What is Escrow?

If you are not from Southern California, you may not be familiar with what an Escrow company is or does. In real estate, once an offer is accepted, we use escrow companies from the very start of the transaction until it is closed. We actually refer to this time from when an offer is accepted, until it closes as "being in escrow".  So if you hear someone say they are "in escrow", it simply means they are in the process of buying or selling their home with another buyer or seller. Typically, this process takes 30 days, although sometimes it can be 45 or 60.  On some occasions, such as all-cash transactions, the escrow time period can be less since there is no loan needed, which is a time consuming process to obtain the money for a loan.  But, to put it simply, an escrow company is a 3rd neutral party that collects the paper work from all the people involved in the transaction, and also holds all the money in a transaction until the end of the sale, when all the money is dispersed. If the buyer and seller find themselves at odds with one another, then the escrow company will hold the money (this is typically the deposit) until both parties agree on who gets the money. In order for money to be released from an escrow company, both parties must give their consent to do so or escrow may be directed on what to do with money from a court order if both parties can't agree. Every part of the country does real estate differently. Some parts of the country uses lawyers to help with these things, other parts use a title company...but if you are here in Southern California, you are likely to be using an escrow company. And just like any other company used during a real estate transaction, I have a few of them that I can recommend if you ever need one. So feel free to call me for that or any other real estate needs you may have.