Title and escrow under one roof, or handled by two separate companies

First-time buyers ask this constantly, and the answer isn't as obvious as it seems. In a lot of states the title company also holds escrow, meaning the same outfit researches ownership, issues the insurance, holds the deposit money, and runs the closing table. In other states escrow is a separate licensed function, and buyers can end up dealing with two companies. Which setup applies is mostly decided by state practice, so it's worth confirming what a given state actually does rather than assuming. A few definitions worth keeping straight. A title search is someone reading the recorded history of a property to see who owns it and what claims sit against it. Title insurance is a policy that pays if something in that history turns out to be wrong. Escrow is the neutral account and the neutral party holding funds and documents until every condition of the contract is met. The case for one roof is fewer handoffs and one file to track, and a lot of late closings trace back to a handoff between two parties who each assumed the other had it covered. The case for splitting is that the escrow holder has no stake in whether the title policy gets written, and some buyers prefer that separation on the money side. Both structures work well when the parties involved are competent, and the real risk in either setup is a handoff, not the structure itself.