Attention Agents – Earnest & Option Money Delivery Has Gone Digital

Agents, are you tired of running earnest and option checks around when your client finds the perfect home and gets an offer accepted? Welcome to the digital future! With the help of two apps, physically taking option & earnest money anywhere is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Delivering Earnest Money Digitally

If you’ve worked with us before, then you know that we work with Frontier Title Company in Katy quite a bit. Frontier accepts earnest checks digitally via an app called ZOCCAM. Either the Buyer’s agent or the Buyer can deposit their earnest money with Frontier Title via this app.

No driving, no having to rearrange your Monday to make multiple trips picking up and dropping off earnest money when your Buyer has a contracted executed during holidays or weekends. Whether the title company is open or closed, ZOCCAM can accept their earnest deposit 24/7/365!

Numerous title companies also work with this app. If you don’t see your preferred title company listed, then you should make them aware of ZOCCAM.

Delivering Option Money Digitally

As long as the Seller can provide proof of receipt for the option money, there are numerous ways to digitally transfer option money from the buyer to the seller that doesn’t require personal contact between the two.

Our personal favorite is Zelle. Zelle works with almost every bank and allows you to send money to a recipient at any other bank that uses Zelle with only their email address or phone number and name on the account. There are no fees, and the transfer of funds is typically nearly instant.

If by some odd chance your Buyer uses a bank that doesn’t work with Zelle, you can use Venmo. The Venmo app is owned by Paypal and allows people to transfer funds between accounts. There are no fees providing the money being transferred is sourced from a method other than a credit card. You can also send and receive option money via traditional Paypal, but they charge fees when the transaction is for goods and services.

Embrace the Future

Being a chauffeur for two pieces of paper no longer needs to be a part of our job description. If your preferred title company isn’t embracing the digital future, then push them to do so, or consider working with a title company more willing to quickly adopt technological advances in the industry.