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What escrow is and how it works.
Escrow is the neutral middle of a home sale. A licensed company holds the money and the papers. It releases nothing until every condition in the signed instructions is met.
Guides
Escrow, explained before you need it.
13 short guides in plain English. Read them here, or print the PDF version and keep it with your papers.
Everyone
The California escrow timeline
Most California purchase escrows run 30 to 45 days. This guide walks through each stretch of a typical sale and shows which dates come from your contract.
Everyone
Wire fraud: how to send money safely
Criminals send fake wiring instructions that look like they came from escrow. One habit stops them: call your escrow officer at a number you found yourself before you send money, and call again after.
Buyers
Buying a home: your part of escrow
What a California home buyer does during escrow, from the first deposit to closing day, and the contract dates that help protect your deposit.
Sellers
Selling a home: your part of escrow
What a California home seller does during escrow, from disclosures and loan payoffs to signing the deed and getting paid safely.
Owners and investors
Refinancing your home: how the escrow works
A refinance escrow pays off your old loan with the new one and records the new loan. There is no buyer or seller, so your lender’s schedule sets the pace.
Sellers
Selling a Leisure World home
Many homes in Leisure World Seal Beach are sold as shares in a housing cooperative, not as deeded houses. That changes the sale. The buyer has to be approved by the community, and escrow has to send in the resale package before closing can happen.
Everyone
Buying or selling a manufactured or mobile home
Many manufactured and mobile homes in California change owners through the state housing department, not the county recorder. If the home is in a park, the buyer also needs park approval.
Sellers
Selling a home from an estate or trust
When a home is sold by an estate or a trust, escrow has to follow the court’s rules or the trust’s terms, along with the contract. Here is what to expect and what to gather.
Owners and investors
Buying or selling a business: bulk sale escrow
When a business changes hands in California, a bulk sale escrow gives the seller’s creditors notice and pays valid claims before the seller is paid. If a liquor license is part of the deal, the state gets a say too.
Owners and investors
1031 exchanges: the escrow side
A 1031 exchange lets an investor sell one property and buy another while putting off tax on the gain. The tax law sets strict deadlines. Escrow’s job is to keep both closings on schedule.
Everyone
Selling without an agent
You can buy or sell a California home without real estate agents, and escrow works the same way. The buyer and seller take on the jobs the agents would normally handle.
Everyone
Holding escrows
A holding escrow keeps money or documents with a neutral company until a condition both sides agreed on is met. People use one when a promise needs someone in the middle, such as repairs finished after closing.