Hillsborough, Burlingame Luxury Homes Real Estate

If you are new to California, and especially to San Mateo County, buying a house here is likely going to be a different experience than what you've experienced in your old state.  To begin with we do not use lawyers in the buying and selling process.  In our area, Northern California, the Title and Escrow Company is the key to everything that we do once a contract has been ratified.

Once your offer has been accepted by the seller, your good faith deposit check is deposited into an escrow account.  The Escrow company is the holder of all funds that you must deposit prior to the close of the escrow and the recording of your new home.  They really are a neutral third party between you and the seller and they take their instructions from you, the buyer, and the seller sometimes directly from you both, and sometimes from your agents.

When it comes time to sign your loan documents and deed the signing takes place at the Title & Escrow Company, which are combined entities in Northern California.  We make an appointment for the signing and are there with you and your loan officer and are there to make sure everything is correct.  Once you've signed your documents the recording of the deed generally takes place about 48 hours later.  The signing is really determined by your lender and when they have drawn up the loan documents and sent them to the Escrow company for review. 

In San Mateo County, recordings of new sales generally takes place first thing in the morning and we generally receive a call from the Escrow company to tell us "You are on record!"  The next call is to you with congratulations on the purchase of your new home.  At that time you can get the keys to your new home and make it all yours.

The reason I have specified that Northern California does things a specific way is because Southern California works differently that we do.  They have separate Escrow Companies and Title Companies.  San Mateo County uses a different contract that most of the state as well.  For some reason, the Bay Area, and specifically Marin County, San Francisco County and San Mateo/Santa Clara Counties each have their own contracts.  They are each similar to the statewide contract but we like to be different here.

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