This works.  One of the better deals I ever made.  Volvo payloader by Boston. I'm northwest IA.  I talked to his dealer who had serviced the machine and did all the sleuthing I could to validate the person selling and verify everything he said.  I had a sizeable freight company lined up to snag it when they were in the area.  All three of us knew it was going to be a wire transfer when the truck showed up.  Freight company called  me that they were close, I called seller quick to be sure he would be there.  I raced to the bank and as soon as the truck called me that he was ready to load, we wired the money.  Yes, you need to know how fast both bank's wiring services are ahead of time.   This was maybe 8 yrs ago.  Some risk on my part, but I've put a lot of cheap hours on that loader.  Cost me $2 a mile freight.  1500 miles.