She left and cleaned the apartment thinking she would get the tenant's security deposit.

I was going to get a signed lease and security deposit minimum for him to start moving in boxes.  

We deposited 4k on earnest money deposit.

(http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/65176275/auckland-...)Its virtually impossible to find positive cashflow unless you have a massive deposit or renovate/add value after purchase.I've done a tiny bit of research into commercial investing - and the numbers up front seem to be fairly similar to residential, just bigger.

If they can't, then the contract will be released and you will receive your deposit back.

I live paycheck to paycheck and even coming up with a $20 earnest money deposit could potentially be difficult!

He stated that we could keep his security deposit because he broke the lease.

And I usually make a cash offer, with proof of funds, no contingencies, and a large e-m deposit.  

If you do not know what those even are it will be pretty easy to make a mess of things.Frankly you are headed in that direction, note trades do not generally have earnest money deposits.

If I was buying an REO I would give a large deposit 10%~ so my offer looks strong.