If a buyer’s asking: “How do I get my earnest money back?” odds are that they’ll have the right to collect it and as the seller, you’ll be SOL. Real estate contracts are generally stacked in the buyer’s favor so that all the way up until the final signatures, they’ve got an escape route (with some exceptions).

Confused? Let’s spell out how this works, when you’re in the right to claim the earnest money the buyer put up, and what you can do to protect against total shock when the home sale you thought was ironclad falls through.