After Your Offer Is Accepted: Your Bay Area Escrow Timeline

There's a strange quiet that follows an accepted offer.

You've spent months touring homes and refreshing listing alerts. You've probably lost out on two or three places you'd already mentally furnished. Then the call comes — the seller picked you — and about ninety seconds later, a different feeling sets in.

Now what?

Most first-time buyers I work with have a vivid picture of the house-hunting part and almost none of what comes after. That gap is where the stress lives.

So here is what the next few weeks actually look like in a Bay Area transaction, in the order it happens. In our market, that's usually 21 to 30 days — faster than most of the country, because competition here demands it.

First, What Is Escrow?

Escrow is a neutral third party that holds everyone's money and paperwork until every condition of the sale has been met.

The escrow company doesn't work for you. It doesn't work for the seller either. That's the entire point. It follows the written instructions in your contract and releases nothing until both sides have done what they promised.

Think of it as a referee holding the ball. Once the rules are satisfied, the ball changes hands.

Days 1–3: Escrow Opens and Your Deposit Goes In

Within about a day of mutual acceptance, your signed contract goes to the escrow company. This officially "opens escrow."

Your first real task is wiring your earnest money deposit — typically 3% of the purchase price. On a $1.4 million home in Milpitas, that's $42,000. On a $2.6 million home in Palo Alto, it's $78,000.

That money leaves your account within roughly three business days. It isn't an extra cost; it gets credited toward your down payment at closing. But it is real money sitting in a stranger's account, which brings me to the most important paragraph in this article.

Protect Your Wire Transfer

Wire fraud is the single most common way buyers lose money in a real estate transaction.

Criminals monitor transactions and send convincing emails containing altered wiring instructions. The email looks like it came from your escrow officer. The logo is right. The signature block is right. The account number is not.

Three rules, no exceptions:

1. Call to verify. Before sending a dollar, phone the escrow officer at a number you looked up independently — never a number from the email.
2. Confirm the details out loud. Read the account and routing numbers back to them.
3. Treat any change as fraud until proven otherwise. Legitimate escrow companies almost never change wiring instructions mid-transaction.

If something feels off, stop and call me. A ten-minute delay costs nothing. A misdirected wire is often unrecoverable.

Days 1–17: The Contingency Period

Contingencies are the exit ramps written into your contract. Each one lets you cancel and keep your deposit if something specific goes wrong.

Under California's standard purchase agreement, the default window is 17 days, though the loan contingency runs longer in some versions. Every one of these dates is negotiable.

Here's the local reality: in competitive markets like Palo Alto and Redwood City, buyers routinely shorten contingencies to 7–10 days — or waive them entirely — to win. That's a genuine strategic tradeoff with real risk attached, and it's a conversation to have before you write an offer, not after.

Three contingencies matter most.

The Investigation Contingency (Inspections)

This covers the physical condition of the property.

A general inspector spends two to three hours walking the home. Depending on what turns up, you may bring in specialists for the roof, sewer lateral, foundation, or pests.

You'll receive a report that runs 40 or more pages and looks alarming the first time you read one. Almost all of it is normal. The skill is separating cosmetic issues from structural ones. A $400 electrical outlet fix is noise. A failing foundation or an unpermitted addition is not.

What I watch for varies by neighborhood:

• Fremont, Newark, and older San Jose homes: sewer laterals, knob-and-tube wiring, and foundation bolting. Much of this housing stock predates modern seismic standards.
• Peninsula properties in Palo Alto and Redwood City: unpermitted work and drainage issues, which show up more often than buyers expect.
• Newer Milpitas construction: HOA documents and builder warranty coverage matter more than the structure itself.

The Appraisal Contingency

Your lender hires an appraiser to independently value the home. If that value comes in below your purchase price, the bank will only lend against the lower number.

An example: you agree to pay $2.1 million and the appraisal returns $2 million. Your lender bases the loan on $2 million, leaving a $100,000 gap you must cover in cash, renegotiate, or walk away from.

In a market where homes routinely sell above list, this is not a rare event. Plan for the possibility before it happens.

The Loan Contingency

This protects you if your financing falls through.

Your pre-approval relied on preliminary information. Now underwriting verifies everything in detail — income, assets, debts, employment.

Which leads to the most useful advice in this entire article: change nothing about your finances until you close.

• No new car
• No new credit cards or store financing
• No large deposits you can't document
• No job changes

Buyers have lost homes in the final week over a furniture purchase made on store credit. Underwriters re-pull credit shortly before closing.

Reading the Seller's Disclosures

While inspections run, the seller must deliver a disclosure packet. It typically includes:

• Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) — what the seller knows about the property's condition
• Natural Hazard Disclosure (NHD) — flood, wildfire, and earthquake zone determinations
• Preliminary title report — anything recorded against the property, such as easements or liens
• HOA documents, if applicable

The packet is thick and dull, and it is the most information-dense document you will receive. Read it.

Ask about anything vague. "Prior water intrusion, repaired" is a sentence that deserves a follow-up question and, sometimes, a specialist.

Removing Contingencies — The Real Decision Point

In California, contingencies do not expire on their own. You remove them actively and in writing.

Once you sign that removal, your deposit is genuinely at risk if you back out.

Everything before this moment is information-gathering. Signing means you've reviewed what you needed to review and you're moving forward. It's the true point of no return — not closing day.

The Final Week

Your lender prepares loan documents and issues a Closing Disclosure at least three business days before closing. This is federally required.

Compare it line by line against the Loan Estimate you received at application. Question anything that moved. Small discrepancies are common and usually fixable — but only if someone catches them.

You'll then sign with a notary. Expect a thick stack, most of it lender paperwork.

The Final Walkthrough

A few days before closing, you'll walk the property one last time. This is not a second inspection. You're confirming three things:

1. Agreed-upon repairs were actually completed
2. The home is in the condition you saw it in
3. Nothing broke while it sat empty

Run the faucets. Open the windows. Test the garage door. Confirm the seller's belongings are gone.

Closing Day

You wire your remaining funds to escrow. Then the county records the deed — the moment ownership legally transfers.

Recording typically happens in the morning. You usually get the keys that afternoon.

Budget for closing costs beyond your down payment: roughly 1–2% of the purchase price for buyers in our area, covering title insurance, escrow fees, recording fees, and loan costs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does escrow take in the Bay Area?

Most Bay Area transactions close in 21 to 30 days. All-cash purchases can close in as few as 7 to 14 days. Our timelines run shorter than the national average because competitive offers often include faster closings.

Can I lose my deposit if I back out?

Before you remove contingencies, you can generally cancel and recover your deposit. After contingency removal, your earnest money is at risk. That signature is the critical dividing line.

H3: What happens if the appraisal comes in low?

You have four options: pay the difference in cash, renegotiate the price with the seller, challenge the appraisal with additional comparable sales, or cancel if your appraisal contingency is still in place.

H3: Should I waive contingencies to win a bidding war?

Sometimes — but only with a clear understanding of what you're giving up. Waiving inspections in a 1960s Fremont home carries different risk than waiving them in new Milpitas construction. This decision should always be made deliberately, never reflexively.

H3: How much money do I need at closing?

Your down payment plus closing costs, minus the earnest money already deposited. On a $1.5 million home with 20% down, that's $300,000 plus roughly $15,000 to $30,000 in closing costs.

Key Takeaways

• Escrow in the Bay Area typically runs 21 to 30 days
• Your earnest money is about 3% of the purchase price and applies toward your down payment
• Verify all wiring instructions by phone — wire fraud is the top financial risk
• The default contingency period is 17 days, but it's negotiable and often shortened here
• Contingency removal, not closing, is the real point of no return
• Make no financial changes until you have the keys

Something will go sideways. An inspection will surface an unexpected repair, or an underwriter will request a document you thought you'd already sent. That isn't a sign the deal is failing — it's an ordinary Tuesday in escrow.

What matters is having someone who can tell instantly which problems threaten the transaction and which just need a phone call.

Thinking About Buying on Either Side of the Bay?

I grew up in Fremont and work out of Palo Alto, which means I know both the East Bay and the Peninsula — two markets that behave very differently.

Before you write an offer, let's talk through what your specific timeline and strategy would look like. First-time buyers deserve to understand the process before they're in the middle of it.

Parul Dhamija Arora is a Compass real estate agent serving Fremont, Newark, Milpitas, San Jose, Redwood City, and Palo Alto. CA DRE# 01930141. Recognized by RealTrends as one of America's Best Agents, 2025.

This article provides general information and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Contract terms, timelines, and costs vary by transaction.