Escrow Services

Escrow Definitions

  • Commercial Escrow: A commercial escrow involves the transfer or encumbrance of property other than residential, such as an office, more than 4 unit apartments, retail and industrial properties.
  • Residential Sale Escrow: A residential sale is when a single-family, multifamily structure, condominiums, etc., is available for sale.
  • The escrow holder is the agent and depository (as an impartial/neutral third party) holding possession of money, written instruments, and documents.
  • The escrow holder acts to ensure that all principals to the transaction comply with the terms and conditions of the contract/agreement as outlined in the escrow instructions.
  • For Sale by Owner (FSBO) Escrow: Most often, when a property is sold, the transaction is negotiated, and the purchase agreement is put together by the real estate agents who are representing the buyer and seller. In contrast, a “for sale by owner” escrow does NOT have a real estate agent representing the buyer or seller.
  • Residential Short-Sale Escrow: A residential short-sale means selling a house for less than the outstanding amount. A short sale is an alternative to foreclosure whereby indebted owners get permission from a bank to sell their house for less than the amount owed.
  • Manufactured/Mobile Homes Escrow: Manufactured/Mobile homes are NOT real estate property. There will be no title insurance company involved. Instead, we will be working with the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Many Manufactured/Mobile Homes are in Mobile Home Parks. The homeowner leases the site of the manufactured/mobile homes or “space.”
  • Probate Escrow: A probate escrow sale is defined as selling a property where the owner is deceased, and the deceased estate is conducting the sale—an administrator or executor signs on behalf of the dead person with either full or limited authority.
  • 1031 Exchange Escrow: A 1031 Exchange escrow is under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code and thereby defer payment of a tax on what would have been your gain. We must follow many technical rules during this process. One of the rules is that the taxpayer cannot receive or control the sale proceeds. If the seller decides to receive money from the transaction, the escrow officer will need to withhold taxes for the seller's portion. The withholding is 3.3% out of the amount that the seller wishes to receive. The Escrow Agent will wire the exchange proceeds per instructions of the taxpayer. Our escrow specialists have extensive experience in working with institutional, corporate, individual investors and 1031 accommodators.
  • Foreclosure Property (REO) Escrow: A foreclosure property escrow is when a Real Estate home becomes bank-owned property. This happens when borrowers become delinquent and default on their financial obligations. A bank effectively reposts the property, and it is held classified as ‘Real Estate Owned’ (REO).
  • Gift of Equity Property Escrow: When one party sells their home to another individual(s) for less than its fair market value. The difference in the sale price and the appraised value is considered a gift of equity. The sale is usually to a Family Member.
  • Residential Refinance Escrow: A refinance Escrow is when an owner of a home would like to take out some of their equity. They choose to do this either to fix the home, make an addition to the home, pay off any debts, change the loan term from a 30 year to either a 20 or 15-year loan, or lower their interest rate. We love to process this type of escrow because it allows us to work directly with lenders and homeowners.