The sale or purchase of a single-family home is often the most significant financial transaction in a person’s lifetime. If you are buying or selling a home, or refinancing, you will want to make certain the process is relatively stress-free and goes as smoothly and reliably as possible. In order to do that, you will want to select and use a licensed, qualified, and competitively priced escrow agent. While the escrow process in California is not necessarily easily understood, it is the most commonly used procedure by which real estate is bought, sold, and refinanced in the State. To many home buyers and sellers, escrow is more like a mysterious experience where sums of money and legal documents change hands, and real estate is magically transferred to another at the “close” of escrow.
Read the California Real Estate Escrow Survival Guide by clicking here.
At its essence, escrow is the process whereby parties to the transfer or financing of real estate deposit documents, funds, or other things of value with a neutral and disinterested third party (the escrow agent), which are held in trust until a specific event or condition takes place according to specific, mutual written instructions from the parties. Escrow is essentially a clearinghouse for the receipt, exchange, and distribution of the items needed to transfer or finance real estate. When the event occurs or the condition is satisfied, a distribution or transfer takes place. When all of the elements necessary to consummate the real estate transaction have occurred, the escrow is “closed”.
Read the California Real Estate Escrow Survival Guide by clicking here.