Questions about selling an RV

[muskoka guy]

Wow Tom, you are certainly more trusting than me. I wouldnt accept a deposit from someone who hasnt seen the unit, nor would I send a deposit on a unit I have not seen. I have bought a lot of stuff over the internet. I have found over and over that people misrepresent stuff on craiglist and kijiji here in Canada. They purposely dont take pictures of damage and lie about conditions. I have wasted lots of trips only to find the unit was not in the condition stated. I have bought motorhomes, cars, trucks, heavy equipment, and tons of others motorized toys in the past. I have found this again and again. My friend actually got scammed selling a guitar amplifier. The guy sent him a cheque for 1000 dollars too much. He called and said he made a mistake and to wire the difference back. My friend took the cheque to the bank, cashed it and waited a week for the cheque to clear. The bank said the cheque had cleared so he wired the money to the person. Several weeks later the bank called and told him the cheque was a fraud and took the money back out of his account. Trust no one. Cash is cash. Unless you go to the bank with them and watch them get a cashiers cheque, I wouldnt accept one of those either.

 

[Fifthmonkee]

Well, the first couple who came to see the RV have put a $500 deposit on it, in the form of a check which I will deposit on Monday. They drove from six hours away to see the RV,

I had several other interested people, but, as advised here, I did not try to start a bidding war. I did stick my price, though, although I agreed to have the roof resealed, which will cost about $200 (Camping World told me it was due for that, and I had planned to anyway).

I had them sign a receipt that made it clear the check was nonrefundable and gave them two weeks to pay off the balance.  We plan to close the deal on Thursday, when the husband will return with a cashier's check. We will then go to the bank to deposit it together before I give over the RV.

I'm assuming the bank will be able to verify that the check is good.

If it all works out, I feel very lucky to have sold the camper so quickly and easily. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Tom Hoffman]

Wow Tom, you are certainly more trusting than me. I wouldnt accept a deposit from someone who hasnt seen the unit, nor would I send a deposit on a unit I have not seen. I have bought a lot of stuff over the internet. I have found over and over that people misrepresent stuff on craiglist and kijiji here in Canada. They purposely dont take pictures of damage and lie about conditions. I have wasted lots of trips only to find the unit was not in the condition stated. I have bought motorhomes, cars, trucks, heavy equipment, and tons of others motorized toys in the past. I have found this again and again. My friend actually got scammed selling a guitar amplifier. The guy sent him a cheque for 1000 dollars too much. He called and said he made a mistake and to wire the difference back. My friend took the cheque to the bank, cashed it and waited a week for the cheque to clear. The bank said the cheque had cleared so he wired the money to the person. Several weeks later the bank called and told him the cheque was a fraud and took the money back out of his account. Trust no one. Cash is cash. Unless you go to the bank with them and watch them get a cashiers cheque, I wouldn't accept one of those either.

That is one of those well known C list scams.  Most likely he was from Nigeria to boot.  They always want to send you more and then you work out the difference. 

In my case I was working with an 80 year old Wisconsin couple, you can tell what is real over the phone.  The young man was not out anything at least from me.  I had every intention of giving him his $500 back if he did't like the TT.  Every one was being honest, and it worked. 

I have also had my share of Nigerians try to scam me.  I will not accept texts or emails, phone calls only, actually talking to some one tells you a lot.

 

[MN Blue Skies]

As a buyer when I hear that I tell the owner (salesman), "Looks like you have a lot of people interested, go ahead and sell it to them then, I'm out of here." and I leave.  Doesn't matter if I really wanted it and was willing to buy it at the asking price.  Those words are salesman tactic game words, and something is very fishy if a private seller is using those words.

If you keep telling me you're being perfectly honest, my gut tells me you are probably lying or hiding something.  Then I am on the defense and start losing interest right away as I'm trying to figure out what you're hiding and lying about. 

If you're truly honest, then there is no need to say you're being honest.

Right there is a red flag for sure.  A salesman saying those things are normal, a private seller saying that means that the seller is flipping or curb-siding something that is a lemon and not fit for the RV lot.  As a buyer I would reply; "Are you a salesman?"  No matter, I'm leaving. 

As a buyer I always ask the reason for the sale.  I look in their eyes and read their face, their voice tone, word choices, the head movement, the body language.  I also look at other indicators as well.

As a private seller you must not be a salesman, let the product sell itself and price it low enough that it is a good deal for all.  No lying and no salesman scam games either, most buyers see right through that every time.  Buyers expect those games from salesman, and we play along letting the salesman think we're naive, but we know what they're up to.

-Going Camping

Camping, welcome to the forum.  I really like your response.  We are on the same page.

 

[MN Blue Skies]

IMO 5% minimum  and 10% would be better and I would tend to believe that it was going to sell and might
feel comfortable removing the ad if I had 10% CASH handed to me. 

If they can't give you 5% then I would NOT remove that ad until it was a done deal. 
If they are a serious buyer that should not be a problem to give you 10% IMO.

Put the shoe on the other foot.  A buyer doesn't know if the seller is legitimate.  The poster was asking $38,000.  As a buyer would you really give an unknown seller $1,900 to $3,800 as a deposit?  I certainly wouldn't.   

 

[RedandSilver]

Put the shoe on the other foot.  A buyer doesn't know if the seller is legitimate.  The poster was asking $38,000.  As a buyer would you really give an unknown seller $1,900 to $3,800 as a deposit?  I certainly wouldn't. 

I did.  I was the buyer and I did give the seller over 10% cash.  That way he knew I was serious.  I got a receipt and knew where he lived.
Sure any deal can go sideways - but most people I've met are pretty honest and I haven't gotten burned - YET.  Most people should also be
able to tell when something isn't right and walk away.  But there are no guarantees in life except Death and Taxes - IMO.

 

[muskoka guy]

I think 1000 dollars more than shows you are serious. I would wait a week for 1000 dollars. Non refundable of course.

 

[camping]

Camping, welcome to the forum.  I really like your response.  We are on the same page.

Thanks for the welcome.    Perhaps I was being a bit harsh, I  didn't mean to be disrespectful.  Us RV buyers are usually mature and have been around the block a few times.  No need for games, just honest, honorable. and fair dealings will provide that good sleep at night.    There's always another RV for sale and there will always be another buyer who would like to enjoy your old RV.

Going Camping

 

[muskoka guy]

Wouldnt put it past one of these scam artists to just go take some pictures and post it on craiglist. Get as many deposits as they can and disappear. Have heard of scammers renting an apartment with fake ID, have 20 different people show up to look at it, then take a deposit from all of them then bail with the cash. Unfortunately there seems to be no shortage of people sitting around dreaming up scams. They should put their intelligence to work on something productive. My friend always thought there was an unwritten code with musicians not to scam each other as well until he got taken. He was so embarrassed it took him months to tell his friends about it.

 

[Triple Slide Jayco]

Wouldn't put it past one of these scam artists to just go take some pictures and post it on craiglist. Get as many deposits as they can and disappear. Have heard of scammers renting an apartment with fake ID, have 20 different people show up to look at it, then take a deposit from all of them then bail with the cash. Unfortunately there seems to be no shortage of people sitting around dreaming up scams. They should put their intelligence to work on something productive. My friend always thought there was an unwritten code with musicians not to scam each other as well until he got taken. He was so embarrassed it took him months to tell his friends about it.

I ran across a craiglist scam just like this about 4 months ago. A nice TT 2015 34 footer, just perfect, worth about 30k, price was 10k.! I emailed and the "story" was that the persons husband died and just wanted it gone. They said they will create an Ebay posting for it and I can wire a deposit and they will deliver it and if I don't want it they will return my deposit. I asked to speak on the phone and they said they were deaf (of course), If I asked to see them they would have been invisible as well.

Simply losers.!

 

[Gizmo]

Classic financial scam ploy. Ignore it.

Likely the case.  But alternatively, you could ask for the potential buyers Paypal acct. and send them an invoice through Paypal.  If it is a scam and it smells like it, one of two things will happen, they either do not respond with a valid Paypal account or if they do, you have some protection through Paypal and Paypal can generally weed out the scammers.  If you go this route, I would like other transactions indicate you will not take it off the market until you received verification of the funds from Paypal and then they have a certain time frame to perform on the deal or risk losing the deposit.

 

[Derby6]

Personally I have 25+ years in the sales  industry

Buyers are liars-

Surely I am not the only one that found the absolute humor in this!!!!

 

[MN Blue Skies]

This turned out to be a timely topic for us since we are selling a TT by ourselves and buying a 5th wheel from a private party. 

Here's the twist ... the seller is upside down on the 5th wheel.  He will have to cough up money to pay off his loan on the 5th wheel.  I am hesitant to put down a  deposit.  We are paying cash so our side of the transaction is fairly simple.  We will be able to finalize the transaction in 3 weeks. 

So trust goes two ways.  He has to trust us to perform and we have to trust him to have the cash to pay off the loan.  According to the seller he is "taking it in the shorts."

We are going to make an offer with no deposit and see what happens.  If he has concerns, we will be happy to furnish him with written verification that we have the funds.  This seems like the cleanest way to deal with the situation.  Both sides bring cash to the table at the time of transfer.  (Sort of like a "short sale" in a real estate transaction.

I'm guessing that this situation is fairly common when buying a newer used RV.

 

[Triple Slide Jayco]

Both sides bring cash to the table at the time of transfer.  (Sort of like a "short sale" in a real estate transaction.)

Correct on the fact that both will have to bring funds to remedy the situation. Incorrect, in that the transaction is like a "short sale". A short sale is when the bank accepts to take less for the asset than what is truly due. The bank can attempt to sue the original owner for the difference at a later date. This would be great for you if a short sale could be an option, the seller would have to ask IF his bank would allow a lesser amount for what is owed plus some more because its a depreciating asset. IF the seller tried this option you could gain to get a better deal than simply what is just owed on the asset.

Im not sure that this option has been approached, its worth asking the seller if he can make a phone call. Try to entice him by saying ' you wont need to bring any money to the close with this option" he might try.

If not, I suggest you meet him at his bank where the loan is drawn (if possible) this way you bring cash per se, he does as well and you hand it to someone that turns and clears the loan and gives clear title.

 

[MN Blue Skies]

Sorry Triple Slide, I complicated the thread by mentioning a short sale.  Personally, I wouldn't put down a big deposit on an RV where the seller hoped to negotiate a discount from the lender.  We are probably getting off topic. 

 

[muskoka guy]

This brings up another issue, which is people selling with liens on their rvs. You have to make sure you get a clear title. I wouldnt give any money to someone who has a lien. I would give the money to the lienholder or complete the sale through a lawyer. If you give the money to the person and they dont pay off the lien, the bank that actually owns the rv could come and collect it back.

 

[luvabargain]

As a buyer when I hear that I tell the owner (salesman), "Looks like you have a lot of people interested, go ahead and sell it to them then, I'm out of here." and I leave.  Doesn't matter if I really wanted it and was willing to buy it at the asking price.  Those words are salesman tactic game words, and something is very fishy if a private seller is using those words

THIS!  I don't play those B.S. games either.  Leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. 

 

[timjet]

I sold a boat and bought my MH privately within a month. When selling the boat, I would not accept anything other than a wire transfer from the buyers bank to my bank. When the funds were confirmed to be in my bank the buyer and I went to a notary to sign the paperwork. The buyer met me twice and had the boat inspected. I fixed the items the buyer wanted and answered all this questions. We established trust.

Same thing with the MH. The seller would not give me the keys without verifying funds were in his bank. He then signed the paperwork that I took to the DMV. One note of caution: I bought the MH through an ad I saw on Craigs List. After determining the MH is what I wanted and receiving several e-mails with pictures I drove the 150 miles to see it. It was as described. We agreed on a price with the understanding that I would have it inspected. 2 weeks after viewing it, the seller and I drove to a Freightliner facility to have it inspected. The seller agreed to have the few items fixed. I bought the MH.
Summary: I vetted the seller through a contact that I had done business with. I also got to know the seller somewhat in viewing the coach the first time and then accompanying him when having it inspected. I established trust.

 

[Oldgator73]

Buying and selling is common sense (or as someone once told me uncommon sense since most folks don't have it). If the deal smells like poop, it's poop. We sold our 5th wheel many years ago. The couple came to where I worked and viewed the unit and said they wanted it (I'm sure we took a deposit but don't remember; it was a long time ago). We set a day and time for them to pay and he brought cash, signed the title over, hooked up and left. I also sold my Harley in the U.K. I worked for the US government and had the bike shipped from the States. We were having our house built here and I decided to sell the bike to have cash for some upgrades in the house. I listed it on eBay in Europe and sold it to the second person to look at it (the first didn't believe it was a 2010 even though the title indicated so along with VIN). Anyway, the buyer showed up with cash (?) and a van to load it in and off he went. Cash is king ( or a cashiers check). I don't think I would accept a personal check.