Escrow & Settlement

What neutral means here

We do not represent the buyer. We do not represent the seller. We represent the instructions both of them signed.

That is the entire basis of the role, and it is the reason an escrow holder can be trusted with the money. When someone asks us to do something the instructions do not authorise, the answer is no — including when it would be convenient.

What is happening while escrow is open

Most of the work is invisible from the outside. It looks like this:

• Ordering payoff demands and beneficiary statements from existing lenders
• Collecting and satisfying the lender’s conditions for the new loan
• Prorating taxes, interest, rents and HOA dues to the day
• Clearing the requirements raised by title examination
• Preparing the settlement statement and confirming figures with every party
• Scheduling signing and getting documents to the right people in the right order
• Recording, disbursing, and reconciling the file to zero

How funds are handled

Deposits sit in a trust account, separate from operating funds, reconciled and accounted to your file.

Wire instructions are confirmed by voice, using a number you looked up independently, every time. We will never email you instructions or a change to them, and no one at this company will ever ask you to act on emailed instructions without calling first. Wire fraud is the single largest financial risk in a real estate transaction, and it is almost always executed by email.

Closing and after

Signing is scheduled once the figures are final, not before. After recording, funds disburse, the final settlement statement goes out, and the policy issues.

The file stays open with us until every item on it is resolved, including the ones that resolve after closing day.