Smart and dumb ways to handle $ when selling my rv

[tomseeley]

I'm working on selling my rv. I may have a serious buyer. I've heard about payment scams, problems with cashiers check that bounce weeks after the seller thinks they've cleared and the $ is in your bank, etc. I've heard that setting up an escrow acct could work. I've heard "drive your rig to the buyer's bank with the buyer and stand there while the buyer's bank hands you the selling price in cash"! Sounds a bit extreme but maybe that'd be worth it.

So what ARE some good and dumb ways for seller and buyer to seal the deal when it's time to do that?

I need all the advice I can get, please! And thx in advance.

Tom

[JoeH]

Mortimer Brewster wrote:
If you are doing cash I’d meet in your bank and deposit it on the spot.

That's what I did when we sold our prior coach-- the guy came over with a bag full of cash--- not knowing if it was counterfeit or what, I said let's go to the bank. They ran it thru their machine and all was well.

[ctilsie242]

I have done dealer pass throughs on vehicles before, where the rig gets sold to the dealer by one party, then I buy it from the dealer. It does cost (perhaps a percent or two of the sale), but at least I don't have a headache of chasing down a fraudster.

[ol_Bombero-JC]

jkwilson wrote:


Bank checks are worthless. They can be forged pretty easily.

Go to the buyers bank and have them get a check while you are there or open your own account and have the money transferred.

The last one:
Open an account there, transfer *his* money to *your* account.

Then do whatever/whenever you want with the proceeds in *your* account.


:C

[Dutch_12078]

tomseeley wrote:
Hey. Saturday afternoon here now. Great advice everyone. Thank you all very much.

...

Still, I'm leaning strongly toward the wire xfr. I'll talk to my bank to make sure I understand how it works from my end.

...

A good choice! Once the receiving bank accepts the funds, there are only a very limited set of circumstances where the transaction can be reversed, primarily ones that involve sending bank errors, not sender initiated actions.

[Jarlaxle]

jkwilson wrote:

3oaks wrote:

jkwilson wrote:
Bank checks are worthless. They can be forged pretty easily. Go to the buyers bank and have them get a check while you are there or open your own account and have the money transferred.

A bit extreme, I would say. Particularly if the buyer is from "out of state" and the buyer's account is with their local bank or C.U. There are other secure alternatives. Years back, I had no problem with selling my TT to a buyer from Texas who came all the way to PA to purchase it.

There are no secure methods to do this other than going to their bank. If you believe so, you are a victim in waiting.

Pablum. When I sold my truck, I went to a branch of my bank. Buyer did a wire transfer to my account, took maybe ten minutes.

[tomseeley]

Hey. Saturday afternoon here now. Great advice everyone. Thank you all very much.

I should have said in my OP that seller is in SC and buyer is in VA. So both of us going to the buyer's bank would take some effort, but since the rig would have to get to VA if sold we could work out something.

Still, I'm leaning strongly toward the wire xfr. I'll talk to my bank to make sure I understand how it works from my end.

The other piece of super great advice one of you gave me that I had completely overlooked is to make sure I know to handle the title, the signature on it, the registration, telling my state I've sold the rig, what to do with my SC license plate, etc. and I guess I'd need to cancel my insurance asap after the sale too, to get as much rebate of annual premium as I can.
Thank you all vestry mich.

Keep those cards and letters coming, however. It's obvious I've started an interesting thread here!

[Grit_dog]

shepfly wrote:
Have your buyer do a wire transfer from his bank to yours. I set this up before I went to pickup MH, then called my bank to do the transfer after I decieded to purchase. Sellers Bank received transfer and instructions to call seller that funds were deposited in his acct. Whole transaction took maybe 20 minutes and is very secure. I carried no funds on my person and neither did seller. Dave

Winner winner chicken dinner.
Along the same lines, the seller can bring a cashiers check and your bank can verify funds backing it with 1 phone call.
But bank to bank is easiest. Around $10k or less I'll just stop and get a wad of hundos to buy something.
And if either party has a loan, bank to bank, funds wired on the approval of buyer, verified by seller. Super easy just have to get the 2 banks in touch ahead of time.
Same for selling. I'll take as much cash as you want to bring. Had a lady bring a bag of money to buy my old Duramax, literally. Random qtys of 100s all the way down to singles! After 1/2 hour of counting money, she had like $800 too much. Should a just took the bag! Lol.

[westernrvparkow]

Blutoyz wrote:
It doesn't seem that hard to call a bank and verify funds for a large bank check or even meet at the bank to do the transaction.

NEVER just call the bank and verify a cashier's check. A common scam is for the scammer to get a legitimate cashier's check and forge a duplicate replacing the payee's name with the name of the seller. Seller calls the bank, gives them the check number and other pertinent information and the bank tells them the check is good. Then seller accepts the fake check and the real check is routed to an account owned by the scammer or just cashed by them. Cash is king in a small dollar transaction (tell the buyer no hundreds if you are really paranoid because they account for about 99% of all counterfeit bills). For transactions over a few thousand, wire transfer is best with the transaction being completed at the bank, since they know how to secure a financial transaction.

[wa8yxm]

I like Cash, or a certified check, and since it is not a bad idea to have the transaction "notorized" and since most banks do that no charge..

Do the transaction in the bank. Have them verify the check before they seal the signature (Before you sign) if it's good. Sign and seal and shake hands.

[nbking]

I have always accepted a cashier's cheque, but, I took it to my bank and asked the bank to call the seller's bank to verify that the cheque was legitimate. Once confirmed, then I allowed the transaction to continue.

[drsteve]

Wire transfer for the win. There's no opportunity for forgery or stopped payment, and no wad of cash to be handled.

I sold my TT last year, and the buyer showed up with a bank check. I had no problem accepting it, since he was a good friend of my BIL. But with an unknown buyer I'd never have done it.

[theoldwizard1]

If you are concerned (and rightfully so) meet the buyer at his bank and have him buy a cashiers check WHILE YOU ARE STANDING NEXT TO HIM !

If this is impractical, there is always cash.

[lots2seeinmyrv]

Sold 2 RV's and a Truck for cash.

Meet them at their bank...or yours. They run the money through the bank machine.

They paid in cash. We signed all paperwork and Notarized documents, if necessary, had bank make us copies and that was it.

Signed the Title, Bill of Sale and took the plates off.

Check with your Department of Motor Vehicles what forms they need. Ours want the plates back...also got a refund on the registration.

Drive to our bank and deposit the cash.

[Blutoyz]

It doesn't seem that hard to call a bank and verify funds for a large bank check or even meet at the bank to do the transaction.