Once you've decided on an offering price, you will need to determine how much earnest money you want to deposit.  You will already have spoken with a lender (we can help you with names if you need one) and will have been pre-approved and given options for mortgages and payment requirements for each.  You will want the "earnest money deposit" is large enough to show the seller that you're a serious buyer but not so large that you're tying up significant funds.   We can discuss with you the amount relative to your offer and your mortgage choices.   The deposit will be inaccessable to you, held in escrow and will be applied to your costs at close of escrow.

Another reason that you will want to limit your deposit is "just in case".  Although significant problems are the exception and not the rule, they do occur.  Fewer funds + less risk. 

In real estate, there is an exception to practically every rule.  This is another one... In a hot Las Vegas real estate market there may be multiple offers on the property that interests you and a large deposit may impress a seller so that they accept your offer instead of someone elses, even if the other offer is the same price or even slightly higher. 

'To put it another way, since larger deposits generally impress sellers, you might also discover that a larger earnest money deposit may convince the seller to accept a lower offer.