How Much Earnest Money?
The size of the earnest money deposit is up to you. Real estate agents will sometimes outright lie, and tell you it is this or that amount, or this or that percentage of the offering price. In reality, you can write the offer with a one dollar deposit if you wish, and agent still has to present the offer. Naturally, an offer with one dollar of earnest money may not be taken seriously, and the agent may even persuade the seller to reject your offer. It is a good idea to ask what the local norm is. We just bought a house in Colorado, and the agent told us that a $1,000 deposit was normal. Had he said $5,000 was normal, however, I still would have given a deposit of just $1,000. That is enough to be serious in my mind. You can also do a two-part deposit. You can make an offer with just $100 in earnest money, for example, but specify in the offer that this will be increased to $2,000 once the offer is accepted, or once when an inspection, appraisal or other contingency is met. This keeps y
