{"id":13000,"date":"2010-08-14T21:59:35","date_gmt":"2010-08-15T04:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=13000"},"modified":"2010-09-01T14:40:34","modified_gmt":"2010-09-01T21:40:34","slug":"innovation-now-ive-stopped-taking-buyers-checks-for-earnest-money-but-now-i-want-to-stop-worrying-about-wire-transfers-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/13000\/innovation-now-ive-stopped-taking-buyers-checks-for-earnest-money-but-now-i-want-to-stop-worrying-about-wire-transfers-too\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovation now: I’ve stopped taking buyer’s checks for earnest money, but now I want to stop worrying about wire transfers, too."},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m living much of my time right now with my nose pressed right up against one tool or another — listings, DocuSign, the steering wheel, et endlessly cetera. That’s cool, we need the dough, and we can’t make it rain hard enough, fast enough. But by this point I have no idea if something I’m doing is an innovation or not. I’m just dancing as fast as I can.<\/p>\n

This topic just came up, and I’m passing it along because I haven’t done that here yet. I know this because I hadn’t done it with my wife and business partner until just now.<\/p>\n

Here’s the scoop: I’ve all but stopped taking earnest checks. I’m having almost all of my buyers wire their earnest money deposits directly into title. I never touch anyone’s else’s money — the only known way a real estate broker can be assured of escaping imprisonment.<\/p>\n

But that’s not my reason for coming to do things this way. I used to take the check, made out to Chicago or Fidelity or whatever, then schlep it around while I waited for the contract to be executed. Not fun but not onerous — just inefficient.<\/p>\n

By now, I do a lot of REOs as rental home investments for out-of-state buyers. I don’t know the name of the title company when we write the contract, and the buyer is back home by the time we need to deposit the funds.<\/p>\n

I don’t even talk about checks any longer. I tell the buyer how things work and that I will have title email wiring instructions when we’re ready to rock. Totally transparent, totally arm’s-length, and no one involved in the process says boo.<\/p>\n

If the lister is a little too adamant about receiving a PDF of a fax of a scan of a photocopy of a useless check, I will add language like this: “Seller is aware that Buyer will deposit Earnest Money by wire transfer into Title Company, to be determined by Seller, within one business day after Seller’s final acceptance of this Purchase Contract and any incorporated addenda.” (Reminder: I am not your broker.)<\/p>\n

It’s the perfect Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m living much of my time right now with my nose pressed right up against one tool or another — listings, DocuSign, the steering wheel, et endlessly cetera. That’s cool, we need the dough, and we can’t make it rain hard enough, fast enough. But by this point I have no idea if something I’m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[212,379,6,5,19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-flourishing","7":"category-innovation","8":"category-marketing","9":"category-real-estate","10":"category-technology","12":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5393,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/5393\/social-media-and-what-matters\/","url_meta":{"origin":13000,"position":0},"title":"Social Media And What Matters","author":"Jeff Brown","date":"November 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Here we are again. There's a few Social Media (SM) venues that have real estate folks all agog. Between Facebook (FB), Linkedin (LI), and Twitter (T), you'd think agents all over the country have had their careers rescued by the magical powers of SM. Let's find out, OK? I preface\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10548,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/10548\/the-twelve-days-of-iphone-apps-turning-your-phone-into-a-real-estate-agents-pocket-powerhouse\/","url_meta":{"origin":13000,"position":1},"title":"The twelve days of iPhone apps: Turning your phone into a real estate agent’s pocket powerhouse","author":"Greg Swann","date":"December 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"All right: So: Let's start in the middle. First, we have four cell phones among the two of us. We have the two spares in case we need to put a phone in the pocket of a subcontractor. We keep a close eye on the folks who work with us,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Innovation"","block_context":{"text":"Innovation","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/innovation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1225,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/1225\/rocking-the-boat-for-fun-and-profit-introducing-morgan-brown\/","url_meta":{"origin":13000,"position":2},"title":"Rocking the boat for fun and profit: Introducing Morgan Brown","author":"Greg Swann","date":"March 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"We're adding another contributor this morning: Morgan Brown, a lender from Orange County: Morgan Brown is a mortgage banker and broker in Irvine, CA. He enjoys reading and blogging, and he is on a personal mission to change the public perception of the mortgage industry through honesty -- even if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":75,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/75\/the-importance-of-bearing-earnest\/","url_meta":{"origin":13000,"position":3},"title":"The importance of bearing earnest…","author":"Greg Swann","date":"July 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Me, in today's Arizona Republic:Here's a complicated question: How much money should you put down as an earnest deposit on the purchase of a home?You'll find a more permanent link on the BloodhoundRealty.com News and Views page.","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":660,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/660\/dual-agency-smack-down-real-estate-in-real-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":13000,"position":4},"title":"Dual Agency Smack-Down: Real estate in real life . . .","author":"Greg Swann","date":"February 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Kicking this back up to the top. I wrote this on November 19th, 2006, but nothing has changed since then. But, as it happens, our friends at Agent Shortbus have taken up the topic of dual agency, albeit without reference to anything rigorous or dispositive. We have a whole category\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dual Agency"","block_context":{"text":"Dual Agency","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/dual-agency\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13210,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/13210\/barcamps-trust-us-itll-be-worth-trashin-your-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":13000,"position":5},"title":"BarCamps — Trust Us — It’ll Be Worth Trashin’ Your Day?","author":"Jeff Brown","date":"September 25, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"First of all, I generally like and support the concept of RE BarCamps. I attended the first one, held in San Francisco a few years ago. Before making plans to attend, I knew about who would teach what, in loose terms. 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