booking deposit

[jamie1999]

have been renting a house for 5 years and have agreed to buy from owner,we acquired approval a few months ago,but need to re submit statements etc.In the meantime the property owner is looking for a booking deposit A.S.A.P.We have the funds in place to pay the booking deposit .Should I pay now?The house is not on the market just private sale between owner and tennant.Who will I be paying this deposit too?

 

[pinkyBear]

At this stage you should get your solicitor involved as he/she will start getting the ball rolling with respect to contracts and receipting the deposit..

 

[juke]

His solicitor. Absolutely not to him. If you send it yourself, you should say it is a booking deposit to be held by his solicitor "as stakeholder". Mark the letter "Subject to Contract/Contract Denied". Otherwise ask your solicitor to send it.

That way, if before you sign contracts and for whatever reason decide not to go ahead, it will be refunded.

 

[Paulone]

I thought a booking deposit was a refundable, but not unsubstantial amount payable to an EA in order to secure 'sale agreed' status? In my experience it was a sum paid pending the survey and other preliminaries, but which could go back to the potential buyer in the event that the sale agreed status falls through.

For example, my place went sale agreed recently, and the potential buyer paid €5k to the EA as a booking deposit. Within some weeks, it became unlikely that the potential buyer's house would sell within a reasonable period of time and with my consent, the EA repaid the booking deposit and the house went back on the market.

Does the OP's vendor want the non-refundable 10% (or whatever %) deposit agreed with the aim of copperfastening the sale?

Maybe I've got that all wrong?!

 

[juke]

Paulone - the difference here is there's no estate agent. If op gives the landlord the booking deposit, and then doesn't go ahead, there could be practical dificulties in getting him to return it. eg landlord could calim that he never agreed the booking deposit was refundable. Sadly, this kind of thing happens.

Paying it via solicitors should avoid this.

 

[thomasmc01]

You must deal through solicitors anyway so do so with deposit also. If the vendor has a problem with this then he may have a cash flow problem and is looking for quick bucks, avoid this 100%.