How Escrow Works - Latte Stone Properites, LLC, Guam

Whether it's your first house or your next house, I'll walk you through the process. E-mail me at frank@lspguam.com to get some free information.

First-Time Home Buying: How To Close on a House

Latte Stone Properties, LLC can walk you through closing - (671) 647-5577

First, a little about "escrow". When you're closing on your new place, an escrow agent is used to assure the process will close appropriately and in a timely manner. When payment is held by a third party in a transaction between a buyer and a seller, it's in escrow. A simple way to think of what an escrow company does is to think of the use of PayPal for Internet purchases.

The escrow holder makes sure that the terms and conditions of the agreement between the sellers and the buyers are met prior to the sale being finalized.

These are the records that escrow agents usually compile:

Fire and other insurance policies
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

Closing on the home happens when all of the procedures of the escrow are done. At this time, all payments and dues for inspections, title insurance and real estate commissions are collected. Title to the property is then transferred to you as new homeowner and appropriate title insurance is issued as noted in the escrow instructions.

The escrow holder gets a payment at the completion of closing. I'll keep you updated on the next steps.

The Escrow Holder Will:

Assemble escrow guidelines
Perform a title search
Meet the bank's standards as specified in the escrow agreement
Accept funds from the buyer
Prorate tax, interest, insurance and other fees according to guidelines
Record deeds and other legal documents as instructed
Obtain title insurance policy
Close escrow when all instructions of seller and buyer have been finished
Disburse payments and finish instructions

The Escrow Holder Will Not:

Give advice - the escrow holder must stay at a fair, third-party status
Offer opinions about future tax estimations

The Escrow Holder Will:		The Escrow Holder Won't:
Prepare escrow guidelines Request title research Comply with lender's requirements as written in the escrow agreement Accept funds from the buyer Prorate tax, interest, insurance and other fees according to guidelines Record deeds and other documents as instructed Request title insurance policy Close escrow when all terms of agreement of seller and buyer have been finished Disburse payments and finish instructions		Give advice - the escrow agent must maintain a neutral, third-party status Give insight about tax implications

Mortgage Escrow Account

Creating a Mortgage Escrow Account helps keep track of on-going expenses while there's a loan on your house. Usually, the home buyer makes a payment at closing and also makes regular deposits through their monthly mortgage payment to fund the Escrow Account.

This is a easy to understand guide about the escrow process. Your individual plan might be slightly different based on your lender and your escrow company.

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