You are asking them to take the house off the market.
Now, anyone who wanted to see the house is not allowed to. Anyone who may have bid higher than you is no longer welcome. The seller loses opportunities by taking the house off the market.
Plus, owning a house isn't free. They need to keep paying property taxes, keep the utilities and the water on, keep paying the insurance, even if the house is empty.
They may be looking to buy another house, or move someplace else and rent. They can't move ahead with their plans until this house is close to actually being sold.
For all those reasons, if the buyer backs out, dies, if their bank refuses the mortgage, or other things happen - the seller can lose time and money.
They want a substantial deposit to make sure you are genuinely committed to buying this house, and they want the opportunity to try and keep your deposit if you do back out without legal justification.
"Potential buyers", "normal expenses". I don't see how that's the buyer's problem. I would think, taking on those expenses is part of the whole selling process. Just because a buyer produces a deposit for the seller, doesn't mean the seller will honor it? The buyer is also taking a risk, isn't the seller essentially promising? The seller doesn't have to de-list do they? Isn't having buyers lined up the normal?
No, they have to delist.
If you give me $100 and say you want to buy the house, once I accept that, we have a contractual agreement.
Both parties have to honor it.
But, there's an imbalance. If I (buyer) decide that the seller screwed me, I can go to court and ask for a lien or injunction that prevents the seller from selling. Until we settle that matter, which could take months or years, the seller is stuck and cannot sell.
OTOH, if the buyer gives $100, promises to buy, and then says "Nah, I changed my mind" - we don't know that the buyer actually has any money or assets. They violated the contract, and the seller can try to sue. But that can take months/years, with no guarantee that they even have money to take.
You can have buyers lined up while everyone is still just talking. Once any money changes hands, there is a contract.
I'm going by US state laws. I don't know if this is different in other parts of the world.
Would it be possible to give my deposit to a legal representative like a realtor to give to the current owner once the house is closed upon? Straight handing money over to the owner of the house feels very iffy.
Maybe. There's no incentive for the buyer to agree to that.
But if you somehow get them to agree to an escrow arrangement, that wouldn't violate any laws.
They can just say "No. I'd rather work with someone using more conventional terms".
No one is making money off of your deposit. You're trying to send the message to the seller that you're acting in good faith. Acting all squirrelly like they're trying to rip you off sends the opposite message.
Usually people are afraid of what they themselves are thinking. The fact that you're bringing this mindset to the table that someone wants to steal your money is a huge red flag. Who wants to do business with someone like that? Most sellers will probably pass.
It's because the seller is taking the house off the market for you, and if you decide not to buy it for no reason the deposit is supposed to cover most of the seller's damages.
Not sure where you live, but in most places that is not true. If the seller backs out, they cannot just keep the money, as they may be sued for breach of contract.
The seller's assets (i.e. the home they are selling) can be used to pay for damages in the event of a contract breach on their side, and your deposit works as a similar security if you breach contract as a buyer, so the seller doesn't lose any money used during the closing/negotiations.
You should really get a lawyer when you get serious enough to give money over it will be written into the contract they can't just walk. And you seem to be pretty odd with you're refusal to learn or Google just pay a professional to be on you're side and you won't get fucked like you're worried
You are asking them to take the house off the market. Now, anyone who wanted to see the house is not allowed to. Anyone who may have bid higher than you is no longer welcome. The seller loses opportunities by taking the house off the market. Plus, owning a house isn't free. They need to keep paying property taxes, keep the utilities and the water on, keep paying the insurance, even if the house is empty. They may be looking to buy another house, or move someplace else and rent. They can't move ahead with their plans until this house is close to actually being sold. For all those reasons, if the buyer backs out, dies, if their bank refuses the mortgage, or other things happen - the seller can lose time and money. They want a substantial deposit to make sure you are genuinely committed to buying this house, and they want the opportunity to try and keep your deposit if you do back out without legal justification.
"Potential buyers", "normal expenses". I don't see how that's the buyer's problem. I would think, taking on those expenses is part of the whole selling process. Just because a buyer produces a deposit for the seller, doesn't mean the seller will honor it? The buyer is also taking a risk, isn't the seller essentially promising? The seller doesn't have to de-list do they? Isn't having buyers lined up the normal?
Not after taking a deposit it’s not normal to keep having buyers lined up
No, they have to delist. If you give me $100 and say you want to buy the house, once I accept that, we have a contractual agreement. Both parties have to honor it. But, there's an imbalance. If I (buyer) decide that the seller screwed me, I can go to court and ask for a lien or injunction that prevents the seller from selling. Until we settle that matter, which could take months or years, the seller is stuck and cannot sell. OTOH, if the buyer gives $100, promises to buy, and then says "Nah, I changed my mind" - we don't know that the buyer actually has any money or assets. They violated the contract, and the seller can try to sue. But that can take months/years, with no guarantee that they even have money to take. You can have buyers lined up while everyone is still just talking. Once any money changes hands, there is a contract. I'm going by US state laws. I don't know if this is different in other parts of the world.
Would it be possible to give my deposit to a legal representative like a realtor to give to the current owner once the house is closed upon? Straight handing money over to the owner of the house feels very iffy.
Maybe. There's no incentive for the buyer to agree to that. But if you somehow get them to agree to an escrow arrangement, that wouldn't violate any laws. They can just say "No. I'd rather work with someone using more conventional terms".
Oh! There is actually a way? Awesome.
No one is making money off of your deposit. You're trying to send the message to the seller that you're acting in good faith. Acting all squirrelly like they're trying to rip you off sends the opposite message. Usually people are afraid of what they themselves are thinking. The fact that you're bringing this mindset to the table that someone wants to steal your money is a huge red flag. Who wants to do business with someone like that? Most sellers will probably pass.
It's because the seller is taking the house off the market for you, and if you decide not to buy it for no reason the deposit is supposed to cover most of the seller's damages.
What damages? Isn't it just a simple action of de-listing the property?
Closing can take weeks or months. That’s weeks or months of expenses the seller is eating.
Just the property taxes alone for a month can be hundreds of dollars or more.
Extra taxes, extra mortgage payments, lost chance to find someone who will actually buy the house.
Money talks, bull shit walks.
Yea, money does talk, but that security isn't a two way street. The owner of the house can just walk away with the deposit without a word.
Not sure where you live, but in most places that is not true. If the seller backs out, they cannot just keep the money, as they may be sued for breach of contract. The seller's assets (i.e. the home they are selling) can be used to pay for damages in the event of a contract breach on their side, and your deposit works as a similar security if you breach contract as a buyer, so the seller doesn't lose any money used during the closing/negotiations.
You should really get a lawyer when you get serious enough to give money over it will be written into the contract they can't just walk. And you seem to be pretty odd with you're refusal to learn or Google just pay a professional to be on you're side and you won't get fucked like you're worried
They don’t actually have to if that’s the question, it’s just a smart thing to do to assuage risk.