Assigning an offer to purchase

Assigning an offer to purchase<br /><br />Do you mean a purchase contract? I heard someone else talking about an offer to purchase contract, and I not sure if they meant something different. If you have a binding contract of any sort and it is specified that it is assignable then, yes, you can assign it.<br /><br />If you are referring to an Letter Of Intent LOI or some variant of an LOI where you are just outlining a possible contract then, yes, you could assign it also but its not binding so its value is minimal.<br /><br />Earnest money is not required for a contract to be valid, and I rarely give any earnest money when buying. I only give earnest money if the property is listed with a realtor, and that because a good realtor will require it.<br /><br />First. Thank you for responding. No I talking about Offer to Purchase contract, it basically a purchase contract but with all of the property description, terms, etc. but at the end of the contract it gives the seller the option to do a accept your offer, do a counter offer, or decline your offer.<br /><br />So you dont have to have an earnest deposit for a contract to be binding? I always heard there are two things that you need to make a contract binding, 1 is a contract with the seller and the buyer name agreeing to the terms and 2 something of value, whether it money, valuable jewelry, or something else.<br /><br />So I could put a property under contract, then assign it without putting down an earnest deposit.<br /><br />Well our legal system is setup on case law and statutes, and at least I know for Texas, that the case law says that I don have to put any earnest money to make the contract valid.<br /><br />Should I still practice Covering Your Assets CYA even if the law is behind me? Its always good to learn the federal and state laws for what you are doing and to trust and follow them. I taken the time to learn the laws and I choose to trust them, which means I don need to worry about putting any earnest money.<br /><br />Of course it would always be good to consult a qualified attorney in your state before making any legal decisions about your business practices.<br /><br />On a technical note, if I were to tell a seller to make this legal, we have to put down $1 earnest money I would be lying to them. Now I guess I could say to make me feel better, I going to put down $1 earnest money but the bottom line is that, legally, I don have to put anything down as earnest money to make the contract valid and binding.<br /><br />Why mess around and maybe end up with a bad contract?<br /><br />You can put up a note as your earnest money until the offer is accepted note to be redeemed in X days after acceptance.<br /><br />If you really lack the money to put up to hold a deal expect that most sellers will consider you offer extremely weak and look at other offers. Or they will retain the right to continue to take other offers.<br /><br />If you need some cash to fund earnest money find a second job for a few weeks loading truck or something. Build up a bit of cash. Why miss out on deals just because you lack $100 or $1,000? Learn how the game is played and focus on finding good deals. Then when you have a good one you can sell it or or otherwise make a profit. Once you land one you will have more cash to work with.<br /><br />I have never put up cash when I make an offer. I do sign a note and then I do redeem the note if they accept.<br /><br />I have to disagree with John on this one. Why waste tying up your money when you don have to and especially if you don have it?<br /><br />When I was starting out, $500 or $1000 was a lot of money to me. My very first offer was on a HUD property and I used my entire savings up to that point to put up the $500. The worst thing is that I chickened out and lost my $500. It was another 2 months, when my tax return came in, that I put another offer in on a property.<br /><br />Now I believe that earnest money is not required in any state to make a legally binding contract, BUT YOU NEED TO CHECK WITH A QUALIFIED ATTORNEY IN YOUR STATE.<br /><br />I also disagree with the idea that because you don put earnest money that a seller will consider your offer weak or will retain the right to take other offers. Out of hundreds of deals with motivated sellers, I have only been ASKED twice about earnest money by the seller. I explained to them that earnest money is not required to make the contract valid and moved on. I have NEVER had a seller balk in any way because I didn put any earnest money down. The only time I even offer earnest money is when the property is listed with a realtor.<br /><br />Most sellers don even understand earnest money. Earnest money in current contract law is used for a non judicial remedy for breach of contract. If you breach the contract, it specifies that the seller can take the earnest money instead of suing you. The thing is that under most contracts they can elect to not take the earnest money and sue you anyway. Earnest money is mostly a feel good provision, and in dealing with motivated sellers, my experience is that they don think, care, or ask about it.<br /><br />If they are worried about earnest money then they probably aren motivated enough anyway.<br /><br />Originally posted by Ryan Webber:<br /><br />Now I believe that earnest money is not required in any state to make a legally binding contract, BUT YOU NEED TO CHECK WITH A QUALIFIED ATTORNEY IN YOUR STATE.<br /><br />If they are worried about earnest money then they probably aren motivated enough anyway.<br /><br />Ryan and I are in more agreement than it might seem.<br /><br />Check the laws in your state and do not just take the advice of a Realtor. They generally do not know the laws.