What is "escrow"?

What is "escrow"?

John Caliendo (Realtor) gives expert video advice on: How do I make an offer on a new home?; Can I withdraw an offer I've made on a home? and more...

An escrow is a great source of confusion to homebuyers, because you hear the term a lot. There's the escrow company, the escrow period, the escrow officer, the escrow instructions. Basically, the escrow company is the neutral third party that basically acts as a traffic coordinator in the processing of an escrow. They issue something called escrow instructions, which is basically everything in the purchase agreement reduced to writing. There is the escrow officer which is the physical human body that you will be interacting with when processing your escrow. There's the escrow period, how long am I going to be in escrow before I own the home, 3 day escrow, 4 day escrow, so forth and so on.