Transfering money to seller

[paul65k]

Sooooo I have bought expensive autos and RVs in the following manner.

Go through your due diligence (inspections, etc...) agree on the price and terms, make sure the seller has clear title as described above. Then arrange in advance with the seller to meet, do a visual inspection and then go with them to your bank of choice which you know in advance and have the funds already in your account (This is why I keep accounts at Wells Fargo and BofA) to transfer the funds.

They can have cash or Cashiers check or in one instance they just transferred the $$ into an account the seller had at BofA.

You get the signed title and if you're in a state that requires a notarized signature then you can also arrange to do that at your bank

[Rockies]

A number of comments about a "clear" title. Important to note, just because someone has a clear, lien-free title doesn't necessarily mean there's no lien against that particular vehicle/RV. When a lien is placed against a used vehicle/RV, all the previous titles (showing no lien) may still be in circulation. Nothing to prevent someone from using a clear/lien-free title after-the-fact. I'd suggest a quick call to the DMV to verify. Most DMV's will give a simple yes or no answer whether there's a lien against a particular VIN over the phone.

[arcaguy]

There's been some good advice here, there's been some not so good advice here. Just some things I know from experience. If you are giving a Cashier's Check don't be insulted if the seller verifies it with the bank as they are taking most if not all of the risk. If you wire transfer the money the risk passes to the seller. When I did this a few months ago we hired a realtor/attorney to act as an escrow agent. It cost $500 which I split with the seller, most escrow services seem to charge 1% of the purchase price which would have been significantly more in this case. This whole thing becomes much more complicated if there is a lien on the title and you can't wire transfer the money to the lien holder, as was the case I was in, thanks Ally Bank. As to the seller having a clean title and there being liens against that vehicle I've never heard of such a thing but I've also not done business in every state, so a little research may be in order. Many states now have electronic titles. If that is the case liens are easy to check. You will need some information but it's likely nothing you won't have if you going to purchase a vehicle. I think I needed the seller's name and the VIN. Just one more thing, if you are in different state you really can't sue if something goes wrong unless it's for lots and lots of money. Parties suing each other that are residents of different states will be required to be in federal court and last I knew about 20 years ago that starts at about $30,000. Best of luck and make sure you protect your interests.

[Country Road]

Originally Posted by arcaguy

There's been some good advice here, there's been some not so good advice here. Just some things I know from experience. If you are giving a Cashier's Check don't be insulted if the seller verifies it with the bank as they are taking most if not all of the risk. If you wire transfer the money the risk passes to the seller. When I did this a few months ago we hired a realtor/attorney to act as an escrow agent. It cost $500 which I split with the seller, most escrow services seem to charge 1% of the purchase price which would have been significantly more in this case. This whole thing becomes much more complicated if there is a lien on the title and you can't wire transfer the money to the lien holder, as was the case I was in, thanks Ally Bank. As to the seller having a clean title and there being liens against that vehicle I've never heard of such a thing but I've also not done business in every state, so a little research may be in order. Many states now have electronic titles. If that is the case liens are easy to check. You will need some information but it's likely nothing you won't have if you going to purchase a vehicle. I think I needed the seller's name and the VIN. Just one more thing, if you are in different state you really can't sue if something goes wrong unless it's for lots and lots of money. Parties suing each other that are residents of different states will be required to be in federal court and last I knew about 20 years ago that starts at about $30,000. Best of luck and make sure you protect your interests.

My advice is similar to those who have offered it here. I just sold a $90k truck and was able to have my local bank assist me on every part of our negotiations. We used a bank to bank wire transfer and they would have nothing to do with accepting a cashiers check or any other form of payment. Word to the wise. There are scammers everywhere.

[Ldubs]

I had not realized a cashiers check could be stopped that easily. Good thread. Thanks.

[Toby Dog]

Google cash seizures by law enforcement. You won't travel with large amounts of cash after that.

[Kenrbass]

The safest way is to borrow money on the rig from a local bank you know. They will make sure the money transfer and title are taken care of. Then pay off the loan the next month.

You never know if they are in the middle of a divorce and do not have the right to sell something. Most people are honest, but be careful.

If they have clear title, I normally take cash, but some people don't feel comfortable doing that.

If they have a local loan and you can meet at their bank, that is pretty safe. Have your bank talk to their bank and they know what to do. Even if they have clear title, that's not a bad way to go.

I have had banks want to wait several days for cashiers checks. I even had to wait a day on a wire transfer once. (I do quite a bit of buying and selling)

[v8dave]

Originally Posted by amosnandy

You really don’t know how a cashiers check works? Way safer than a wire transfer.

You get the cashiers check, you call the bank it is drawn on, ask to speak to a banker, not a teller, a banker, you verify the check was in fact drawn on that bank, verify the check number. I deal with cashiers checks all the time. Real Estate mostly. Foreign buyers. Yup I have received counterfeit cashiers checks. Five minutes on the phone, a call initiated by me to a number I verify, and I not only can verify it is authentic, I can verify the transaction is complete, I have the check and am depositing it.

Give me your bank routing number and account number and your account will be drained by the time I’m out of town.

NEVER EVER GIVE OUT YOU BANK NUMBERS TO ANYONE.

This is how I handled a Collector Car sale. You can use a similar approach to protect your bank account numbers.
I sold a collector car to a buyer in Australia. The buyer had an Agent here in California who handled the transaction pretty much like a title company real estate transaction. However, I wasn't about to give out my bank numbers to anybody. Especially not to a an overseas buyer dealing with a US company I never heard of. I went to my bank (Wells Fargo) and spoke with a Banker, who suggested I open another account to receive the wire transfer. Which I did and after the successful transfer, I immediately transferred the funds at the bank to my regular account and closed the account. I then express mailed the title papers to my buyer's Agent.

I'd suggest you open another account at your own bank and put the funds for the purchase in that account. Then use that new account for the wire transfer. Close the account after completing the transfer. Your main bank account numbers are never exposed outside of your bank using this approach. The question you have to ask your Banker is how you can initiate this transaction while you are in another state.

Your decision, but I'd put the asking price amount of funds in the new account. Then after the negotiations and transfer put the remaining funds back into your regular account and close the account.

[burtpolson]

Good ideas here. I do not write many checks anymore, but there may be an occasion where I do. Maybe buying something from someone for a small amount. Are you saying I should not use a check as my bank account number and ABA number is on the check. What about the a vendor who may happen to have a dishonest employee? I guess times have changed and we should end our check writing. Is this what I am hearing?

[jeffcarpente]

Wire Funds from your bank to theirs AFTER vehicle and title inspection.

[sleeper41]

Your bank numbers are given away to each party you write a check to.

J. Ali
St Petersburg

[JerryP]

I recently sold a Winnebago view. The buyer had his money in a bank that had a branch in my home city. He flew in from California, checked out the RV. Then we went to his bank branch and I watched them print out a cashiers check. I gave him a signed over clear title. He the drove the RV back to California from Texas. I then deposited his cashiers check in my bank. They money cleared In 2 days.

Regards, Jerry

[Katy2]

We drove from Utah to Tennessee to buy our RV.. the person we bought it from had a loan on it.. We went to his bank with him, signed papers, his bank called our bank, money was transferred.. we had to wait for the bank to mail the title to us. I think it took 2 wks to get the title.. in and out in less than 30 minutes.

[Olroache]

Originally Posted by sumjoe

we are about to begin our search for a new to us fiver and truck.
hopefully to a private individual.
looking at spending about 80k combined.

how do you transfer dollars to a person and get your title/rig at the same time?
if i were a seller i would want the money in my account before signing those over....Yet to carry that much cash is nuts.
i will most likely be many hundreds of miles away from my home.

waiting for a check to clear can take a long while sometimes ect.

thanks for your imput.

Try escrow.com.