What is involved in escrow? What does an escrow company do? Today I’m joined by Alicia Smith, who’s going to answer all of our escrow questions.
Looking to sell a home in Southern California?
Looking to buy a home in Southern California?
Today I’m joined by Alicia Smith from Premier Services to answer the question, “What is escrow?”
Escrow is a neutral third party who works on behalf of all parties in a home purchase transaction. This means that an escrow company works with the seller, the buyer, the buyer’s agent, the seller’s agent, and the banks. The escrow officer will go through all of the paperwork and collect all of the funds to ensure that everybody is doing their part in the transaction according to the rules and regulations.
Escrow can also be used as a term to refer to the timeframe between the beginning of the transaction and the end. “Opening escrow” means beginning the closing process.
In addition to handling all of the funds and paperwork of the transaction, an escrow officer will also contact the clients and their agents, acting as a liaison between both buying and selling parties.
There is often extensive communication between these parties, and an escrow officer will let each party know what they have, what they need in order to get the transaction to close, and whether the transaction is proceeding as scheduled.
An escrow company also protects the interests of the clients. The buyer is protected by the fact that their funds are in a regulated trust account, while the seller is protected because the escrow company ensures that these funds get to their destination on time.
It’s important to have a neutral third party to act on everybody’s behalf.
For this reason, it’s very important to have a neutral third party who does not have an interest in either the buyer or seller to act on everybody’s behalf. Escrow also works solely based on written instructions agreed upon by all parties; there are no verbal instructions allowed.
If you have any questions about escrow or the closing process, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Alicia at 949-383-5527 or to me by phone or email. Either of us would be happy to help you!
