Jim Bellville

In my experience, there isn't a standard deposit. It really depends on your situation.

I personally work as a Buyer's Agent as much as possible and in those situations, I like to minimize my client's exposure as much as possible. It doesn't matter if you have a few hundred to put down or are paying cash for a million dollar home, the deposit has the same purpose... it is to tell the Seller that you are serious about the deal and will not just leave the money and walk away from the deal... I like to call it a "warm fuzzy" for the Seller.

For the purpose of the offer, a large deposit can help to strengthen an offer with a lot of contingencies or concessions being requested of the Seller.

From my point of view, it is about striking the balance between promoting your offer as being strong enough to go the distance and not exposing too much of your money in case something catastrophic happens and you lose your deposit. - Tue Apr 29 2008, 09:05

It really depends on what you are looking to do, where you are, and what you need.
If you have a 2 bedroom bungalow or a multi-million dollar estate, you are probably looking for 2 different real estate agents. Of course, that depends on your area. In my area, it is not unusual for an agent to be working with both foreclosure properties and high end "Executive Retreats". At the very least, you should do a bit of looking online first to see if a particular agent in your area seems to fit your needs to a "T".
Things to remember:
1. Online is key. If your agent doesn't have a strong web presence, you are going to need a lot more luck and have a much smaller pool of potential buyers.
2. Experience counts, but too much is as bad as not enough. If an agent isn't flexible enough to deal with a changing market, you may be missing important marketing opportunities.
3. Find an agent that you like and trust. This is someone that is going to be working with you in something that can be very emotional and can get serious. If you get the feeling that they are just telling you what you want to hear, you may not be getting the truth about what you really need to do to have a successful sale of your house.

I hope that helps. There are a lot of sites out there that have a lot of answers. Most use the same answers. Google "Questions to ask a Realtor" and you will get a lot of ideas for the interview process. Go with your gut instinct about the agent and don't be afraid to give them feedback on how they are doing. If have a need that they are not meeting, bring it to their attention. One thing I learned a long time ago is that no one goes out in the morning thinking that they want to do a bad job that day. - Tue Apr 29 2008, 08:45