What is Earnest Money?

Real Estate

Nov 17

Written By Nicole Serviss

WHAT IS IT AND HOW MUCH SHOULD IT BE?

Earnest money is your "I promise I want to buy this house and here's how much I'm willing to lose to get it" money.

In Snohomish County the amount is typically about 1% of the offer price, while King County it averages about 3%.

For example:

In section 7 of Form 21, on an offer of $450,000, we would want to give an earnest money amount of $4,500.

When your offer is accepted, you will have 2 days to give that money to the escrow company.

There are a lot of ways to get that money back if we cancel the contract as long as we follow all the proper timelines.

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