On 20 Jan 2006 14:13:32 -0800, "CB" wrote:

When you buy a house you generally put up some "earnest money" so that
the seller takes the house off the market while you arrange a
prepurchase inspection. You can walk away from the deal after the
inspection, but you forfiet the money. Or you can go forward with the
deal, but negotiate who's going to pay for fixing what. You can use
the inspection as leverage to lower the sale price. That's common
practice - in real estate.

Corrie, by what the original poster said, that wasn't the purpose of the
deposit: "The owner said he'd need a $500 non-refundable deposit before anyone
did the inspection. "they might nick the prop, or drop a sparkplug
or...."....

That's quite a bit difference from earnest money. The guy wanted $500 just to
allow anything more than a visual inspection of the exterior. Indeed, a signal
to run.

Ron Wanttaja