Write yourself a check made out to 'cash' and deposit it for the funds needed.Also, you may want to check if you need to KEEP 150% of the funds needed in escrow with the town.

Imagine if there was damage when a tenant left exceeding the deposit.

Consider all the things that could go wrong and see if the lease addresses them: unauthorized pets or tenants, early termination, security deposit, lease violations, late rent, eviction, lawn maintenance, parking, etc.5.

Hey Beth, most of the people I've seen in the space pay by wire transfer or direct deposit.

Should I discuss some bullet points and do a small contract between me and the buyer or is there a standard contract for such that we can agree up on terms prior to handing the deposit to the title company?

This allows you to ladder investments if you're saving up for a big deposit or if you just want the option every few months to extract principal or reinvest. 

What is the norm for deposits in your area? 

But we did not receive the deposit in 24hours.

We have a holding deposit/agreement in place and the lease is already signed and prorated rent paid. 

@Katie Southard For first tenant after we moved who said no way to get to post office during hours, we gave them our keys with signed addendum to the lease that said if they don’t return all of our mailbox keys at lease end, I’m reimbursed for my deposit from their security deposit, and that they are responsible to obtain new keys from post office, themselves, during lease term if lost.