Escrow is a process that provides for a fair and equitable transfer of real estate property from one person to another.

The process assures that the lender releases the home purchase funds at or about the same time the deed is recorded to reflect new ownership. To facilitate that goal, escrow provides the means for depositing, with a neutral third party, funds, documents and instructions necessary to complete the transfer.

Because the real estate transaction involves large sums of money and reams of documentation, escrow is not always a predestined, step-by-step process, but can become a confusing end game of details, nit picking and overlapping procedures.

Requiring special preparation, attention to detail, and desire from both sides to close the deal, escrow is perhaps the most complicated part of what's likely the most emotionally trying and intricate transaction you'll ever complete.

And now you know why you need "The Complete Guide To Your Real Estate Closing," (McGraw-Hill, $1995) by escrow expert Sandy Gadow. Gadow is also a mortgage broker and publisher of Escrowhelp.com.

Her new book offers the information you need to survive the escrow gauntlet from the moment you open to the time you heave a big sign of relief at closing.

Mortgage brokers, real estate agents, appraisers and other real estate professionals only know the portion of the escrow and title process with which they are most involved, but you need to be familiar with the entire process. After all, it involves what's likely the most expensive transaction you'll ever complete and what's likely to be a large chunk of your net worth.

When you finish "Your Real Estate Closing," you'll know the professionals you'll need in your corner, you'll have an intimate knowledge of the documents you'll be expected to sign, you'll know how escrow instructions are drafted, you'll be equipped to handle delays, the shroud of mystery about title insurance will be lifted, and you'll be a lot less jittery about the process.

The 278-page guide is the latest version of a book previously titled "All About Escrow and Real Estate Closings," which completed six printings and sold more than 60,000 copies.

Whittling esoteric escrow information down to a step-by-step process, the book includes:

Published: November 8, 2002

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.