OfflineAs someone who's starting out, I need to know how to avoid needing earnest money. The biggest reason is that I simply don't have it. I'm working on starting out with assignments. I've heard Matt Larson (I'm pretty sure that it was Matt) talk about offering only $1 for earnest money and that's great, but there seems to be much resistance to that from sellers & Realtors. Reading some of the other forums, even other DG family investors seem to believe that they have to come up with earnest money. What's the scoop? How does Matt do it with only $1 earnest money?
I'm determined to tackle obstacles as they present themselves, but I can't do it without the help of those in the know.
Thank you in advance to anyone who can shed some light on this.
~Martha
I'm new but I think when Matt talks about offering $1 dollar EM he is talking about to private owners. Usually when you are submitting an offer on a REO the bank will require $500-1000 EM.
I haven't really found away around this either.
http://www.ohhomebuyers.com
Thank you for your response. I'm focusing on private owners rather than REOs at this time. Still, eyebrows tend to rise at the suggestion of $1 EM....
From what I have gathered, it's the earnest money that makes this a binding contract - also if the FSBO raises his/her eyebrows at the $1..just kindly remind them that the money doesn't go to them but to an escrow account.
I am also fairly new at this so if I have mis-stated this, would someone please correct me.