How much down at time of contract?

What is the average amount or %?

Re: How much down at time of contract?

It basically just needs to be meaningful to show that you're a serious buyer. We were putting 20% down on the house, so we initially offered 10% down at contract. However, at the time we were signing our contract, our lawyer re-negotiated a little less - 6.25% because that was still a substantial amount of money. The sellers were fine with it, though we would've been willing to put the full 10% down.

Re: How much down at time of contract?

For the initial offer on a home 400,000 and below I would expect $500 for a second deposit $10,000.

For an initial offer on a home between 400,000-800,000 I would expect $1,000 and a second deposit of $20,000.

Both would then have the remainder brought to the closing in the attorney escrow account.

Re: How much down at time of contract?

Our purchase price was 407,000 and we were asked for $20,000 at contract.

How much down at time of contract?

We put half our down payment. Our down payment was about 25% of the purchase price. So about $35k. We were serious and had no intention of backing out. We also had already had the home inspection done and had no concerns about financing.

Re: How much down at time of contract?

Thank you all for replying.

Re: How much down at time of contract?

my house was $380K

I gave $19K at signing

but I have asked for clients to give less on signing- as long as both parties agree it fine

How much down at time of contract?

This is really tough for me to answer as we had an issue with a good faith deposit in about 2006, when the market was pretty tough. We didnt put a huge amount done. The seller did not come through with any of the contracted requests- fixing plumbing, the pool, some other things. The final walk thru showed even more problems. That was after about 1/2 hr of fighting just to get in the house (seller wouldnt let us in). We later found out that they didnt have the money, they were broke and that is why they were selling the house.
At closing, we said that we couldnt buy the house in the condition it was in.
We had to take them to court to get the deposit back (out of escrow), and they argued that they had spent all this $ to move to their rental (deposit, etc). The judge split it in half. Looking back, our lawyer didnt fight enough either.

That being said, thank god it wasn't more $$!

Message edited 10/13/2014 3:37:38 PM.

Re: How much down at time of contract?

Re: How much down at time of contract?

It's a negotiable issue. Obviously the buyer wants to put down as little as possible at signing and the seller wants the buyer to put a lot down... Each wants to minimize their risk! A. lot depends on the seller's attorney. Most attorneys want at least $10,000 down in my experience.

It's common to split up the down payment half and half, so if you are putting 10 percent down, you might put 5 percent down in contract. If you are buying a high priced home, or putting down a large percentage of the price in cash, then you may want to put less down (e.g. It's standard for an all cash buyer to put 10 percent down, not half the purchase price). Likewise, if someone is an FHA buyer putting the minimum down on a lower priced property, it's not uncommon to put it all down on contract (helps make the offer competitive against others with perhaps better terms).

Honestly, as a buyer, I wouldn't make it a deal breaker. You can try to put down as little as possible, but if the seller or seller's attorney asks for more, remember that there are usually contingencies in the contract that protect you (mortgage contingency, seller has to deliver clear title, seller must warranty that electrical and plumbing works, and roof is free from leaks). If you have specific concerns, I am sure your attorney can advise you and out your mind at ease!

Re: How much down at time of contract?

When I represent the seller, I try to get 5% of the purchase price at the time of contract.

When I represent the buyer, I usually negotiate it down to a sum that's not 5% but that's not chump change either so that the seller knows its earnest money.

In your case, I would try to negotiate down to $10K. We put down about 15% of the total purchase price when we went to contract.

Re: How much down at time of contract?

our lawyer only "allowed" us to put 5K deposit, explaining if something went wrong XYZ. we were willing to put half , or 10% but didn't

How much down at time of contract?

We were asked to put the full down payment