Question:
“How much should my deposit be? And if they accept my offer but the home doesn’t pass the inspection, do I get my deposit back?”
Answer:
A decent deposit is 1% of the offered price. If you want to show the seller you’re serious (that’s why it’s called an “earnest” money deposit) you might make your deposit 3% of the price.
Do you get your deposit back if the house doesn’t “pass” inspection?
First of all, there’s no universal standard to pass or fail a home inspection. It’s between you, your inspector, and your Realtor whether you decide if the home is in satisfactory condition.
As to the question, if you deliver your objection to the condition to the seller’s agent within the “inspections and investigations” contingency time frame you and the seller agreed in the contract, you will get your deposit back.
To answer your question completely, let’s quickly go over how you get your deposit back.
Your deposit will likely already be in escrow by this time. And escrow is a neutral third party that can only take action based on mutual instructions from you and the seller, or a court or arbitration order.
99.9% of sellers will tell escrow to release your deposit if you object within the time frame. For that .1% who won’t, you’d have to go to mediation, arbitration, or small claims court. But that’s rare, so I wouldn’t worry about it.
