Transferring Large Sums of Money, USA [solved]

Mmmm... Cocks...

My brother and I are trying to buy a car for my dad on his birthday. A Triumph TR6, very few available. We found one which may actually be sold tonight and is really THE ONE as it were.
My brother needed to transfer me 10k which we didn't think would be an issue. The bank said they have a limit of 2.5k a day.
I checked those money gram places I see in grocery stores and they seem to have the same limit. My brother contacted the bank again (we use the same bank, Wells Fargo) and to see if I could access the funds directly but he said there was basically nothing they could do.

Any easy ways to move that much money quickly?

DarkPrimus

Limits placed on moving large amounts of money quickly and easily are there as safeguards, for the most part.

Maybe talk to the seller and explain that you have the money, but that there's a problem with getting it all at once. See if they are willing to wait for a bank-issued check to be mailed, or wait a few days for the full amount to have been transferred, or "we pay you X amount today, then X amount tomorrow, until the full amount is paid, and then you give us the car."

Whatever you come up with, if it involves giving some money but not getting the goods, get some paperwork written up and signed to make sure you don't end up out money and a car.

bowen

Are you on student checking accounts or something? There shouldn't be an upper limit to a personal check outside of like a few hundred million or whatever stipulations your bank is putting on your account.

$10,000 is certainly in the realm of reasonable for a personal check, though it's right at the limit before the bank starts making you sign paperwork for the IRS.

Direct bank wires and ATMs probably will still have limits but I've never seen a hand written check have a limitation on a normal checking account (though many will have a limit on how much you can deposit with an app, but that's usually $5000).

Jebus314

bowen wrote: »

Are you on student checking accounts or something? There shouldn't be an upper limit to a personal check outside of like a few hundred million or whatever stipulations your bank is putting on your account.

$10,000 is certainly in the realm of reasonable for a personal check, though it's right at the limit before the bank starts making you sign paperwork for the IRS.

Direct bank wires and ATMs probably will still have limits but I've never seen a hand written check have a limitation on a normal checking account (though many will have a limit on how much you can deposit with an app, but that's usually $5000).

The issue is likely that the personal check won't clear for a few days. So if you want to consolidate money from several accounts, and write one check to the seller, it will take probably 5 business days or so for everything to actually get to the single account.

That being said I don't see why you need to consolidate. Just have the brother write the 10k check to the seller, and then write your own check for the remaining.

Eat it You Nasty Pig.

transfers between accounts at the same institution shouldn't be delayed by check clearance though; the bank can see the balance on both accounts

I guess you could go to one bank, get a cashier's check issued and deposit it at the other bank? That's no help if you're not in the same area though

bowen

Yeah the 5 day float might be a problem. Unfortunately moving any sum larger than about $1000 hits that 5 day float, most of the time the bank will front your account if you have a good history. Even with western union and even direct transfers.

The only way to get it quicker than that is via cash in person at the banks directly with both people.

10k might trigger an additional waiting time, and breaking it up into smaller transactions will trigger an automatic IRS freeze/audit on your accounts too, IIRC.

But there's no reason two people couldn't go halfsies if the person agrees to sell it that way.

Mmmm... Cocks...

bowen wrote: »

Are you on student checking accounts or something? There shouldn't be an upper limit to a personal check outside of like a few hundred million or whatever stipulations your bank is putting on your account.

$10,000 is certainly in the realm of reasonable for a personal check, though it's right at the limit before the bank starts making you sign paperwork for the IRS.

Direct bank wires and ATMs probably will still have limits but I've never seen a hand written check have a limitation on a normal checking account (though many will have a limit on how much you can deposit with an app, but that's usually $5000).

My brother lives across the country, so a check would still take a couple days.

Jebus314

As a last resort you might see if you can get yourself added to your brother's account remotely, thus giving you access to make a direct withdrawal in person at a local branch.

Mmmm... Cocks...

Jebus314 wrote: »

As a last resort you might see if you can get yourself added to your brother's account remotely, thus giving you access to make a direct withdrawal in person at a local branch.

He called the bank and asked if there was anyway I could access the funds directly from his account and they apparently said there was nothing he could do.
I'm going to go down there tomorrow morning and chat with them. My brother is loaded but a silly goose most of the time.

Jebus314

Mmmm... Cocks... wrote: »

Jebus314 wrote: »

As a last resort you might see if you can get yourself added to your brother's account remotely, thus giving you access to make a direct withdrawal in person at a local branch.

He called the bank and asked if there was anyway I could access the funds directly from his account and they apparently said there was nothing he could do.
I'm going to go down there tomorrow morning and chat with them. My brother is loaded but a silly goose most of the time.

I would be clear about asking for someone to have one time access to your account, and adding another person to your account "permanently" and giving them full access. There is definitely no way to do the one time access thing, but they might have a way for you to get added on the account without both people having to be in the same location. And in my experience you usually get access relatively quickly (like when I added my wife to my accounts I think it was either the same day or the next day that she could withdraw money from the counter).

edit- If you have a day or two though you should be able to get a check overnighted and have it by end of the day tomorrow. I would at least check with usps. Because that would be much easier.

firewaterword

You should absolutely be able to transfer that amount of money via bank wire transfer. You might get charged twenty bucks or so in fees, but it should transfer pretty much instantly.

bowen

Someone who is loaded should be able to bully a bank to not be fucking morons too.

Mmmm... Cocks...

I went to the bank, they immediately said there should be no issue transferring me that much, period.
My brother had gone there twice, he is just a goose and a half. Thanks for the help though guys!