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Purchase Deposit
Curious as to whether there is a generally accepted amount for deposits  (dollar or percentage of selling price) one can follow when purchasing pre-owned RV’s?
Greg & Victoria
2017 Mid-Bath  “Nocona” towing a manual 2015 Forester
Previously a 1985 TK
SKP #61264

Re: Purchase Deposit
Reply #1
We put $1K down to hold ours while we inspected and negotiated.

Charles
Harvest Hosts + Boondockers Welcome #23975
Escapees SKP #138195
2007 23.5' Twin King

Re: Purchase Deposit
Reply #2
Would that have been refundable or no? 

Re: Purchase Deposit
Reply #3
Typically no, unless the seller agreed to it.
Greg & Victoria
2017 Mid-Bath  “Nocona” towing a manual 2015 Forester
Previously a 1985 TK
SKP #61264



Re: Purchase Deposit
Reply #6
I believe that if "earnest money" from a potential buyer were required to hold first dibs on an RV at all, that the amount and conditions would be set by the seller, consented to by the potential buyer (in whatever form agreed to by both) and would vary widely. As far as I know, there is no specific rule, amount, time period, or any other "standard" for a hold, whether the seller is private or a dealer.

YMMV on this one, for sure.

2003 TK has a new home

Re: Purchase Deposit
Reply #7
Bottom line get it in writing.  It depends on the terms you agreed to and verbal agreements hold little weight.

However, even if it was in writing if the other party didn't hold to the agreement, it costs time and money to go after them in court to get a judgement to get the money owed, and then more time & money to try and collect upon that judgement (and you may never see the money).

A better idea is to go thru an escrow department or maybe a lawyer you trust, though that is not a guarantee.
We had an offer on a house way back then (happened to be in CA) and the guy decided not to sell and didn't offer anything to cover our inspection costs and we were told we would not just get our earnest money back unless we agreed to his terms - it might be many months or years before we saw that money.

Bottom line - you need to know if the person is trustworthy - difficult to do when you don't know them or even when you think you do. 
A lawyer I knew once said contracts are only as good as the people behind them, there is no way to write a bullet proof contract.
Jane
Jane & Scott
Currently have a 1989 TK  LD we did a lot of upgrades on.
Bigfoot 25RQ Twin on order with early summer 2024 ETA

Our smartphone autocorrects into very poor English.
 We disclaim the illusion of ignorance this creates as we have enough ignorance we rightly claim.

Re: Purchase Deposit
Reply #8
anyone ever purchased sight unseen?


Re: Purchase Deposit
Reply #10
I'm sure that many people have bought rigs without seeing them or even having them inspected, and it's a good bet that a few of these have lucked out and scored a good deal on a solid unit.

However, my skeptical, but realistic, take (IMO, anyway) says that ending up with a good buy from this "pig in a poke" scenario is far less likely than ending up with a leaky, rusty, clapped out POS that may require thousands of dollars in repairs and replacements before becoming road-worthy, if said rig is capable of reaching that state at all.

Many forum posts over the years and talking with some who have bought rigs in poor condition - some even after seeing all the warts and apparently being unaware of or minimizing what it would take to fix them -  offer quite a few sad stories of buyers doing little or no research, blindly trusting the seller to be honest in disclosure of issues, not having the unit inspected (or not being aware of the components that need to be inspected), buying a rig based primarily, if not solely, on its price, and then dealing with a long, disappointing, and expensive post-purchase experience.

There are good reasons for the frequent admonition of "caveat emptor."
2003 TK has a new home

 
Re: Purchase Deposit
Reply #11
You may not need to see it  yourself but you need information and to talk to people you trust that have seen it (know what to look for and look for what you care about - not all inspectors check the same things).

After I first joined the forum and was shopping for a MB, one seller (rarely on the forum) that was selling theirs avoided all the typical things a seller should ask.  The LD was not near a town but she was willing to bring it to a nearby town a couple hours away.  However, the service records I asked for never materialized, I was discouraged or she avoided the topic every time I said I wanted to get it inspected at a Chassis place (e.g. ford dealer or equivalent) as well as an RV coach place, she would not even give me the names of the places she said she had been taking it to for repairs.
I figured I was not getting a real story, and it had been used sitting in one spot while a cabin was being built.
She really tried to get me to pay for it and get someone to drive it across the country to me (saying that is how she bought it and encouraging me to do the same).
I ceased discussions with her.

As others have said, buyers beware.
You can get a seller that really knows their LD inside and out but some sellers won't tell you about issues they know about and many others just don't know about issues.
So as others have said, it is best to have someone you trust put eyes on it if you can't do that.

Jane
Jane & Scott
Currently have a 1989 TK  LD we did a lot of upgrades on.
Bigfoot 25RQ Twin on order with early summer 2024 ETA

Our smartphone autocorrects into very poor English.
 We disclaim the illusion of ignorance this creates as we have enough ignorance we rightly claim.