The Seller’s Responsibilities During Escrow
Posted on October 11, 2019 by Laura Lucky
After a buyer and seller have an executed contract to purchase property, the sale of the home goes into escrow. The escrow process is the time in between acceptance of contract, to when the home officially changes ownership to the buyer. As you can imagine, there are a lot of moving parts during this escrow period.
The escrow (or title) agent will begin preparing title reports and the property deed. They’ll send out copies of the CC&Rs, work with buyers and sellers on securing a loan or paying off a loan, prepare the settlement statement and closing documents, review the file for a termite report, and more.
The buyer parties will be busy during this time obtaining financing, ordering the home’s appraisal, ordering a home inspection, acquiring homeowner’s insurance, and more.
Sellers are generally responsible for preparing various forms and statements and making their home accessible when needed. The seller needs to be immediately available and responsive as issues arise, as the purchase contract will have timelines and deadlines in place for how quickly something must be completed. The seller will have decisions to make such as if the home appraisal comes in lower than the purchase price, or how to handle unexpected repairs or other issues found in the inspection.
The forms a seller will be expected to complete include the Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement in which the seller discloses any issues, claims, damage, repairs or improvements to the property that they are aware of. Sellers will also need to meet any contingencies in the contract such as providing copies of the permits for work done on the home or remedying problems that may come up during the home inspection. Depending on what the title search brings up, a seller may also need to clear any liens placed upon the property.
Near the end of the escrow period, there will be a final walk-through whereupon the buyer parties will visit the property and confirm it is in the expected condition according to the contract. The seller will need to have completed any negotiated repairs, moved out, and left the property clean.
Our seller clients receive top-notch advice and support from us during the escrow process, eliminating a lot of stress and anxiety. Contact us to find out how our systems and solutions make surviving the escrow process easy! Lucky@RussLyon.com or 602.320.8415
