In California, buyers and sellers use a third-party escrow.
It facilitates the complicated process for everyone involved. So after you have successfully negotiated a contract, We send instructions to escrow.

The escrow is a disinterested third party which collects all the paperwork, money, instructions, Deeds, loan papers, etc.

Escrow will not act without exact instructions from both the buyer and the seller. In this way, the seller can safety sign his Grant Deed to the buyer before any money changes hands. The buyer can safely deposit his down payment. The old lenders and the new lenders can sign off and put their demands and instruments into the hands of the escrow officer.

When the moment to close finally comes, the escrow makes sure the buyer gets his Grant Deed, the seller gets his money, the old lender gets theirs and the new lender gets a Trust Deed, and all the other parties and issues are handled.

During the "escrow period" things like title insurance, property insurance, termite reports and payments, and all the myriad of tasks are handled by the various people involved in the transaction.

It is early in this period that the buyer will want to schedule an inspection of the property by a professional property inspector.

It is not uncommon for an escrow file to be a foot thick!