Residential Sales
The purchase or sale of a home are arguably two of the most important transactions a person will negotiate. It is natural for new buyers and sellers to have several questions as they navigate the unfamiliar terrain of the real estate world. In order to have the most satisfactory experience possible, it is important as a buyer or seller that the companies you select to help you through the real estate process are established, reputable, and willing to work together to ensure your end goals are met.
The Residential Escrow Process
Selecting Your Team
As a buyer or seller, you have the right to select your real estate agent and lender, and you may suggest to your agent your preferred Title Insurance Company, Natural Hazard Disclosure Company, Home Warranty Company and Escrow Company, even if your real estate agent provides some of these services “in-house.”
Real Estate Agent & Escrow Team
Real estate agents provide service to the public by helping people with the purchase or sale of a home. They are trained and tested vigorously and should have the skill set and knowledge to answer most, if not all, of the buyer’s or seller’s questions. It is important for a real estate agent to have a team of experts standing behind them, as most in the industry can confirm, the intricacies of each real estate transaction are diverse and limitless.
On the most basic level, new and experienced real estate agents rely on their escrow team to coordinate the purchase or sale of a property.
Your escrow company does this by:
• Honoring Purchase Agreement details
• Working directly with the client’s lender
• Holding money safely
• Ensuring title is clear of liens and ready to be transferred
• Advising during difficult transactions
• Ironing out and resolving any unknown or unforeseen issues so that the sale can close as scheduled.
Additionally, real estate agents rely on their escrow team to provide net sheets, help answer unusual title transfer questions, and speak to the client on their behalf if the client requires more specific and detailed transaction information.
The Escrow Process
In most cases the sale of a residential property includes a new loan. Once a loan is approved, the lender deposits loan proceeds to the title company and the buyers deposit the down payment and closing costs to the escrow company. The escrow company is insured and will safely hold the money until the transaction is complete. The sellers will deposit the deed for the subject property into escrow. Once the escrow company has ensured that all conditions of the escrow have been met (Purchase Agreement details, title, etc.), the deed will be recorded in buyers’ names, a trust deed for the loan amount will be recorded and the net proceeds will be released to the sellers.
In more common terms, everything comes into your escrow company – loan money, down payment, closing costs, deed on the property, etc. Your escrow company holds the items safely and completes all of the essential work needed to ensure all terms of the Purchase Agreement are met, title is cleared, everything is recorded properly, and money is disbursed to the correct parties in the correct amounts.
As a buyer, seller, and agent, you will want to ensure that your escrow company is qualified and capable of handling a multitude of escrow needs efficiently, honestly, and in a time-conscious manner.
Selecting Your Escrow Company
As a licensed independent escrow company, International City Escrow, Inc. successfully and impartially fulfills the role of a “neutral third party” in any real estate transaction, and holds the consumer’s funds in trust until the end of the transaction to safeguard all parties.
Our highest priority is to complete our escrow transactions with integrity, diligence, honesty, and in a timely manner, and we look forward to working with you.
For more information on residential sales escrow, contact one of our escrow officers today.
California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation
Escrow Institute of California - Licensed vs. Unlicensed Escrow Companies