['Chair]

sounds pretty well mapped out (re: your basic conditions) which I think makes this an easy "escrow" situation. good link - and it appears IMO to provide a decent price on "peace of mind" (~$35fee for a $1k escrow)

couple of questions...just curious
1. you say this guy is a stranger, but how strange? is he a friend of a friend or is this some sort of small time gig he's running? how did you come across him and his services.

2. how specific are the guidelines that you are providing to the wholesale-dealer? Is there a book w/ everything being auctioned and you are picking out a few and telling the dealer to go for them?

3. what's the price range of the vehicle you are looking at? Just wanna gage the percentage of the earnest monies. from what I've gathered, real-estate is typically around 1% of purchase price under normal conditions.