Opening Escrow

The Title Company moves you toward closing

Our title partners are here from the start to help us through this process. Once an offer on a property is accepted by the seller, the transaction is then placed into “escrow.” Escrow is a term that describes neutral third-party handling of funds, documents, and tasks specific to the sale of the property. The purpose of escrow is to manage the disbursement of funds and documents for the buyer and seller in accordance with the written purchase and sale agreement.

A record of all real estate sales and events on all properties are filed in public archives. Before a title insurance policy is issued, a title company will do a title search of the records to see if there are any issues such as liens, levies, or encumbrances associated with the property.

Title insurance is different than casualty insurance in that you pay a one-time fee, and it protects against the past (as opposed to future) events.Title insurance is the best way to protect your buyer from title defects which may not appear until after you’ve sold the property. It is required by the lender to purchase title insurance.

In Oregon the seller purchases the insurance for their buyer while the buyer purchases the insurance from their lender. Even in a cash sale, seller’s typically purchase the insurance for the buyer.