Selling an RV/payment

[mountaintravele]

I will be selling my RV a few months later and need to understand how I can safely receive a payment. I want to sell to a private party.
It's going to be selling for 40-45K.
Receiving bank wire won't work for me.
I will ask buyer to give me cashier's check of a bank that has local, branch, I think. I want to be able to go to the branch in person and cash the check and also first verify that the check is good, before I sign the title over.
Had anyone done a sale like this? What are the steps with cashier's check handling to make sure one won't get defrauded?

[ol_Bombero-JC]

mountaintraveler wrote:
I will be selling my RV a few months later and need to understand how I can safely receive a payment. I want to sell to a private party.
It's going to be selling for 40-45K.
Receiving bank wire won't work for me.
I will ask buyer to give me cashier's check of a bank that has local, branch, I think. I want to be able to go to the branch in person and cash the check and also first verify that the check is good, before I sign the title over.
Had anyone done a sale like this? What are the steps with cashier's check handling to make sure one won't get defrauded?

I read a few of the (logical) ways to handle - what should be a very simple transaction.

It appears you are making that "simple" transaction into something very complicated!

As a "mountain traveler" - I wish you all the luck making mountains out of mole hills.

My two cents: Open a savings account at a branch of the buyers bank.
Complete the sale at that bank - buyer moves the $$ from his account
to yours. (The bank can verify the funds).

Then you can Get the cash whenever you are ready - from *your* personal account.

🙂

~

[Grit_dog]

^But it doesn’t matter. OP is long gone and is either overtly and uncontrollably paranoid, a crook, has dimentia, or on some good drugs.
None of those bode well for taking advice from strangers even though he asked.

[wapiticountry]

Scottiemom wrote:
There is at least one escrow company that would do it. My son used them with a sticky situation buying a jet ski for $12,000. The sticky part was the son co-owned the jetski with his dad whose name was on the title and there was a lien. The dad was in on the deal, wasn't shady or anything and the dad and son both cooperated. So my son used an on-line escrow service to handle it. No money was delivered until the title was released and transferred cleanly, then the money was paid. When I bought my new moho from a private individual, he suggested I look into it. I did and they would have handled the transaction, which was over $100,000. But in the end, my investment account wired the money to the seller's bank. They owned it free and clear with a good title, so that worked best.

Dale

This seller adamantly refuses to accept a wire transfer as payment. Therefore that transaction wouldn’t work for him.

[wapiticountry]

PA12DRVR wrote:

wapiticountry wrote:

PA12DRVR wrote:
Interesting thread.

If the OP is by chance still observing, one way to avoid 99.99% of the hassle / risk of banks / cashier's checks / cash reporting would be to have a title company (or the escrow department of banks that still offer the service) simply undertake an escrow service: will add a few days to the transaction time, but eliminates risk and (IMNSHO) lots of hassle.

Don’t think there are Escrow companies that pay out $45,000 in cash. They wire or use cashiers checks. For some reason the poster wants to instantly have a big stack of greenbacks, nothing else.

Actually, the OP (who hasn't been back near as I can tell) said: "I will ask buyer to give me cashier's check of a bank that has local, branch, I think. I want to be able to go to the branch in person and cash the check and also first verify that the check is good, before I sign the title over.
Had anyone done a sale like this? What are the steps with cashier's check handling to make sure one won't get defrauded?"
Escrow avoids fraud and the seller could take the Title Co's check to the local bank and cash that if they wanted cash...but that would of course trigger the scrutiny of the regulators

The title company I have used for multiple transactions wires the proceeds to my account. They are not a bank so they cannot issue a cashier’s check. They also state that any cashiers check used to pay for a purchase are held for a substantial period of time ( I don’t remember if it is seven or ten days) which is why they request all transactions be wire transfers so as to not delay a closing. I have also gotten some checks from them months later after the property’s taxes were finalized and those checks were just plain company checks, not any kind of cashiers or certified instrument. And even if they did get a cashiers check, a non customer of the bank it was drawn ion would have a very difficult time getting $45,000 in cash. Due both to the risks of fraud, forgery etc. and the fact branches just don’t keep that much cash on hand.

[JRscooby]

PA12DRVR wrote:

Actually, the OP (who hasn't been back near as I can tell) said: "I will ask buyer to give me cashier's check of a bank that has local, branch, I think. I want to be able to go to the branch in person and cash the check and also first verify that the check is good, before I sign the title over.
Had anyone done a sale like this? What are the steps with cashier's check handling to make sure one won't get defrauded?"
Escrow avoids fraud and the seller could take the Title Co's check to the local bank and cash that if they wanted cash...but that would of course trigger the scrutiny of the regulators

Right at the start, I posted what happened to me in a transaction pretty much like what you describe the OP wants. Some don't like it, but I don't think a bank would let that much cash walk out the door, with no chance to get it back.

[PA12DRVR]

wapiticountry wrote:

PA12DRVR wrote:
Interesting thread.

If the OP is by chance still observing, one way to avoid 99.99% of the hassle / risk of banks / cashier's checks / cash reporting would be to have a title company (or the escrow department of banks that still offer the service) simply undertake an escrow service: will add a few days to the transaction time, but eliminates risk and (IMNSHO) lots of hassle.

Don’t think there are Escrow companies that pay out $45,000 in cash. They wire or use cashiers checks. For some reason the poster wants to instantly have a big stack of greenbacks, nothing else.

Actually, the OP (who hasn't been back near as I can tell) said: "I will ask buyer to give me cashier's check of a bank that has local, branch, I think. I want to be able to go to the branch in person and cash the check and also first verify that the check is good, before I sign the title over.
Had anyone done a sale like this? What are the steps with cashier's check handling to make sure one won't get defrauded?"
Escrow avoids fraud and the seller could take the Title Co's check to the local bank and cash that if they wanted cash...but that would of course trigger the scrutiny of the regulators

[Grit_dog]

^Yup, it’s that easy. Thanks for sharing, and helping folks learn basic adulting financial safety skills, even though the OP is likely out burying zip lock bags of cash somewhere in Idaho….
And as an alternative for others following along wondering how on earth they might safely complete a private party financial transaction, there are these things called banks. And they have people called personal bankers that can also instruct you on a safe way to exchange money for goods.

[Scottiemom]

There is at least one escrow company that would do it. My son used them with a sticky situation buying a jet ski for $12,000. The sticky part was the son co-owned the jetski with his dad whose name was on the title and there was a lien. The dad was in on the deal, wasn't shady or anything and the dad and son both cooperated. So my son used an on-line escrow service to handle it. No money was delivered until the title was released and transferred cleanly, then the money was paid. When I bought my new moho from a private individual, he suggested I look into it. I did and they would have handled the transaction, which was over $100,000. But in the end, my investment account wired the money to the seller's bank. They owned it free and clear with a good title, so that worked best.

Dale

[Grit_dog]

^ Guessing not…just babble.

[nickthehunter]

Do you ever proof read what you write?

[JRscooby]

valhalla360 wrote:


If they told you that, you have a lawsuit against the bank...but that's probably not what they said and you didn't get it in writing.

It is exactly what was said, but know we didn't get it in writing. Friend asked the manager point blank, "If I take this Cashiers Check will I have the money to pay to overhaul my engine?" Banker made promise, but when repairs where done, there was no money.
BTW, that bank was located on truck route, on one side of large vacant lot. Other side of lot, insurance agency that sold policies geared to our industry. It was handy to pick up settlement check, stop at bank on way home, deposit in 3-4 accounts. I know of at least 30 1 to 3 truck operators that used that bank at the time. After the "buyer" was ranting about it was my fault his truck was impounded, his wife was arrested, the hand asked me about it plus our friend that could not get truck out shop, the story got out. I know at least dozen that changed banks. I can't say that was the reason, but less than 10 years later the bank sold.

[LouLawrence]

Interesting thread? How many RVers do you think this might apply to? I am thinking less than 1%. It's fun fodder, I suppose, but, otherwise, this thread went off the rails long ago.

[wapiticountry]

PA12DRVR wrote:
Interesting thread.

If the OP is by chance still observing, one way to avoid 99.99% of the hassle / risk of banks / cashier's checks / cash reporting would be to have a title company (or the escrow department of banks that still offer the service) simply undertake an escrow service: will add a few days to the transaction time, but eliminates risk and (IMNSHO) lots of hassle.

Don’t think there are Escrow companies that pay out $45,000 in cash. They wire or use cashiers checks. For some reason the poster wants to instantly have a big stack of greenbacks, nothing else.

[valhalla360]

JRscooby wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

It's not a question of "trust". Banks operate under rules that they can't violate...and no, if you deposit a bad check and the rules allow, they aren't going to eat the loss.

Well maybe the "rules" allow the banker to tell their customers "Yes, this is good as cash" before we accepted the checks, then week later, "No, sorry, the check is no good"
Over years that bank made money from us. Would not of trusted anybody there to run a 13 speed up threw the gears while keeping truck 'tween the ditches, but expected them to be experts at keeping my money safe.

The only reason I brought this up was to hint to OP that wire transfer is safest way to make deal.

If they told you that, you have a lawsuit against the bank...but that's probably not what they said and you didn't get it in writing.

[MFL]

Absolutely an interesting thread!

I've been revising/updating estate planning, so learning a lot about taxes of all kinds. Some that have posted, are quite knowledgeable, others, not so much, concerning bank business/forms that they file, things that require bank to make report, etc. Even when gifting to family members, in 2023, if giving away more than 17K, each person, you will need to file a 709 form with your income tax forms for that year.

Many don't realize the records the bank keeps/files/reports, concerning your expenditures, of a larger amount, such as more than 10K in a single day. My investment broker can move money around, keeping off the skyline, more so, than my banks.

In any case, if the OP actually managed to get a buyer to hand over 45K in a briefcase, the buyers bank will have a record of the cash payout. Many banks will want a few days notice before they will hand over 50K of your own money in cash. Banks do not have the huge vaults full of cash, that many think they do.

Jerry