Sale of motorhome

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cgmartin

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I just had an offer from a potential buyer for my motorhome. Cash or check. The funds not available until next month. The funds part has all the makings of a scam. I would of course go for the cash, only...provided it was given to me on the spot. What say you all?
 
Non refundable of course. If no deposit, first guy with the cash gets it. People lie. Wait for no one, unless you are going to make a few grand for your troubles. As far as a cheque, or check as you all say, I would prefer a bank transfer into my account. Cheques can be fraudulent as well.
 
I always like doing my deals at the Bank, prefer my bank, but his bank is fine.  Cashiers Check on the spot, you know it;s ligit.  And t's on camera, I ask for their ID, take pic with phone.
 
cgmartin said:
I just had an offer from a potential buyer for my motorhome. Cash or check. The funds not available until next month. The funds part has all the makings of a scam. I would of course go for the cash, only...provided it was given to me on the spot. What say you all?

Did they give a reason for the funds not available until next month?

Did they seem serious about buying it?

Were they willing to put a deposit down on it?

How much was to offer?  Compared to what you were asking?
 
Buyer seems legit, however, I have no way to confirm this. His money will not be available until he concludes another transaction. I have read on this forum that when the money is not readily available, it is a sign of trouble, meaning possible fraud.  I believe the most prudent method to follow is as follows:

1. Not to accept personal checks or cashiers check directly from the buyer. This is because cashiers checks can be easily forged. I do not want to wait until either one clears before I find out if the money has been deposited in my bank account.

2. I will only accept wire transfers directly from his bank to my bank, conducted in person,  or bank cashier check, also in person at his bank, or of course, full cash amount (he will be paying my asking price).

3. As for taking a deposit, I do not like the idea because it would tie up my motorhome, even if it is non-refundable, and I want the transaction to be over and done with, especially if his transaction does not materialize.

4. I will maintain possession of my motorhome and title until I get either cash, or funds from his bank deposited into my account.
 
cgmartin said:
3. As for taking a deposit, I do not like the idea because it would tie up my motorhome, even if it is non-refundable, and I want the transaction to be over and done with, especially if his transaction does not materialize.

If you request a deposit and in the contract you state that the balance of the money will be due in 30 days or whatever time frame you both agree to, or else the buyer will forfeit the deposit. What's wrong with that. I would continue to advertise the coach and explain to the next possible buyer where you stand.  That's how you protect yourself. If he gives a big deposit, He'll work harder to procure the balance for fear of loosing his deposit.
 
Just keep in mind many people that buy RV's are retired, semi-retired, etc. and their income may be tied to investments, dividends or retirement plans that pay out quarterly.  There may also be situations where it is beneficial to the buyer to push the purchase into the next tax year.
 
muskoka guy said:
Non refundable of course. If no deposit, first guy with the cash gets it. People lie. Wait for no one, unless you are going to make a few grand for your troubles. As far as a cheque, or check as you all say, I would prefer a bank transfer into my account. Cheques can be fraudulent as well.

Yes except do you want some guy out there ticked at you because you "kept" (in his eyes) his couple grand. 

First with the money gets it.  Everything else is a waste of time.

By the way, what is going to change next month that he will have the money but not this month? 

RV's are more than a couple hundred dollars so even if the story is sort of legit you are dealing with someone who doesn't have their you know what together!
 
By the way, what is going to change next month that he will have the money but not this month? 

See Isaac's reply above. We've made a several large purchases over the years (since retirement) for which we had plenty of money available (not immediately), but that required us to liquidate some piece of an investment in order to actually be able to spend it, since we don't keep huge (car sized) amounts of cash on hand, or even in a simple savings or checking account. So depending on the investment, the time of year, and other factors (including tax consequences) it can take from a few days to two or three weeks to get the money from that investment so that we can use it.

That being said, having to wait for funds means you must be very careful about scams (well, you should be careful anyway, but...).

RV's are more than a couple hundred dollars so even if the story is sort of legit you are dealing with someone who doesn't have their you know what together!

I don't pull those investments out until I actually find what I'm looking for (weeks, months of search time that the investment can be earning more), and until I actually know how much I'll need. So it can, indeed, be the case, unless I'm going to finance the purchase, in which case, even with a pre-arranged loan, it'll take a bit to complete the deal, especially since I'll often use certain investments as collateral in order to get lower interest rates.

Of course I'd want to put down a deposit to hold whatever it is for a certain period, but that's something I'd have to negotiate with the seller.

In other words, the fact of having to wait  for a bit to get the funds out isn't, in and of itself, reason to say there's something wrong, it's just reason to be extra careful, IF the seller is willing to wait.
 
I don't necessarily see anything unusual about funds not immediately available, though usually investments can be liquidated in a week or so. However, if he is selling another vehicle or property, weeks or months is common.

If you promise to hold it till he gets his funds, you have taken it off the market whether you get a deposit or not, so I would demand a deposit and stipulate a time limit of the hold.  If you do NOT promise to hold it for him, then you need not worry about whether he gets the funds or not. If he shows up later with the money, great. If somebody else shows up sooner with the money, that too is great.  About the only dilemma would be another offer that is lower but cash-in-hand.
 
Gary, I agree that many such investments can be turned into cash within a week or so, but there  are plenty of others that don't involve property sales that can take 30 days or more.  As not all investments are simple publicly traded stocks, and some have penalties for withdrawal without notice.
 
  Save yourself some time and stick to a "cash only" approach.  I had been trying to sell a motorcycle on Craigslist and finally had someone interested. The only problem was he lived in New Jersey, and I was in Atlanta. I told him "cash only" but he persisted and insisted on sending me a check for $500 MORE than I was asking.  I finally agreed, and he sent me a Certified check from his bank in Jersey. I deposited the check, and in 4 days it indeed cleared, and I didn't hear anything from him for like two weeks. 
 
Do not take a check of any kind. Even cashier's checks can be forged. Have the buyer wire transfer the money into your account.
 
The PO of my MH said he will only take a wire transfer if I want the coach immediately. He would take a cashiers check but I could not take delivery until the check cleared -  up to 3 days.

I believe this is the approach I would take.
 
We had a long-distance sale.  My husband drove it and met the buyer half way, a few hundred miles for each of them.  They met in a town that had a branch of the buyer's bank.  They went into the bank together and completed the transaction there.  He knew the buyer had the money because the bank wire transferred it into our account which was another bank entirely.  It worked quite well and both sides were happy because neither could take advantage of the other.

ArdraF
 
cgmartin said:
I just had an offer from a potential buyer for my motorhome. Cash or check. The funds not available until next month. The funds part has all the makings of a scam. I would of course go for the cash, only...provided it was given to me on the spot. What say you all?

First person with the cash gets it.  No deposits unless for one or two days to get the money put together.  Two many times on Craigslist sales did I promise to hold.  After five or six no shows, I set my policy as first come, first served.

Bill
 
Isaac-1 said:
Just keep in mind many people that buy RV's are retired, semi-retired, etc. and their income may be tied to investments, dividends or retirement plans that pay out quarterly.  There may also be situations where it is beneficial to the buyer to push the purchase into the next tax year.
That's all fine for the buyer but how about the seller.  If I am selling something I want the money now.  I don't hold for anymore than a couple of days to get the funds together.  If the buyer wants quarterly dividends or such, then anticipate in advance and accumulate those before you go looking for a purchase.

Bill
 
I would suggest being flexible enough on holding it to allow buyers to get things together and get there.  I bought my coach out of state thanks to an online add, and there were certain practical issues involved in getting things together on my end which took right at 6 days from committing to buy to getting there for the deal, this included dealing with the bank to get the money together, getting an insurance rider to cover the coach long enough to drive it home, as well as getting plane ticket to get down to Florida to pick it up, managing all this in 6 days was cutting things close, 8 or 9 days would have been much more practical.  The seller wanted the deal done in 5 days or less, but it was simply not possible to get plane tickets to get down their any earlier than 11 pm on day 5 with a 7 hour layover, so I ended up getting plane tickets that arrived at noon day 6 with a 1 hour layover.
 

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