Understanding the Duties and Responsibilities of Escrow Can Lead To An Easier Transaction

The escrow process can be a complicated and often technical necessity of buying and selling real estate.  The escrow company and its officer have many duties to juggle on behalf of the Realtor, Seller, and Buyer during the real estate transaction.  Understanding the various duties and functions of the escrow can assist all parties in ensuring a successful and timely transaction, as everyone involved has a part to play.

The escrow officer’s main duty is to remain as a neutral third party between buyer and seller in a real estate purchase transaction at all times.  The escrow officer is not to be involved in negotiations between buyer, seller and/or lender.

Additional escrow officer duties and responsibilities are as follows:

1. Receive and hold buyer’s funds in a non interest paying trust account during escrow.
2. Read and comply with all agreements as detailed in the Purchase Contract and Joint Escrow Instructions as it pertains to the escrow process.
3. Follow mutually signed, written instructions agreed upon by buyer and seller during escrow.
4. Prepare Escrow Instructions/General Provisions, Amendments, Grant Deed (for seller’s signature), Estimated Closing Statement and any additional documents required to clear title or as required by the new lender.
5. Although in many cases reports are ordered by the buyer, seller or agents outside of escrow in some cases the escrow officer will obtain reports as required by the purchase contract and provide same to the buyer during escrow for their review.
6. Make sure escrow is in receipt of buyer and seller signatures on Purchase Agreement and Joint Escrow Instructions, Escrow Instructions/General Provisions, Grant Deed, any Amendments, Estimated Closing Statements and any other documents required during escrow.
7. Receive loan documents from the buyer’s new lender (IF APPLICABLE) and prepare amendments and estimated closing statements as required by the lender on their lender’s instructions.
8. Order the evidence of insurance from the buyer insurance agent as per the requirement of the new lender.
9. Send the signed loan documents and all lender required items to the new lender for funding.
10. Send original recordable documents along with any releases required to clear title to the title company for recording at the close of escrow.
11. Make sure that escrow is in receipt of all funds necessary to pay the seller their proceeds as well as all invoices agreed upon by buyer and seller during escrow.
12. Make sure the seller has sufficient equity in the property to cover all costs, payoff of liens and any invoices agreed upon by buyer and seller during the escrow.
13. Make sure that all the proper paperwork is in escrow to provide the buyer with clear title to the property.
14. Make sure that all the conditions agreed upon by the buyer and seller on the purchase agreement and in writing through escrow have been satisfied prior to closing the escrow and transferring the property into the buyer’s name.

The Buyer and Seller should also be aware that they will be receiving many additional items that may require their signatures from their agents and lenders directly.

In addition to the above responsibilities, Glen Oaks Escrow views our most valuable function as acting as a personal liaison and resource for Realtors, Buyers and Sellers to accomplish a successful transaction.

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Easy and Free Tools to Customize and Brand Your Twitter Background

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

Which image is more interesting?

The image on the left is reflective of the default look for a Twitter profile.  It’s not unattractive, but it is also overused, and not customized to the personality or brand of the twitter user.  The image on the right is the exact same Twitter profile – the only difference is that it has a custom background applied to it.  This is a very simple, and free process that any Twitter user can do.

When you are utilizing Twitter for your business, you want to make sure that you project a persona reflective of who you are.  And, when using social media for real estate business purposes, your presence in social communities should reinforce your status as a trusted advisor.  How your Twitter profile looks is an element in that.

I’m going to assume that if you are utilizing Twitter, you have already made sure that your profile is filled out and includes you location, links to a business URL, and you have a bio that mentions your profession and gives some personality insight as to who you are.  Realtor Elaine Hanson (@ElaineHanson on Twitter) provides a great example of this:

With these details in place, the next step is to make sure that your background is also reflective of your professionalism and personality.  There are several great resources out there designed to do just that.  Here are two of my favorite:

1. Twitrounds:  This site offers hundreds of free, beautiful and creative Twitter backgrounds and has a 1 click, automated process for installing your selected background on your twitter profile.  It doesn’t get easier than that!

1. TwitterImage:  Fantastic photographic images as well as creative professional backgrounds can be found here (also for free).  This site does not have an automated installation script like Twitrounds does, so you have to go through the manual process of uplaoding the Twitter background to your profile.  This is a fairly easy process and the site offers a 4 minute video and step by step directions on how to do this here.

In addition to the free Twitter backgrounds that these sites offer, they also both have the option to pay for a customized Twitter background (between $79-$99 per background).  If you want to have a background that is unique to you, this is a very affordable option and a great marketing investment for the Realtor interested in representing their brand on Twitter.

If you install a custom background on your Twitter profile tell us about it by putting a link to your profile in the comments!

If you are unfamiliar with why you might want to use Twitter for real estate, these earlier posts will help to introduce you to Twitter for Realtors:

• What IS Twitter and Should You Be On It?
• Why Twitter and 10 Ways a Realtor Can Use It
• Mobile Twitter Tools for Realtors

Interested in what you are reading? To automatically receive these Tuesday Technology Tips in your email box, subscribe to these articles at the top right corner of this site (Glen Oaks Escrow) in the box titled “Subscribe via Email”.

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Flip Video | Easy To Use Video For Realtors!

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

To many Realtors, the concept of using video in their business is limited to the use of a virtual tour to market their listings.  But, the technology of today busts the door wide open for agents to incorporate video into their business like never before.  And, video is powerful stuff.  Take a look at this video by Mike Mueller discussing the merits of video for real estate. He recorded this as part of a contest on MyTechOpinion.com answering the question “What technology product or service has made the biggest impact on your business? And why?”.

(see all the finalists submissions here)

It is so easy and very affordable to get started with video.  I carry around in my purse a Flip Video camera.  You can buy one on Amazon.com for $100-$200 (depending on features like duration of recording and color ).  I have this one:

My Flip Video is the size of a box of cigarettes, runs on two AA batteries, and is SIMPLE to use (you just push a red button to record, and the same button to stop the recording).  And, the video is all pre-compressed and ready to be uploaded to YouTube or other video sharing sites such as Viddler.  The camera comes with a USB connector built into it so you just pop the Flip Video into your computer and go!

The Flip Video can also be used to shoot video of a home or a neighborhood for a relocation client who can not be there to see the home or the surrounding area themselves. You can also use it to shoot video of a rental or a vacation home to help market the property. The opportunities are as wide as your imagination is for creative marketing!

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Google Voice | A Real Estate Tool That Will Change Your Business

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

Ring Ring, Ring Ring – Do you hear that? That is the sound of change coming to the way Realtors interact with their clients.  If you haven’t heard, Google is about to launch a new service called simply Voice.

Google Voice will give you a new phone number that allows you to aggregate all your calls to one place.  The system allows you to pick a number in almost any area code in the United States.  As soon as your friends, family, and clients begin to use this number instead of your old number, the capabilities of this new line will match that of the highest end phone systems in offices today.

A few interesting features of the product:

• Find Me - Your clients can dial one number and any phone you select can ring
• Voicemail Transcription - All voicemails will be converted to text and emailed to you.  If you’re in the middle of an important meeting but can view your email, you’ll be able to read what the caller said.
• Call From Your Cell - Blackberry and Google Android phones are already enabled and more are coming soon allowing you to access your Google Voice account from a program running on your phone.
• Ability to Label Calls Spam – Any future time they call they will be sent to voicemail and the message will be marked spam in your Voicemail box
• ListenIn - This feature allows you to screen calls by hearing what a caller is leaving a voicemail about.  If you feel the message is worth responding to immediately, you may at that point pick up the call in the middle of the message.
• Call Record – Allows you to keep a recording of the conversation to remember for the future.  If a client calls and speaks to you about a home they are looking for and you can’t write the info down, just click one button and the whole conversation is there when you get back to the office (callers are notified that you are recording the call).
• Custom Greetings – You can set your Google Voice number to answer with different messages based on if the caller is a client, family member, or friend
• Switch Phones - With one button you can switch the call off your cell and onto your landline to reduce your cell minutes.
• ClickToCall – Don’t want to dial that number in your contact list?  Just hit one button on your computer and the program will dial out to your phone and connect you automatically with the person you are trying to reach.
• Text / SMS - Google Voice numbers are also SMS enabled.  This means your clients can send you text messages even if you don’t have a text plan from your provider.  The messages will be stored in your inbox as a message.  Alternatively you can have the SMS messages forwarded to any number of cell phones you choose.
• Free US Calling - call out to any US number for free.
• Low Cost International Calling - If you have international clients, you can now call them from your cell phone without exhorbitant fees (See Here For Rates)

Ready for the best feature? It’s all free! You can learn more here or just sign up by going over to the Sign Up page.

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Choosing A Notary When It’s Time to Sign Your Escrow Documents

The typical real estate escrow requires the buyer to sign 70 – 120 pages of documents, several of which require notarization.  The seller also will have to notarize, at the minimum, the grant deed.  Notarization, or the act of an uninvolved witness (the Notary) verifying that the signor (the buyer or seller) is indeed who they say they are, is an essential part of the escrow process.  And, if notarization is not properly done, it can cause delays which can impact the closing of the escrow.  When it comes to notarizing documents during escrow, clients can choose to go to the escrow office or hire an outside notary.

Option 1:  Notarize and sign at the escrow office

Escrow offices all have a notary on staff.  Therefore, a common option for notarizing documents is to have the parties go to the escrow office to sign documents.  With customer satisfaction as our highest priority, at GOE Escrow we prefer that our clients physically come to our office to sign closing documents. This not only ensures that buyers and sellers feel they are receiving the highest level of service, but also we can personally correct any errors that may have been overlooked by the many parties involved in the transaction as well as answer any questions that may arise.

However, circumstances do not always allow for clients to sign at the escrow office (for example, in the case of an out of town buyer).  When this occurs, working with an outside notary is the alternate solution.

Option 2.  Notarize and sign with an outside notary

If you are to hire an outside notary, you have two options:  A Certified Document Signor or a Mobile Notary.

Both Certified Document Signors and Mobile Notaries are certified by the State of California to verify signatures.  However, a Certified Document Signor also undergoes regular continuing education training specific to real estate transactions.  They are familiar with the documents that are signed in the transaction.  Mobile Notaries are not required to have this specific training and as a result, are not always familiar with the documents that are being signed.

A Certified Document Signor will cost more, but clients should be aware that our most common reason for the delay of a transaction is due to the incorrect signing of closing documents. With the amount of paperwork that needs to be signed and notarized, it is easy to see how someone without the proper training could overlook a detail here or there.  As a result, Certified Document Signors are our preferred option if the client is not able to sign in person at the escrow office.  That said, it is possible to have an accurate and successful closing with a mobile notary.  The choice is really up to the client and will be impacted by many factors specific to the transaction.

So when choosing, ask yourself what is more valuable in a real estate transaction, your time or your money?  If time is not of paramount concern, a mobile notary may be a great choice for you.  If it is imperative you close on time, your risk of signing issues will decrease by going with a certified document signor.  And, if you have the ability to sign at your escrow office, you will run the lowest risk of delays.

Interested in what you are reading? To automatically receive these Escrow Tips in your email box, subscribe to these articles at the top right corner of this site (Glen Oaks Escrow) in the box titled “Subscribe via Email”.

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Twitter on the GO! Mobile Twitter Tools for Realtors

Tuesdays, here at the Glen Oaks Escrow website, we post Technology Tips designed to help you, the REALTOR®, grow your business, keep up to date on the latest technologies, and move you forward into the new era of real estate.

In two previous posts (Twitter 101: What Is It and Why You Should Be On It and Ten Ways Realtors Can Use Twitter and Why) we explained to you the power of Twitter and some direct applications to the field of real estate.

However, one of the most powerful ways to interact on Twitter is through mobile applications on your cell phone.  Twitter even asks you right in the main line “What is happening?”.  Why not answer that question from the field, when you are away from your computer?   Below we cover some tools that allow you to do that and their application to real estate.

Twitter Clients

A mobile Twitter client is a program that runs on your phone which allows you to send and receive Twitter messages.  Some offer the ability to search twitter for terms.  However, you can use Twitter on any phone with a data plan without a client by simply visiting http://m.Twitter.com on your mobile phone internet browser.

Although the website is one way to access Twitter from you phone, for Blackberry, iPhone, Palm Pre, and Windows Mobile users, there are also application options which make Twitter easier to use from your pda.

For Blackberry Users:  TwitterBerry and UberTwitter

While TwitterBerry is currently the dominant player and has a clean interface, UberTwitter is gaining traction.  The service offers an interesting auto update feature that always keeps your Twitter stream up to date without waiting for it to load.

For iPhone Users: TweetDeck, TwitterFon and Tweetie (search for these in the app store)

TweetDeck, one of the most dominant desktop Twitter applications, has recently become available on the iPhone.  The service now offers the ability to synchronize your columns.  (Be careful about leaving this application open on your phone, it’s a big battery drain.)  TwitterFon and Tweetie each offer fairly similar features with the ability to see your @Replies, DMs, and Twitter Stream.  My personal choice is TwitterFon.  The software comes in a free version and a Pro (paid) version.  The free version is excellent but if you want to have an ad free experience and manage more than one twitter account, you’ll want to upgrade to the paid version.

For Palm Pre Users: Tweed (search in PreApps)

The new Palm Pre phone has a slick interface and Tweed doesn’t dissapoint.  The service will keep your stream updated and allow you with just a few clicks to share photos on Twitter as well as posting to Flickr at the same time.

For Windows Mobile: TwitToday

There aren’t many choices yet for Twitter on Windows Mobile, but one of the better options available is TwitToday.  It offers basic Twitter interaction potential right from your Windows Mobile home screen.

Other Tools

Posterous – Sign up for a Posterous account and you suddently have the ability to post photos, video, music file, or most other types of documents to your Twitter stream by simply emailing Posterous from your phone or computer.  Imagine doing a video walk through of a great new listing and within seconds sharing it with your followers or taking a photo of your community and showing potential buyers why it’s such a great place to live. Or perhaps you have an document you’ve created on market stats for your area.  Now everyone can have access in seconds.

TwitPic and YFrog – Specific to just photos, TwitPic and YFrog allow you to email any photo from your phone and have it post to your Twitter stream automatically.

Using Twitter when out and about really opens up your ability to interact with the public.  You can take a few moments while waiting in line or sitting idly to just catch up with those you follow.  You can also check to see if anyone is Twittering about real estate topics in your area offering you that first contact ability.

Interested in what you are reading? To automatically receive these Tuesday Technology Tips in your email box, subscribe to these articles at the top right corner of this site (Glen Oaks Escrow) in the box titled “Subscribe via Email”.

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