When Dealing With Out Of Town Owners...how
do you guys handle earnest money? I can see how the contract can be filled out (ie. fax machine), but I' m a little confused about the exchange of money.
any help would be great.
Murphy
What you would want to do is give it to the title company. They can hold it in escrow for you until the time of closing. That is the best way to do it. You usually don't want to give it directly to the seller, but if you do, MAKE SURE IT IS IN A CHECK. You always want a paper trail. And if you do give to seller in check, make sure you get a receipt.
Use an attorney, escrow or title co.
Have the escrow holder issue a letter.
It depends, usually if I'm only giving the seller $10 or $20 I'll just send a check, then have them sign saying they recieved it.
If earnest money is a big thing to the seller and he or she wants more than $100, then yea put it in escrow somewhere.
JB
[addsig]
I have all money sent to my lawyer and it is held in trust with him till closing.