How much earnest money do you need to buy a house in Clermont, FL?
Earnest money in Florida is typically 1 to 3 percent of the purchase price, and no state law sets a required amount, so it's negotiable in your contract. It's held in escrow by the title company, not the seller, and it's fully refundable if you cancel during your inspection period. On a $450,000 Clermont home, that's roughly $4,500 to $13,500, and it's credited toward your cash to close at the end.
By Amber Welch | June 12, 2026
The day you go under contract on a home in Clermont, you wire real money into an escrow account, often within three business days. For a lot of buyers, that's the first moment the purchase stops feeling theoretical. It's also the moment the questions start: How much do I actually have to put up? Where does it go? And what happens to it if this deal falls apart?
Here's the straight answer, the way I walk my own buyers through it before they ever sign.
How much to put down, and what the number signals
One percent is the common baseline in Florida. Two to three percent is normal when a home is competitive and you want your offer to stand out. There's no legal minimum or maximum. The amount lives in your offer, and it's one of the levers we set together.
A bigger deposit does one thing well: it tells the seller you're serious and unlikely to walk for a trivial reason. A smaller deposit keeps more of your cash liquid and slightly limits your exposure if something goes wrong outside your contingencies. Neither is automatically right. The correct number depends on how competitive the home is and how much certainty the seller needs.
This is where Clermont's current market matters. As of mid-2026 we're in a balanced-to-buyer's market. Homes are taking around 68 days to sell, up from about 59 a year ago, and inventory is elevated. Buyers have negotiating room they didn't have in 2021 or 2022. In that environment, you usually don't need to throw 3 percent at a deal to be taken seriously. A moderate 1 to 2 percent deposit is often plenty competitive, which means you can keep more cash on hand for inspections, your appraisal, and closing.
A quick example on a $445,000 home, close to Clermont's current median sale price:
- 1 percent: $4,450
- 2 percent: $8,900
- 3 percent: $13,350
Whatever the figure, it's typically due within three business days of the effective date, the day both parties have signed and delivered the contract. Miss that window and you're technically in default before the deal even gets going, so the deposit timeline is one of the first deadlines I track for clients.
Who actually holds your money
Your earnest money never goes straight to the seller, and it shouldn't sit in the listing agent's pocket either. It goes into escrow, held by a neutral third party until closing. In Central Florida that's almost always the title and escrow company handling your closing, though a real estate broker's escrow account or a closing attorney can also hold it.
That neutrality is the whole point. The escrow holder can't just hand the money to one side because the other side is unhappy. It's released according to the contract, at closing or when both parties agree, or through a formal dispute process if they don't. When you write the check or send the wire, confirm it's going to a reputable title company's escrow account, and never send funds based on emailed instructions you haven't verified by phone. Wire fraud in real estate is real, and a quick verification call protects you.
When you get it back, and when you don't
This is the part that actually keeps buyers up at night, so let's be precise. Your earnest money is protected by your contingencies, and it's exposed the moment those contingencies lapse.
Under the standard Florida FAR/BAR AS IS contract, you have three main protections:
- The inspection period. This is your broadest shield. It defaults to 15 calendar days, though it's negotiable, and during it you can cancel for any reason at all and get your full deposit back. Don't like the inspection report, change your mind, get cold feet about the commute on Hartwood Marsh, it doesn't matter. Inside that window, the money is yours to reclaim.
- The financing contingency. If your loan is denied and you follow the contract's documentation and notice steps within the window, your deposit is refundable.
- The title contingency. If the title search turns up defects that can't be cleared, you can cancel and recover your deposit.
The trap is timing. Once your inspection period ends, that "for any reason" protection is gone. After that, only your remaining contingencies stand between you and a forfeited deposit. If you walk away with no contractual reason once your contingencies have expired, the seller is generally entitled to keep your earnest money as liquidated damages. That phrase shows up right in the contract, and it means exactly what it sounds like.
This is the same deadline logic that governs whether you can renegotiate after a rough inspection or a low appraisal. If you want the deeper version of that, I break it down in my guide on your options when an appraisal comes in low in Clermont, and the full transaction timeline lives in what happens after you accept an offer. The throughline in all of it is the same: in a Florida AS IS deal, your protection is only as good as the deadline you're still inside.
It's not an extra cost, and what happens to it at closing
One thing that genuinely relieves buyers: earnest money is not money you lose. It's not a fee. At closing, it's credited toward your down payment and cash to close. So if you put down $8,900 in earnest money and your total cash to close is $30,000, you bring the remaining $21,100 on closing day. The deposit was just an early installment.
That's also why earnest money and your overall closing math are connected. If you want to see how the deposit fits into everything else you'll bring to the table, my Clermont buyer closing costs guide lays out the full picture, from doc stamps on the mortgage to prepaid escrow reserves.
What if the two sides disagree over who gets the deposit after a deal collapses? In Florida, the escrow holder can't just pick a winner. The contract and state rules lay out a process, which can include a written agreement between the parties, an escrow disbursement order, mediation, or in rare cases a court action. It can tie the money up for a while, which is one more reason to make every cancellation decision inside a clean, documented contingency window rather than on a verbal hunch. Get every change in writing, signed, before the deadline.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much earnest money do I need to buy a house in Florida?
Typically 1 to 3 percent of the purchase price. There's no required amount under Florida law, so it's negotiable in your contract. On a $450,000 Clermont home that's usually $4,500 to $13,500, and it's generally due within about three business days of the effective date.
Who holds the earnest money in a Florida real estate deal?
A neutral third party holds it in escrow, almost always the title and escrow company handling your closing in Central Florida. A real estate broker's escrow account or a closing attorney can also hold it. The seller never holds your deposit directly.
Is earnest money refundable in Florida?
Yes, within your contingencies. Under the FAR/BAR AS IS contract you can cancel for any reason during the inspection period, which defaults to 15 calendar days, and recover your full deposit. The financing and title contingencies protect it too. Once those windows close, the deposit is at risk.
Do I lose my earnest money if I back out?
Only if you back out without a contractual reason after your contingencies have expired, in which case the seller can usually keep it as liquidated damages. Cancel inside a valid contingency window and follow the contract's notice steps, and you get it back.
How much earnest money should I offer in Clermont's 2026 market?
In today's balanced-to-buyer's Clermont market, a moderate 1 to 2 percent deposit is often competitive enough, since buyers have more negotiating room than they did a few years ago. On a very popular home you may go higher to stand out. The right number depends on the specific listing, and it's worth setting with an agent who knows what's actually winning offers right now.
The bottom line for Clermont buyers
Earnest money is simpler than it feels once you see the structure: 1 to 3 percent of the price, held in escrow by the title company, fully refundable during your inspection period, exposed once your contingencies lapse, and credited back to you at closing. The risk isn't the money itself. It's missing a deadline.
If you're buying in Clermont or the surrounding area, every client I represent gets a free home warranty included, because protecting your investment from day one matters. I'll also help you set a deposit that makes your offer competitive without over-exposing your cash, confirm it's held by a reputable title company, and track every contingency deadline so your money stays protected. Ready to start your search? Let's talk through what you're looking for and build a plan that fits your budget. Start at amberinorlando.myflodesk.com/homepage.
About Amber Welch
Amber Welch is a Realtor® and SFR (Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource) with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Results Realty, serving buyers, sellers, and investors in Clermont, FL and across Lake, Orange, Seminole, Osceola, and Polk counties. Before real estate, Amber guided multimillion-dollar companies as a CFO, and she brings that same precision and strategy to every transaction. She specializes in affordable housing, first-time buyers, and helping sellers maximize their equity in Central Florida's rapidly growing market. Connect with Amber at amberinorlando.com.
