Escrow 101
No jargon, no salesmanship. If your question is not here, ask the assistant in the corner or call the office nearest your property — a person will always explain the math.
Escrow is a neutral third party that holds money and documents until every condition of the purchase agreement has been met. The buyer deposits earnest money, the seller takes the property off the market, and neither the funds nor the property move again until the terms are satisfied. That's the whole idea: nobody has to trust the other side, because we hold it.
A standard Southern California residential resale runs 30 to 45 days, driven almost entirely by the lender. All-cash can close in 10 to 14 days. What actually causes delays: late loan approval, title issues found on the preliminary report, unsigned documents, and HOA document turnaround.
In Southern California the escrow fee is customarily split 50/50 between buyer and seller. The seller customarily pays the owner's title policy and the county transfer tax; the buyer customarily pays the lender's title policy and their loan costs. All of it is negotiable in the purchase agreement — the contract always wins over custom.
Escrow fees scale with the sale price. Rather than quote you a number I might get wrong, run it through our net sheet tool — it uses our published fee schedule and shows every line item. If anything looks off, an officer will walk you through it.
A net sheet estimates what a seller actually walks away with after commissions, payoffs, taxes and fees — or what a buyer needs to bring to closing. You can run one yourself on our net sheet page in about two minutes, and put your own name and brokerage on the PDF.
Earnest money is the buyer's good-faith deposit, usually 1–3% of the purchase price, wired to escrow shortly after the contract is signed. It's not an extra cost — it's credited toward the down payment at closing. Whether it's refundable depends on which contingencies are still in place.
Three rules, and they matter more than anything else in the transaction. One: never take wiring instructions from an email, even one that looks like ours. Two: call your escrow officer at the number you already have — not a number in the email — and verify the instructions verbally. Three: Wonderland never changes wire instructions mid-transaction. If you get an email saying we did, it's fraud. Call us.
The preliminary title report shows what's recorded against the property: liens, easements, judgments, unpaid taxes, and anything else that has to be cleared before ownership can transfer cleanly. We read every one carefully, because title problems are one of the most common reasons a closing slips.
Contingencies are the buyer's exit ramps, each tied to a condition being met: the inspection, the appraisal coming in at or above price, financing being approved, clear title, and sometimes the sale of the buyer's current home. While a contingency is active the buyer can renegotiate or withdraw. Once it's removed, the deposit is generally at risk.
A valid government-issued photo ID that isn't expired — that's the one people get caught out by. Everything else we send ahead of time. Signings happen at our office, by mobile notary, or remotely depending on your lender's requirements.
Once the deed records, your proceeds go out the same day by wire, or by check if you prefer. Wires sent before the bank's cutoff typically post the same day; after cutoff they queue and land the next business day. Your officer will email you the moment it's sent.
Yes — several of our officers handle 1031 exchanges regularly, along with refinances, mobile homes, lease land, and commercial transactions. Because exchanges are deadline-driven and unforgiving, tell us early so we can coordinate with your qualified intermediary from day one.
Five offices across Southern California: Sherman Oaks (818) 650-8950, Santa Clarita (661) 210-3615, Westlake Village (805) 869-1790, Rancho Mirage (760) 248-3070, and La Quinta (760) 895-6380. Every officer's direct line and email is on their office page.
Send us the fully executed purchase agreement and the contact details for both agents, and we'll open the file and issue escrow instructions the same business day. You can start that on our Open Escrow page, or call the office nearest the property.