Earnest Money
Anyone with their finger on the pulse of Texas real estate knows that we are in the midst of a hot seller’s market. Anxious buyers are making generous offers in a desperate attempt to buy a home. However, an offer well over the asking price is not always enough to win the right to buy…
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When someone is buying a house, there is a deadline in which to deliver their earnest money to the title company. And they’d better not miss it. We don’t care if it’s too hot outside, they overslept, or the dog ate their homework. A deadline is a deadline. A buyer has three days to deposit…
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By Lydia Blair Special Contributor Business conflicts always seem to revolve around money. It’s no surprise that some of the worst disputes we see at title companies are over earnest money: Who wants it. Who is entitled to it. Who thinks they’re entitled to it. Etcetera. It can get uglier than avocado appliances and shag carpet.…
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By Lydia Blair Special Contributor When putting a contract on a property, a buyer can usually expect to write two checks to accompany their contract — an option fee check and an earnest money check. There is no strict rule about how much each of these checks must be. The amount of this up-front money…
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By Lydia Blair Special Contributor The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) recently updated the standard residential contracts to now address policies regarding deposits of earnest monies. These changes become mandatory May 15, 2018. On the first page of the newly updated Texas contracts, it states that “Within 3 days after the Effective Date, Buyer must deliver $___…
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