Asking a potential buyer to place an earnest deposit at risk without providing at least some insight into actual financials seems unreasonable to me.    

The seller informed us that they do not have a formal lease with the tenants or security deposits. 

As for putting 20% down vs 0-3.5%, I generally DON'T believe that putting more deposit down than needed by your Lender, just to improve cash flow, is a good idea.

I have a deposit for the model 3 as we probably going to buy 2 of those.if this roof is as advertised I will put them on everything I touch.

Were you able to get creative somehow on it, or will it just be a straight 20% down deposit and commercial loan? 

We are mainly isolating our searches to the following criteria for Holds and Flips...For Holds, we are looking to begin with a few properties that tick the following boxes:Able to purchase below market valueHave potential for Forced AppreciationAble to increase rentAble to recycle the deposit into the next purchaseCashflow positive (pre-tax)Weekly rent is approx. double the (buy price divided by 10); eg, $300/wk : $150,000 costFor Flips, we are looking for properties that will provide us with the following:Able to purchase below market valueHave potential for Forced AppreciationGrowth areas (5% or more)

:- http://www.military.com/money/home-ownership/how-f...From previous threads, my understanding is that once your first VA loan is issued, you can still utilize any of the allowable remainder (to total no more than $417k according to that website) when you move, without having to pay out the first loan.With an FHA-approved low-deposit loan, everything I've read suggests that you can only have ONE of those loans at a time, meaning that when you move but would still like the same type of loan for your next home, your first one would need to either be paid out, or, (as many seem to like the idea of), convert THAT loan into a conventional loan (which works best if your equity is already say 30% by then) before re-applying for another FHA-approved loan for your next primary. 

I will be asking for a pet deposit even though he has tried to hide the dog.

We will NOT contract a property unless we have a buyer lined up or we put up a non-refundable earnest money deposit.  

@Bill Gulley3 legal ways to sell RE in Florida1. act as a licensed agent or broker2. own it (be on title-even someone with as little as 1% recorded interest)3. have equitable interestDBPR has stated to have equitable interest you must have a "reasonable" deposit.