As part of an offer I presented the other night, I included the world’s smallest earnest money check.
Not the amount — there’s not much chance of consummating a deal when the Buyer’s earnest money is infinitesimal.
Rather, the check I delivered was literally tiny.
My client didn’t haven’t their checkbook with them when we met to write the offer, so they sent me a scanned version of it via email later that night.
In the process of scanning it, the check somehow got reduced to about 20% of its actual size.
P.S.: it’s customary for Realtors to include a photocopy of the Buyer’s earnest money check as a placeholder for the real thing.
Once (if?) terms are reached, the actual check is due — and quickly deposited into the trust account of the listing agent’s Broker.
By convention, the earnest money is typically 2% – 5% of the purchase price, but generally tops out at $20k or so even on a bigger deal.
