Guide · Selling a home
The home seller’s guide to escrow
As the seller, you give escrow what it needs to close: your lenders’ details for the payoffs, your disclosures for the buyer, a grant deed signed in front of a notary, and your instructions for sending your money. Once the deed records, escrow pays your loans and your costs from the sale and sends you the rest.
What does escrow do for a seller?
Escrow holds the buyer’s money and your signed deed while both sides finish what the contract asks. It follows the written instructions you and the buyer both sign. It doesn’t work for either of you, and it can’t give legal or tax advice.
When every condition is met, the deed records and escrow pays out. Your loans and your share of the costs come out of the sale first. The rest is yours.
Your part, step by step
Your contract sets the dates. Here’s the usual order for a seller.
Step 1: Tell us about your loans
Give us the name of each lender with a loan or a line of credit on the home, and the loan numbers. We order a payoff demand from each one: the exact amount it takes to pay the loan in full. A lender has 21 days to send it after a written request (Civil Code §2943).
CheckedWe check each payoff line by line before closing.
Step 2: Give the buyer your disclosures
For most home sales, you owe the buyer a Transfer Disclosure Statement about the home’s condition, as soon as practicable before closing (Civil Code §1102.3). If the home sits in a mapped hazard zone, such as a flood zone, a very high fire hazard zone or an earthquake fault zone, you also give a Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement (Civil Code §1103). If you’re in a homeowners association (HOA), you give the buyer the HOA’s documents too (Civil Code §4525).
Step 3: Plan for tax withholding
California may hold back part of your price as a prepayment of your state income tax. The usual amount is 3 1/3% of the sale price. Some sales don’t need it. If yours is one, you say so on Form 593 before closing (Franchise Tax Board). A tax adviser can tell you which applies to your sale.
Step 4: Sign the grant deed
The grant deed transfers the home to the buyer. You sign it, along with your escrow papers, in front of a notary. Bring a current photo ID (Civil Code §1185).
Step 5: Closing
Once the buyer’s money is in, the county recorder records the deed. Escrow pays your loans and your costs, then sends you a closing statement with every line on it.
ReleasedYour loans and costs are paid first. Then the rest goes to you.
Step 6: Your money reaches you
We send it the way your signed instructions say, by wire or by check. Give us your bank details only after you call us at (714) 544-6525. An email or a text that asks for them may be a scam.
Step 7: Your old loan is released
After escrow pays a loan off, the lender has 30 days to send its trustee the papers to release it. The trustee then has 21 days to record the release, called a reconveyance, with the county (Civil Code §2941).
What does a seller usually pay?
Your contract decides who pays which cost (California Department of Real Estate). Besides our escrow fee, these are the lines sellers see most often.
| Cost | Amount |
|---|---|
| Owner’s title policy | Usually the seller’s cost. The title company quotes it. |
| County transfer tax | $1.10 for every $1,000 of the price, the county rate set by state law. A city may charge its own tax too (Revenue and Taxation Code §11911). |
The title company, the buyer’s lender and your HOA set their own charges. Call us at (714) 544-6525 and we’ll quote our escrow fee for your side.
What should I have ready?
Start with these. We’ll ask if the sale needs more.
About the home
- Each lender’s name and your loan numbers
- Your HOA’s name and contact, if you have one
- Any solar lease or solar loan on the home
For closing
- A current photo ID for signing
- How you want your money sent: by wire or by check
- Your address after the sale, for your final papers
- If the home is in a trust: a certification of trust (Probate Code §18100.5)
How Alliance Mutual Escrow helps sellers
We order your payoff demands early, check them line by line and update them before closing. We prepare your grant deed and work with the title company to get the file ready to close.
Your closing statement shows every line: the price, each payoff, each fee and what comes to you.
Questions sellers ask
How long does my lender have to send a payoff?
21 days. After escrow sends a written request, your lender has 21 days to send a payoff demand statement. It shows the amount needed to pay the loan in full, and how much interest adds each day (Civil Code §2943).
When does my old loan come off the county records?
Soon after escrow pays it. The lender has 30 days after the payoff to send its trustee the papers to release the loan. The trustee then has 21 days to record the release, called a reconveyance (Civil Code §2941).
What if I learn something new after I give the buyer my disclosures?
Tell the buyer in writing. The law lets you amend a disclosure in writing (Civil Code §1102.9). If the change is material and the buyer has already signed an offer, the buyer gets 3 days to cancel after it’s handed over, or 5 days after it’s mailed or sent electronically (Civil Code §1102.3).
Who pays the county transfer tax?
Your contract decides. The county tax is $1.10 for every $1,000 of the price, the rate state law sets for counties, and a city may charge its own tax as well (Revenue and Taxation Code §11911).
Sources and fine print
- Cal. Civil Code §2943 (payoff demand statements)
- Cal. Civil Code §2941 (releasing a paid loan)
- Cal. Civil Code §1102.3 (when the disclosure is due)
- Cal. Civil Code §1102.9 (amending a disclosure)
- Cal. Civil Code §1103 (natural hazard disclosure)
- Cal. Civil Code §4525 (HOA documents for the buyer)
- Cal. Civil Code §1185 (ID for a notarized signature)
- Cal. Probate Code §18100.5 (certification of trust)
- Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code §11911 (documentary transfer tax)
- Franchise Tax Board: real estate withholding (Form 593)
- California Department of Real Estate: Escrow, information for consumers
Sources checked September 2026. Page updated . General information, not legal or tax advice.