First, a little about "escrow". To finish the sale of a house, a neutral, third party (the escrow holder) is brought into the picture to assure the process will close correctly and on time. A home is said to be in escrow when in the closing transaction, funds is secured by a third party on behalf of a buyer and a seller when the exchange of money takes place. PayPal is a simple way to think of an escrow company.
The escrow agent is careful to assure that all terms and conditions of the seller's and buyer's agreement are met prior to the sale being completed. This includes getting funds and documents, completing required forms, and seeking out the release documents for any loans or liens that were paid with the transaction, assuring you have a clean title to your property before the purchase price is fully paid.
Escrow agents collect the following records:
- Title insurance policies
- Terms of sale and any seller-assisted financing
- Requests for payment for various services to be paid out of escrow funds
- Loan documents
- Tax statements
- Fire and other insurance policies
Upon finishing of all instructions of the escrow, closing can take place. All outstanding payments and fees are collected and paid off at this time (covering expenses such as title insurance, inspections, real estate commissions). The home's title gets transferred to you and title insurance is issued per the policies of your individual escrow process.
At the close of escrow, payments are submitted in an acceptable form to the escrow. I'll keep you informed on the procedure.