get a mortage
for most of the original cost of the house.

1K "Good Faith" is an Oxymoron
 

$1K is so yesterday. Plan on anywhere from $10K to 10% non refundable escrow with a 30 day close with a cash offer

I wouldn't take a house off the market for 1K...even if it was a cash deal....10K, okay

My experience is to offer a very substantial deposit ,8-10 thousand and a fair offer if you want to really buy. Everybody will give a thousand deposit, yours separates you from the rest .

You absolutely need to call Ira Miller and allow him to represent you in this transaction. He is not only an agent specializing in this location, but also will do a free video for you, fix small things for you, and make sure you do things when you are supposed to do them.

Ira Miller
 

I'll be selling my house soon. Who is Ira Miller, does he have a title? Do you have contact numbers? Thanks!

I paid $5000. It depends on price of property. Nowadays $10,000 sounds right.

A customer of mine sold a Grandview (3400sq ft premier) through Properties of The Villages about two years ago for 1.45 million. Earnest money(deposit) was $200,000 and if the deal went south the “Realty company “ kept half. It closed

Do you plan on using a Realtor, or do you plan on making a cash offer directly to a owner bypassing a realtor. Your not buying a used car your making a large purchase and planning to pay cash / bank check. Personally I used The Villages Realty took out a small mortgage especially with the interest rates so low. Closed in 30 days and everything went real smooth. Paying all cash only benefits the Seller if they are looking for a fast deal. But Really, I closed in 30 days and thats with getting a mortgage. Make certain you have a HOME INSPECTION done and remember location is everything.

We just bought an existing home in TV thru an MLS. We financed for investment reasons, but we were prequalified with our bank. Something they require to even make an offer.
House was 300K and we had to give them $5000 in earnest money. They accepted a personal check from us.

We had to put down 10k when we bought in The Villages.

First house was an MLS listing and we paid $5000. deposit. We made a cash offer and were buying sight unseen. (I know, right? Live and learn). We thought a cash offer was pretty cool, and would give us some leverage - but it is not a big deal in the Villages.
Second house we bought from the Villages and they required 10%, which was hefty. Unless you are buying a brand new home get it inspected and make sure any exterior changes to the home were approved by the Architectural Review Committee, including landscaping. Best of luck.

Down payment
 

I’m buying a villa put 10,000. Down.Realtor said 10,000,15,000,20,000 or 25,000.
Market is still hot so if you like it better jump on it .Good luck on your shopping.

Possible Scammer
 

There is no 'Northwest Virginia'. It would be 'Northern Virginia'. Look at a map. Virginia comes to a point in the north.

If you live in Big Stone Gap or Wise, Virginia, That is in the western part of Virginia and the northern part of that area. Where you're talking about is in the NORTHEAST part of Virginia.
:shocked::shocked::1rotfl:

Buying home with cash
 

You could post on next door the house model and location you are interested in and buy directly from the homeowner. I used Tri County to do my closing. For a fee they will write your contract. I lowered my price 5% when I sold directly. It was an easy cash closing. We closed in 15 days.

deposit
 

I think 10k is more typical. Few Contingencies? Not really a thing. Either there is a contingency or none. Homes are selling fast here in TV. If you see one you like in a village you like scoop it up. Otherwise spec out a new one.
And one more thing. Welcome

Typically, a $10,000 deposit.

My realtor told me good faith was 10%. That was $46,000. I wanted a lawyer to read the contract first.

Thank you for sharing your stories and advice. Very much appreciated. I will continue to monitor future replies as well.

Typically, as a buyer, you don't have a real estate agent. The agent works for the seller. You can make an offer with any earnest money amount that you want. In The Villages, $46,000 would be unusually high for a house that is less than $500K.

10 k is the new normal.

We purchased a month before the pandemic hit, put 10K down with an inspection required.

I had to leave a $20,000 at contract signing. Whatever you put down make sure everything is contingent on the inspection. Also, if you really want the house it shouldn't make a difference if you leave $10K, $15K or $20K since you will be paying for the house in 30 days anyway. These days some buyers back out and sellers of hot properties want to make sure that's not going to happen to them. This is what happened to the home we just bought. Good for us that the previous purchaser backed out so we were able to get the house but the seller wanted more ernest money from us and i was OK with that because the sale was contingent on the inspection which went fine. The only thing is to make sure the inspector checks the irregation system and look carefully for signs of a previous water leak or flood,VERY important. Before the inspection i would also drive by the house at different times in the day and or evening to make sure you don't have any "crazy" neighbors or other obvious neighbor issues that you may not like.

I closed in September 2019 and placed a deposit of $10,000. I closed on the house in 30 days, had an inspection and had a real estate lawyer review all documents. This is the single largest purchase for most people. You don't want to be surprised after you own the house.

I have a home for sale. Forsalebyowner 204 del rio drive. Check it out!!

Interesting responses for sure. For the most part of these replies, the figure that is mentioned $10,000. No where is there a requirement to put down any money but it is a good practice to put down something that is reasonable between both parties. I would gamble to say your realtor came up with this figure as it is the normal amount all realtors in TV throw out unless you are buying a very expensive house in the $1,000,000 and above. Then it is about 10% of the value but there is no set amount. In fact I questioned my realtor about this for TV and he said what many of the above answers revealed. In TN, MS, IN, and several other states I have purchased houses, the % was 2. I put down $5k here, all cash deal, and closed in 21 days. That was a 1.5 years ago. Don’t just take these opinions to heart as they are opinions and not a law. You are normally in the driver’s seat and can judge how quickly the house is in demand. Mine here had another offer and they took ours.

They offered 2k I countered with 10% which amounted to 50k. They accepted without question.

No Payment Up Fron
 

Anyone demanding payment up front falls into 2 categories. They are either frauds or they are lousy business managers. In either case, don't deal with them.

$10,000 each for 3 transactions in the villages. It wasn't negotiable

Typical as a sellers agent, I tell the seller don’t get hung up on the deposit. First the seller requires the buyer to demonstrate proof of funds. If the deal does go south for any reason, the buyer is not going to purchase. The deposit is held in escrow until the buyer and seller sign a mutual release. The advice I offer my seller, are you willing to take the house off the market while you litigate? If the buyer cannot purchase, what judge will make the buyer go through with the purchase. I know it’s contract law. Are you willing to tie up your house for months or years in litigation? Give the buyer back the money, and let’s move forward with another buyer. The size of the earnest money is immaterial. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking with it.

Wrong thread...