Chances of Losing EMD!

[Manuel A.]

So I was about to sign an offer and I asked my agent is my EMD "safe". As in, can I get it back if my estimates are wrong/not close to the actual bids, cause (and this is probably obvious, I know...) I made my estimates in person today and was going to get actual bids when I actually got the house under contract.

Anyway, the answer I got from my agent is, "I can not promise you that you will get all EM back. If you back out because a home needs more work than you expected you should get your money back with Fannie Mae but I can not guarantee what the bank will do." She also told me HUD won't give back the EMD, which I understand. But:

Can Fannie Mae or any other bank/entity (besides HUD) really keep my EMD if my contingencies aren't met?!

I was always under the impression that this is not true. I feel confident in my ability to estimate, but I'm not sure that I'd bet $10,000 on it! (Well 10% of $92,500 which is still close to $10k...) I also didn't know I needed 10% for an EMD, I only planned on $3k which isn't that big of a deal but it definitely just hit me like a ton of bricks with what she told me! I told her I'm doing a cash offer, but I meant to say "financed" so I hope that's where the 10% EMD confusion is coming from...

I love learning new things,
-Manuel