OfflineI have heard from my agent that on EVERY offer that you place on a home in NJ, you must submit a deposit with each and every offer. How can someone just starting out possibly put in 25 offers when you have no money? POF is not enough, they want an actual check, before the offer is even accepted.
Any suggestions??
Amy
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Any suggestions would be great!
I'm not sure that sounds right, if they haven't accepted your offer how can they expect a deposit. Hopefully someone from NJ will post about this, I'm in NY so I don't have an answer. In NY they require a POF, nothing else until the offer is accepted.
Jean Maestre
The Maestre Property Group, LLC
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Hi,
Aside from finding another agent, try this.
Make a copy of a signed check-- no date, and don't fill it out.
Scan it. Send it to your agent. He/she should be able to work with that.
You should only have to submit a Cashier's Check for EMD once you have an accepted offer.
Never, Never, Never Quit, N3Q
"Nothing happens until you place an offer."
"Skip Deal #1, go straight to Deal #2; it's so much easier."
"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." — Peter F. Drucker... so, "Don't sweat the small stuff." -R.Carlson. "The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one."~E.Hubbard, The Note Book, 1927...so, Do it for the right reason and "Do it with a headache!" - Dean Graziosi, Weekly Wisdom #176
The "deposit" IS your earnest money...which isn't paid till you actually get an ACCEPTED offer...
Send your agent a "copy" of your earnest money check or have your lawyer hold it in escrow for you.
Write it to your lawyer, NEVER the seller. Or leave it blank as suggested above. I don't believe you need an EM check for EVERY offer. Whoever accepts an offer gets the check.
Tell your agent you will submit it ONCE an offer is accepted--sometimes your end buyer (investor) will pay the EM.
Work that out in the negotiation w/end buyer perhaps.
With Proof of Funds letter you should be able to make offers.
Read the Forum feeds here...about how to handle earnest money.
PS. Maybe find another agent...an investor-friendly one.
Happy Prospering! ~Kat, Liberty Residential Investment Acquisitions
• "To every thing there is a season, & a time to every purpose..." ~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
• "Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy!" ~Dale Carnegie
• "Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise." ~Horace
• "Never, never, never give up." ~Winston Churchill
• "Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it." ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I am moving on with a different agent. I met one this past Friday, and told her I want to close at least 3-4 deals a month, she was very excited to get on board with that. Let's hope she won't try to hold me to that every offer/a check deal. Will keep you posted on how this turns out!
In Ca. you have to give a deposit for ever offer as well and some real estate offices say you can not write several offers a week. I heard Matt Larson say you have 48 hrs to get the money in so I think if you have your buyers set up you can use there money. He also said that you have 14 days to back out, if this is true then if more then one happened on the same week and you didn't have enough buyers, you could back out and get your deposit back. One more thing I heard was if you have an interested buyer, perhaps he or she could give you an advance on your finders fee? This is exactly the conversation my husband and I were having yesterday, He is a realtor now and comes up with questions we didn't have before like what about the eoa insurance? Let me know how everyone works that out please and I will do the same as I cross that bridge.
Charisse
http://www.betterhomesnj.com/pdf/contract.pdf
Your agent is correct. Under 3a), the New Jersey Association of Realtors standard PSA calls for a deposit when signing the agreement and calls for an additional deposit by a specified date. Now, what your agent can do and still stay within the legalities they have to comply with under his/her license is up for debate. For instance, can you deposit $250 with your agent and write 25 offers with $10 being the initial deposit on each offer and $990 due in 21 days after acceptance of offer? Or, can you just write one $10 check and use it for 25 offers. Can you even use $10 or does it have to be more? There are certain guide lines your agent has to operate under, you just have to figure out what will work for you. You may also need to take a look at Number 4. I don't do business in NJ, so maybe someone who does business with realtors in NJ can better address this.
Wow! The process really varies from state to state, I see. Thanks for this information!
Happy Prospering! ~Kat, Liberty Residential Investment Acquisitions
• "To every thing there is a season, & a time to every purpose..." ~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
• "Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy!" ~Dale Carnegie
• "Begin, be bold, and venture to be wise." ~Horace
• "Never, never, never give up." ~Winston Churchill
• "Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it." ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I am in CA also and I submit MANY offers thru my agent. On the CAR (CA Assn of Realtors) offer form it actually gives you the choice of which to check regarding your deposit. There is an option that I have my REA mark that says I will submit my EMD three days after an accepted contract. (#3, Section A1)
Also, in CA, we actually have 17 days (instead of 14) to complete our inspections, etc (#14, B1)
If your RE office is putting a limit on the number of offers you put in, you need to get another agent/agency. I put in as many as 30 some days. No questions asked. And no EMD.
Karen
"You're never too old to be what you were meant to be!"
www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/59128/day-for...
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I just spoke with a NJ real estate attorney who said that I DO NOT have to provide a check with each offer. As long as I provide POF, that is sufficient, but once the offer is accepted then a deposit must be provided.
Thanks for everyone's input! This is how we all learn!
Amy