All Topics / Help Needed! / Deposits
Hi There,
Well we think we have finally found our first home….. very exciting. Did it through a letter box drop and out of approximately 250 houses targetted – this has been the one and only response and we've struck a deal.
My question lies in the payment of the deposit. On the contract they have put the name of the vendor as the entity to whom the deposit should be paid …… I was thinking this is not very secure. I thought a deposit went into "trust" or "escrow" or soemthing to that effect only to be released on settlement….
What can I do here? I am thinking that I will call the owner and tell them I would like to give the cheque to their solicitor in trust.
Whats the norm here guys ?
Thanks in advance
RyanBe Alert – The world needs more lerts
meatgroup wrote:Hi There,
Well we think we have finally found our first home….. very exciting. Did it through a letter box drop and out of approximately 250 houses targetted – this has been the one and only response and we've struck a deal.
My question lies in the payment of the deposit. On the contract they have put the name of the vendor as the entity to whom the deposit should be paid …… I was thinking this is not very secure. I thought a deposit went into "trust" or "escrow" or soemthing to that effect only to be released on settlement….
What can I do here? I am thinking that I will call the owner and tell them I would like to give the cheque to their solicitor in trust.
Whats the norm here guys ?
Thanks in advance
RyanBe Alert – The world needs more lerts
Not very safe to give any money to the Vendor directly ever. The usual procedure is the agent takes the deposit and places it into their trust account. They are called the "stakeholder" in the deal.
As you don't have an agent (well done!) the deposit should be deposited into either your solicitor's or the Vendor's solicitor's trust account, or you can open a joint account with the Vendor that needs 2 signatures to withdraw the money – yours and theirs. I don't know of anyone who has actually don eit this way though.No definitely don't give the money to the vendor. A solicitor's trust find is the way to go.
I agree. Give the money to the vendor’s solicitor.
I would have thought that the vendor as specified in the contract ought to be the owner of the property as recorded on the title.
If the vendor’s don’t have a solitior, give it to your solicitor to hold in trust for the vendor.
Cheers,
Steve McKnight | PropertyInvesting.com Pty Ltd | CEO
https://www.propertyinvesting.comSuccess comes from doing things differently
Does it make a difference if your deposit is non-refundable?
I guess it would if you don't get the house at settlement because the vendor has done a runner…
Kelly
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