Real Estate Term: Earnest Money
Posted by | Posted in Mortgage, Real Estate | Posted on 15-10-2008
When a purchase agreement is signed between a buyer and a seller, the buyer is asked for some amount of money to be paid up front. This amount will be placed in a trust account. This deposit is known as “earnest money.”
The buyer and seller can negotiate the actual amount of earnest money. The amount may differ among contracts. It could be as low as $500 or possibly as high as 10% of the purchase price.
Some factors that can influence earnest money amounts include:
*Seller psychology: an uncertain seller may request more earnest money
*Market conditions: a stronger market may result in more earnest money
*Buyer economics: first time buyers may be asked for less earnest money
This particular financial transaction is a confirmation made in “good faith” by the buyer to show that he intends to complete the agreement. How much or little is paid doesn’t matter.
If it should happen that, during the process, the buyer violates the terms of the purchase agreement or backs out of the deal, the earnest money can be kept by the seller. This does not occur much because, when the purchase agreement s are written , there are “escapes” for the buyer, called “contingencies” written into the original agreement.
A typical contingency is that the seller must provide a clean title policy to the buyer, or that the buyer must secure financing prior to given date, or that the home must pass a satisfactory inspection.
Earnest money will be returned to the buyer if any of the above contingencies cannot be met. Such failure with regard to the contingencies will void the contract.
When contingencies are met, however, earnest money becomes a deposit and is applied directly to the buyer’s bottom line at settlement. If the buyer is expected to have $50,0000 for the closing, for example, the true bottom line is $50,000 minus the earnest money deposit.
Earnest money customs vary from state to state, city to city, and even locale to locale. Be sure to ask your real estate agent and/or real estate attorney for professional counsel before signing purchase contracts. The earnest money you save may be your own.
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