How To Put An Offer On A Home

Buying a home can involve new, unfamiliar terms that leave you scratching your head and wondering exactly what they mean.  But the home buying process doesn't need to be as scary as you think. Escrow is one of the number one terms that buyers find most intimating. Keep reading to learn more about what escrow is and how to put an offer on a home, then click this link to read the full article.

In the home-buying process, escrow is a financial tool that allows you to set aside important items such as the buyer's earnest money check and purchase agreement document in an impartial holding area, where it will stay until all of the details are worked out between a buyer and a seller, says Andy Prasky, a real estate professional with Re/Max Advantage Plus in Twin Cities.The escrow officer is a third party—perhaps someone from the closing company, an attorney, or a title company agent (customs vary by state). How much does escrow cost? That varies too—as well as whether the buyer or seller (or both) pays—with the fee for this service typically totaling about 1% to 2% of the cost of the home.

How escrow works

The third party is there to make sure everything during the closing proceeds smoothly, including the transfers of money and documents. Escrow protects all the relevant parties by ensuring that no funds and property change hands until all conditions in the agreement have been met.Along the way, proper documentation is filed with the escrow officer as each step toward closing is completed. Contingencies that might be part of the process could include home inspection, repairs, and other tasks that need to be accomplished by the buyer or seller. And every time one of those steps is completed, the buyer or seller signs off with a contingency release form; then the transaction moves on to the next step (and one step closer to closing).Once all conditions are met and the deal is finalized, the money due to the sellers is transferred to them. Meanwhile an escrow officer clears (or records) the title, which means the buyer officially owns the home.