divil

I take your point krystar, however I understand the issue with the cash deal being a concern for him...there is some extra red tape that would not be required for a wire transfer.

A rennlister has actually checked out the car for me and I am quite happy with that. He found a few problems but the owner has had these issues fixed. I will see if he can go back and check over it again, however I am also looking for somewhere right now to do a professional PPI, just as a final precaution.

EDIT: just talked to my bank, they said I can go in there, arrange a transfer, and then trigger it with a phone call later, and it should go through within the hour, but will certainly happen the same day. They're aware of what I'm doing and the location of the seller, so I think I am happy to trust what they're telling me. That way, once I'm happy with the car, I would just make the phone call, and then we could wait for his bank to confirm the transaction.

JohnKoaWood

This was already done, there is no scam here, just a apprehensive seller dealing with a remote buyer.. I am sure they will get the details worked out.

Cash over 10K is a flag to more than just the people dealing with the car, trust me, I regullarly handle cash in excess of 10K, and it requires statements made, and paperwork filled out, this paperwork is a bit more intrusive than some people can comfortably tollerate!

Were I selling a car, and the deal worked out to north of 10K, I would require no more cash than half... remaining half either by cashiers check (treated as cash by the bank) but wire tranfer would be preferable to me as well.. as electronic transfer, while there is a hold period, doesnt require documentation as the documentation is part of the tranfer!

I can totally understand both parties points of view here, but all it takes in a little bit of communication and trust.

67King

I've dealt with wire transfers about 4-5 times over the past year when selling/buying vehicles. A wire transfer does not take several days. If you arrange it by the morning, chances are it will go through before COB (close of business). All wire transfers have to go through the Fed, and I think they process them at either 2:00 or 3:00. Again, though, you should be able to arrange it before noon through your bank over the telephone (might want to pay a visit to your bank prior to and give them the awareness, and also ask for any other processes necessary).

In Georgia, the lein holder keeps the title. So if the guy has a title, there is no lein. However, your bank should be able to run it to make sure.

I would offer the guy a $500 deposit, fly down, and pay the remainder by wire transfer. $10K is too much money to just trust someone you know from here, at least it is to me (though I do tend to have a pretty high level of confidence from folks around here)

JohnKoaWood

Wire transfers I have delt with (again, varies from bank to bank) can take up to 3 days to be released by the recieving bank...

I would go one step further, and do a wire transfer for 50% of the agreed price.. refundable if for some reason the deal doesn't come to pass as agreed by both parties.. I would even extend so far as to draw up a contract stating this.. a pre-bill of sale if you will.

pnbell

When I bought my car: The guy (who i'd met once before) picked me up and we drove to his house, so that after the purchase I could drive the 944 to the DMV (using my Saab Plates)...

I had $5,000 cash in my pocket, and 6" Scuba knife tucked in my pants! HA HA

All said and done, the deal went fine. But there is just something unsettling about buying something with unsecured funds..

Good Luck with the Deal!

andys-944

When I bought my 944 in florida advertised on CL (I live in MI) I flew down looked at the car and went to the bank and paid cash as long as you get a signed bill of sale (reciept in UK speak) you fine.

krystar

....that's interesting. when i bought my house, i wired my down payment. i went to citibank at 9am. the wire transfer was verified by seller's agent at 10:30 when my closing was.

divil

Yes but what JohnKoaWood is saying is true, it does vary a lot from bank to bank. My bank has assured me it will happen very quickly but they have no way of knowing how long the seller's bank will keep the money for. I think I will ask him to check that out with his bank. As regards drawing up a contract etc., it's getting into territory I really know nothing about and I wouldn't really know where to start.

JohnKoaWood

Right now, as you and he have settled on a price, you have whats called a gentlemans contract.. you and he have agreed on a price for an item, with some of the fine details yet to worked out.. these fine details need to wrapped up (hence the deposit, with ballance on title transfer)..

The only real reason to put it on paper would be if one or both of you arent sure the other is going to follow through on the deal as agreed.

I am sure via communicating with the seller you two can work out some agreement (weather it be a small notional ammount, half the price, or whatever) via wire transfer now, with the ballance on transfer of the title to you, or as you have stated he wants the full agreed price via wire transfer..

Negotiating an oral contract is often mistaken as just a conversation, but often times it can be much more (some states, including GA recognize oral contracts)..

The seller is concerned you are not going to follow through, or for some reason don't have the money.. he removes the listing, considders it sold, and for whatever reason you DON'T buy it.. he is out the time, effort and money for the listing..

This is why he is asking for money up front..

You are concerned that there is some major problem with the car, and after paying for it might not want it, we can all understand this.. and should you send him 100% of the money, you have in effect bought the car, which is in GA..

I am sure if you communicate with the seller, and come to some reasonable agreement on transfer of a deposit, with balance in cash on pickup, you can both be more at ease with the sale!

Good Luck, feel free to give me a call if you need any assistance or advice!

JohnKoaWood

A verified tranfer, and released funds are 2 different things, and many people confuse the two..

I.E.:
You deposit a check to your bank, the bank places a 5 day hold on the check...

The bank is waiting the 5 days to ensure the check is legit, the transfer of money is instantly done, but they wait the 5 days anyway...

It is a bankers shell game, and yes on a large scale, they are dealing with shuffling millions of dollars a day.. the daily interest adds up quickly!

They can do the same thing to wire transfers... again the money is instantly available to the bank, just not to the recipient.. they are allowed to hold it, in accordance with your terms of service, by federal law... did you read all the paperwork when you got your bank account in the first place?

Sellers agent will often confirm a transfer, despite the bank hold... it makes things easier for the transaction, with little to no risk to either party.

Yes I deal with this type of thing every day, including simple and complex contracts, oral, written, and often times misunderstood..

How many among us know, that if either party doesn't fully understand the terms and conditions, or expresses a different understanding then the other party, that the contract, in the eyes of the law, is null and void? Yes this even applies to written contracts... which is why large organizations pass their contracts, both incoming and outgoing, through a legal review BEFORE issuing or signing them!

krystar

what...u mean the 10pounds of legalese that layman like me is supposed to understand? hehe

so then my wire tranfer was only verified that "i gave the money to the receiving bank" but the sellers won't be able to cash out until...the receiving bank says that citibank actually gave me the money?

JohnKoaWood

No, they can't cash out until the recieving bank releases the funds to their account, this time period varries from bank to bank.

MOST banks I deal with it is 3 days, I have also seen banks with 5 day holds, as well as banks (usually credit unions) that have no hold and release funds to the account as soon as the transfer is recieved!

67King

Then get on the phone with his bank and find out. Anything more than a half day is completely unacceptable in a competitive environment. I trust John's stance on this, but of the several that I dealt with, both incoming and outgoing, they were all done as soon as it passed through the Feds. This was with 4 different banks (2 CU's, 2 banks) for cars, and two different ones in dealing with selling my company.

Having said all of that, once the money is in his bank's possession, you've paid for the car, it is yours. His bank's policy of not releasing the money right away is his problem, not yours. Both banks can verify that the money has been sent, period. The only possible problem with this is if there is a lein on the car at a bank that is different from the one recieveing the funds. But presumably that's not the case from what has been posted here.

Again, I would offer no more than a $500 deposit, then wire the rest once you get there. I've had a not be not as advertised once I got there, thank heavens I didn't pay for the whole thing, because it took over a month to get back my deposit because they guy had already spent it.

divil

Technically yes, but I suppose it's really a question of finding a common ground that we're both happy with. I think at this point the best thing is for the two of us to talk about it and reach a compromise. Fundamentally, the deal is solid. Thanks for the advice everyone.

pettybird

send him a transfer/check for everything above $9900, and take that in cash.

I understand your apprehension but you're definitely stressing out because you're new to this.