To send earnest money, confirm the escrow holder named in your signed purchase agreement, choose a payment method that office accepts (usually a cashier’s check, a wire transfer, or a digital earnest money platform), send the funds before your contractual deadline, verify any wiring instructions by phone before you release money, and get a written receipt once the deposit clears. That is the whole job, but each step has a way of going wrong, and one of them, wire fraud, can cost you the entire deposit. Here is how to send earnest money without becoming one of those stories.
Start With Your Purchase Agreement
Everything you need is in the contract you already signed. Pull it out before you touch a checkbook or a banking portal.
Three details matter most. The deposit amount, typically 1% to 3% of the purchase price. The deadline, usually one to three business days after the contract takes effect. And the escrow holder, almost always a neutral third party such as a title company, an escrow firm, or a real estate attorney, named by its exact legal entity name in the contract.
Getting the payee name exactly right is not a formality. A check or wire made out to the wrong party can delay your deposit or route it somewhere it should not go. If anything in the contract is ambiguous, call your agent or the escrow officer and clear it up before you send.
Business days means Monday through Friday, excluding federal public holidays. Count carefully if a holiday falls inside your window. Missing the deadline can put you in breach and give the seller the right to walk.
Choose a Payment Method the Escrow Office Accepts
Not every title company accepts every option. Ask the escrow officer what they take before you commit.
Personal Check
The simplest choice when time allows. Write the check from your checking account, confirm you have the funds to cover it, and note the property address or escrow file number on the memo line so the escrow company can match it to your file. The catch is clearing time. Banks typically hold personal checks for several business days before the funds are confirmed, so this only works when your deadline has room.
Cashier’s Check
Bank-guaranteed. The bank pulls the money from your account when it issues the check, so the escrow company knows the funds are good the moment they receive it. You get one at a branch by requesting a check made out to the escrow or title company. Fees are small, typically around $10. This is one of the most trusted ways to send earnest money.
Wire Transfer
The fastest way to move a large sum between banks. You initiate a wire through your bank’s online portal or at a branch using the routing number and account number the escrow company provides. Domestic wires usually settle within hours, which makes them the right choice when your deadline is tight. Most banks charge $15 to $35 for an outgoing domestic wire, sometimes more at a branch. Once the wire processes, your bank generates a reference number you can share with your agent for confirmation.
Wires are also where fraud happens. Read the verification section below before you send one.
ACH Transfer
Cheaper than a wire, but many title companies refuse to accept ACH for earnest money because ACH payments can be reversed by the sender’s bank. Wires generally cannot. Title companies want certainty the funds will stay in escrow. If your escrow company does accept ACH, expect one to two business days for it to clear.
Digital Earnest Money Platform
A newer option built specifically for real estate deposits. Platforms such as Earnnest let you move funds digitally without exchanging bank details over email, and they generate real-time receipts for everyone in the transaction. The security advantage is real: these platforms keep wiring instructions out of email, which is where most real estate fraud starts. Availability varies by market and by title company, so ask.
Get the Wiring Instructions the Right Way
If you are wiring funds, you need the receiving bank’s name, its nine-digit routing number, and the specific escrow account number. Get these directly from the escrow officer by calling a phone number you already have on file. Not a number pulled from an email. Not a number from a text. A number you had before the wire instructions arrived.
You will typically also fill out a wiring authorization form that lists the property address and the legal names of all parties to the transaction. Match every field to the contract.
Verify Before You Send: Wire Fraud Is the Real Risk
This is the part of the process that costs buyers the most when it goes wrong. In 2024, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center logged more than 9,300 real estate fraud complaints totaling over $173 million in losses.1FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. 2024 IC3 Annual Report The pattern is consistent. Criminals compromise the email account of a real estate agent, title company, or lender, then send you convincing wiring instructions that route your deposit to a fraudulent account. By the time anyone catches it, the money is gone.
Three habits keep you out of that statistic:
- Verify every wiring instruction by phone before you send, using a number you got independently, not one from the email containing the instructions.
- Treat any last-minute change to wire details as a red flag. Confirm through your known phone number before acting. Legitimate title companies and lenders do not change their bank information via a rushed email.
- Immediately after wiring, call the escrow company to confirm receipt. Do not wait for email confirmation. A phone call closes the window during which a fraudulent redirect could go undetected.
If your title company offers a digital earnest money platform, seriously consider it. Removing wiring instructions from email removes the attack surface entirely.
Deliver the Payment and Get Proof
Once you have picked your method, getting the money into the escrow company’s hands is the last step.
Hand-delivering a check is the most straightforward option. Walk into the escrow office, hand it over, and ask for a timestamped receipt before you leave. That receipt is your proof of delivery if anyone later disputes when the deposit arrived.
If distance rules out hand delivery, use a courier service that provides a tracking number and requires a signature on delivery. Monitor the tracking status until it shows delivered. Standard mail is a poor choice for earnest money because you have no proof of when or whether the check arrived.
For a wire, the process is digital from start to finish. After entering the escrow company’s bank details in your banking portal, you will typically go through multi-factor authentication to confirm the transaction. Once your bank processes the wire, it generates an Input Message Accountability Data (IMAD) number that tracks the transfer through the Federal Reserve’s Fedwire system. Share that number with your real estate agent so they can confirm receipt with the escrow company.
Whatever method you used, get a formal receipt from the escrow agent confirming the funds have cleared and are sitting in the escrow account. Your agent uses that receipt to show the seller’s side that you have met your contractual obligation.
One Note on Large Cash-Equivalent Payments
If you are paying earnest money with cash or a cash equivalent, there is a federal reporting threshold worth knowing about. Anyone in a trade or business who receives more than $10,000 in cash in a single transaction must file IRS Form 8300.2Internal Revenue Service. Form 8300 and Reporting Cash Payments of Over $10,000 For this purpose, “cash” includes currency, cashier’s checks, money orders, and bank drafts with a face value of $10,000 or less when used in certain transactions.3Internal Revenue Service. Understand How to Report Large Cash Transactions The filing obligation is on the recipient, not on you as the buyer, but expect to provide identification and other information if the transaction triggers the requirement. This does not affect most buyers who pay by personal check, cashier’s check above the threshold amount, or wire, but it is worth knowing if you are considering a large cash-equivalent payment.