Earnest Money Deposit: Method of Payment

1. check
2. with signature of contract
3. sure if the sellers agree

thanks! that's exactly what I needed

1% interest on the first $10,000, eh?

Usually 10% down when contract is signed-goes into escrow account. If you change your mind, you lose 10%. Can be multiple checks, but they may have to be certified checks. At closing cks have to be certified.

Who dictates whether the checks need to be certified or not, is it negotiable? Also if I need an extra week to shift the money around to be in a place that can issue a CC, is that possible?

I just started to realize this problem. Many bank accounts have $10k transfer limits PER MONTH. I believe wire transfer is outside of this limit though

Ten, seriously? Half that would be a little tough to get past a co-op board. You might want to start consolidating now, unless you plan to buy a condo.

ali r.
DG Neary Realty

Yes thanks, my point was that this needs to be thought in advance not that only $10k can be made available.

It would take more time to do certified check for me, so can anyone shed some light on whether EMD needs to be certified funds and/or who this is dictated by?

I didn't know Cypress had ten different banks.

Or Cyprus, for that matter.

EMD does not need to be certified.

awesome I should be fine then, there will be plenty of time until closing, and given that EMD is already basically half of my downpayment it's not a big deal to fund the other half via certified

huh? what banks are you using??? I've transferred $50k between accounts a number of times. Are you using accounts based abroad???

"huh? what banks are you using??? I've transferred $50k between accounts a number of times. Are you using accounts based abroad???"

Me too; this should be easier. There are only two things that I can think of that are different about transfers over $10k: one is that the IRS will be notified. When I moved $30k from overseas to the US, my bank called me and asked about the purpose of the transfer. I said something about "repatriation of savings" and that was that.

The other is that a bank I once dealt with had such a limit for online transfers until you made a special request to be allowed to transfer more. It was a fraud-prevention thing; you made the request; they sent you a little card with a table of numbers on it, and then when you got back online, you were asked to input the contents of cell D5, A2, F1 (or whatever) and you could then raise your online transfer limit to whatever you liked.

All my accounts are based in the US.

These are transfer limits that are clearly stated by my banks. Citibank has a 100k/100k (daily/monthly) incoming transfer limit, and 2/10 outgoing. In other words I can transfer in 100k but only transfer out 10k EVERY MONTH from citibank. This is for all citibank accounts so I doubt I'm the first one to have heard of this. CapitalOne's limits are 10/25 each for outgoing and incoming.

Thus, in order to pool together 100k is not easily done when these are the limits, hence my question. That said, I am pretty sure wire transfers do not fall under this limit, you just have to pay the fee.

Interesting how C0lumbia C0unty our fraudster is so quickly drawn to a thread about earnest money. OP - watch your wallet.

My only experience has been buying three apartments over the years both co op and condo and in each case, I just wrote a regular check for the 10% deposit. At closing I had to have cashier/bank checks for the remainder of the deposit but that didn't involve transferring money in and out. I just had to have the funds in the account at closing. So, basically you just need to transfer enough money into citi to be able to write the checks and you don't really need to concern yourself about transfers out since the seller wants a bank check. No transfer involved.

Great thanks I think it's pretty clear. I just need to prepare for closing but there is also lots of time for that.

You should also be able to wire the deposit money directly to the escrow account from wherever it is now without having to consolidate it first. If it is many banks, the fees may add up a bit but are likely to still be negligible compared to deposit amount.

I haven't encountered any transfer limitations at Citibank.

I had to transfer 150K from Citibank, and 350K from Chase for my closing.
Not a hitch when I did it. (done in person not online)

But they were bank checks made out to me so I guess it's technically not a transfer.

I just gave you your alternative way.
Make bank checks payable to yourself and deposit them in the one account you make the one bank check from for your deposit.

That's right REMom - I haven't encountered any transfer restrictions at Cit. In fact, I just closed on my apt in Jan & the original deposit was approx $85K & the balance of the downpayment was definitely more than $100K. No questions asked. I did have to stand around at the branch for a few extra minutes so they could get all their approvals & multiple signatures. But that was it.

I meant Citibank

> I haven't encountered any transfer restrictions at Cit.

Bank transfer restrictions? Is this topic a late April 1st joke?

Good afternoon,

Your Attorney is the best person to guide you with regards both to the amount of the contract deposit (EMD) AND the method.

As a Loan Officer I prefer the Purchaser makes the EMD with a Cashier's Check or Certified Funds. This way I can get the loan approved and closed faster because I'm not sitting around waiting for the Seller's Attorney to deposit the EMD check and THEN waiting for my client to provide proof the check was cashed (cancelled check and source bank statement).

But I recently had a transaction where the Purchaser's Attorney advised against Certified Funds for EMD. In 23 years I've never heard of anything like his reasoning, but I deferred to his judgment because, hey, I'm only the Loan Officer.

I share this story with you to illustrate how each transaction can be different when it comes to your question. Ultimately you should be guided by your Attorney. I understand your concern about moving funds around, but that kinda sorta comes with the territory when you're purchasing a home.

All the best!

Trevor Curran
NMLS #40140
Mobile: 516-582-9181
Office: 516-829-2900
Fax: 516-829-2944
PowerHouse Solutions, Inc.
185 Great Neck Rd, Suite 240
Great Neck NY 11021
Licensed Mortgage Banker – NYS Dept. of Financial Services
NMLS#3528

*I include my full contact information because it's required by NYS regulations.