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.