earnest money is usually something you pay and is carried as an asset until the purchase
Why try to put it back in the checking account? the check is entered and is valid even though not cashed yet.
If the earnest money was refunded, then rather than a journal entry, you should use make deposits, and use the earnest money asset account as the source account for the deposit
Journal entries should be the exception when using QB, they often do not work as you think they should, and when you use inventory type items they never work for inventory. It is much better to use the forms on the home page the way QB is designed to be used. Journal entries also bypass accrual/cash reporting, and will not show on many reports.
