How have you been making payments so far, to a servicer or directly to the seller? 

It’s been 3 months since I made the deposit .

The other part of this is that in addition to this, we are borrowing from our home equity line of credit to put down the 20% deposit- so we have that payment too.   

Furthermore if they are always paying they probably will stiff you in the end if they know they aren't going to get the deposit back. 

Higher deposits might be an option to cover more damage.

You can also just do a self-directed IRA and start making your money work better for what you are doing. 

Here's a good folder setup.Bank StatementsCredit Card StatementsProperty Management StatementsMortgage StatementsSTR Platform StatementsInvoicesReceiptsClosing Documents (Purchase/Refi/Sale)LeasesCheck & Deposit ImagesVendor ContractsW-9’s & 1099’s

Hey @Thanh Lu, we don't do much direct bookings but we do have a $500 security deposit.

If these are new cash buyers you’ve never worked with before, or you are using someone else’s list, then you need to include a NON-REFUNDABLE Earnest Money Deposit in your assignment contract.

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs: Loudoun County Virginia80 acre parcel Entitlement for 30 1 to 1.5 acre estate lots and 40 acre remainder parcel with large million dollar home.Purchase price  3.5 milEM deposits non refundable  50k up front 50k during Entitlement cost ( survey, geo , water , artifacts, Soils Engineer , city fees)  350k Capital partner  ME  provide all the cash up front.  450k to my client who found and prosecuted the platMultiple offers from all the biggest builders in that market  IE Toll  Lennar DR and a few regionals.Closed today with 1.1 million cash profit  PLUS the 40 acres and home value about at least 2 mil free and clear.My fee is double my money so we made 450k today.My client made about 650k in cash and the property  free and clear..