When purchasing a home the escrow process can appear to be complex, especially for a first time home buyer. Following is an overview of the escrow process from the buyers perspective: Escrow is officially "open" once the Escrow Holder receives a purchase contract signed by both...
Short sales and foreclosures are the current hot topic in real estate with many of these types of transactions coming across the Escrow Officers desk. Foreclosures and short sales are often confused but they are two distinct processes supported by their own individual terminology....
If there is one thing that seems to create intense panic during the course of escrow, it is when the contract closing date draws near, and the Buyer's loan is not quite ready to go. In this age of new and changing loan regulations and requirements,...
The Buyer’s Choice Act (AB 957) was established to protect the buyer’s right in an REO transaction in having a choice as to which Escrow Company and Title Company is used. This sounds great, although in many cases it can be a benefit to...
The New Year is here, you are ready to purchase a new home, what’s new?? The biggest and most significant industry change in years, maybe even decades, has come from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD has revised the Good Faith...
What is the Statement of Information? Upon the opening of escrow, Buyers and Sellers receive their initial escrow package - the Statement of Information (also known as the Statement of Identity) is included in this package for completion and return to the escrow holder. The statement of...
The escrow process can be a complicated and often technical necessity of buying and selling real estate. The escrow company and its officer have many duties to juggle on behalf of the Realtor, Seller, and Buyer during the real estate transaction. Understanding the various duties...
Do you have a foreign investor or buyer looking to purchase a home in California? Our experience has been that if the client writes a personal check drawn on a foreign bank, it may take several weeks to be able to verify that the check...
To help consumers more easily understand settlement costs and prevent big price discrepancies between the preliminary Good Faith Estimate and the HUD-1 settlement statement, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has created stricter Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) regulations are scheduled...
How would you react if you had a limited amount of funds in the bank to pay for closing costs and then were hit with hundreds of dollars in extra "unexpected" closing costs? This is a problem that the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA)...