How Do Real Estate Agents and Escrow Providers Work Together?
If you have considered buying a house or a real estate property, you probably realized it was a more complicated process than you thought. Fees, lawyers, credit reports, homeowner associations, inspections, and mortgages are among many other things that make it a long and arduous process for both the buyer and the seller.
Escrow and real estate agents are available to aid people throughout this process in different ways, but many do not understand what these agents do and how they differ from each other.
So, what is an escrow and how is it different from what real estate agents do? How can escrow agents and real estate agents work together to simplify the home buying process in a secure way?
This article will focus on answering these 3 questions by comparing and contrasting escrow agents and real estate agents.
What Is Escrow?
In real estate, an escrow is a neutral third party that keeps documents and funds associated with a home sale in custody from the moment a contractual agreement is made until the end of the sale. An escrow serves as a safety net throughout the transaction, ensuring all parties abide by the contract.
When there is no escrow present, sellers are trusting buyers to have the funds to buy the property while buyers are trusting sellers to provide the property title upon closing of the sale. Buyers and sellers can both relax knowing that their titles and funds are kept safe and sound by the escrow.
Not only can all parties rest assured that contractual obligations will be met, but they also have all additional documents and fees in a centralized location where all parties have access through a digital platform. This level of organization and transparency makes escrow services a viable option for many going through the home buying-selling process.
Now that you learned what an escrow is, let’s explore the difference between an escrow service and a real estate agent.
How Do Real Estate Agents and Escrow Agents Differ?
A real estate agent’s job differs from an escrow agent in many ways. While escrow’s focus is on centralizing and protecting all transaction details, real estate agents focus on advising buyers and sellers on a property.
Real estate agents act as middlemen between buyer and seller. They are experts in marketing properties to sell them at the best possible price. Furthermore, they look for properties that meet their client’s needs to buy at the best possible price with the best possible terms & conditions.
A key part of a real estate agent’s job is to negotiate between the two parties. Once an agreement is reached and put into a contract, an escrow comes into play to ensure a safe and smooth transaction. Real estate agents take home a percentage of the final selling price.
The difference between an escrow agent and a real estate agent should be clear by now, but how can they team up to expedite the process and help each other out?
A Business Partnership Beyond Home Selling
A partnership between escrow and real estate agents goes beyond making the home selling process more transparent and efficient, clearly adding value to both the buyer and the seller. It also adds value individually to the escrow and the real estate agent.
Value to the Real Estate Agent
The value provided to real estate agents lies in their ability to communicate to their potential clients the benefits of having an escrow company such as New Venture Escrow at their disposition when pitching their services. The extra benefits of a secure centralized platform elevates the real estate agent’s pitch and will make them look more valuable to potential clients.
An escrow company like New Venture Escrow aids the real estate agent by providing them with resources such as matching their their personality with the perfect escrow officer, building relationships, and granting them access to digital tools that make escrow better and easier for buyers and sellers. Through marketing, agents attract prospects and potentially convert them into clients. More clients means more exposure to other potential clients and ultimately more profit.
Value to the Escrow Company
The escrow company benefits from a partnership with real estate agents because of the lack of awareness that exists on what an escrow is. Many customers that could benefit from using escrow services decide not to contract one because they don’t know what they do.
Most people looking to buy or sell a property know what a real estate agent does. Therefore, they are more likely to contract one to aid in the process.
A partnership with a real estate agent aids an escrow company by creating this awareness and explaining the benefits of using an escrow company to potential clients. The more people are aware of what they do, they are more likely to consider hiring one.
Want a Partnership That Will Help You Sell Homes?
New Venture Escrow is known for the transparency of our escrow services through the use of our VentureTrac 4.0 centralized platform where each party has access to the information and can digitally sign documents. Additionally, we offer an errors & omissions policy to protect sellers by covering legal fees in case the contract was not abided by the other party.
A partnership between a real estate agent and New Venture Escrow adds value to both parties and provides additional benefits to potential customers. This additional value is what will make potential customers choose you over your competitors, therefore increasing profits for both the real estate agent and the escrow company while easing the transaction process for both the buyer and the seller.
If you are looking to partner with an escrow company to aid your potential customers through the complicated process of buying or selling a property, read more about New Venture Escrow and contact us if you have further questions.
