As a Buyer the process would seem pretty easy. You sign loan docs, you deposit the final funds to close and you wait for the Real Estate Agent or the Escrow Agent to call and say “Congratulations! Here are the keys!”. As a Seller you are pretty much cleaning and moving out, also waiting for the call that says, “Congratulations! We are wiring your net proceeds!
From an Escrow Agent’s standpoint, however, it may not have been quite that easy. This is a tale of two escrows and there was a bit of drama (California style) spread over a number of days.