What Makes a Great Escrow Officer?

There are plenty of escrow officers out there who can manage a file. That's the job. They know the process, understand the paperwork and can get a transaction from opening through to closing.

But when we're speaking to title and escrow companies about the people they actually want to hire, the conversation is usually a bit different. They're not just looking for someone who can process files. They're looking for someone who can handle problems when things don't go to plan, keep clients calm when a transaction gets complicated and ultimately make the people around them better.

In my experience, that's what separates a good escrow officer from a great one.

Experience matters, but the type of experience matters more

One of the first things we look at when speaking to an escrow candidate is the type of transactions they're used to handling. Someone who has spent years working on straightforward residential transactions isn't necessarily going to be the right fit for a busy commercial operation, just because they've been in escrow for ten years.

The same applies in reverse. A candidate might have a huge amount of experience but be looking for a role that's completely different from what they've been doing. New construction, commercial, investor-heavy transactions, luxury residential and high-volume refinance all come with their own challenges.

That's why simply looking at someone's job title and number of years in the industry doesn't tell you very much. You need to understand what they're actually doing day to day.

Communication is probably more important than people realize

Escrow officers are dealing with a lot of different people throughout a transaction. Buyers, sellers, real estate agents, lenders, attorneys and internal teams can all have different expectations, and quite often the escrow officer is the person in the middle trying to keep everything moving.

When things are going smoothly, that's relatively easy.

It's when there's a problem that you find out how good someone really is.

A strong escrow officer doesn't disappear when there's an issue. They communicate, explain what's happening and work out what needs to happen next. They don't necessarily have an answer to every problem immediately, but they know how to manage it.

That's a big part of why good escrow officers become so valuable to their employers. Clients remember the person who helped them get through a difficult closing.

You can't teach everything

There are obviously things you can teach. Every company has its own systems, processes and ways of doing things, so even experienced escrow officers need some time to settle into a new organization.

What is harder to teach is judgement.

Someone who has been through thousands of transactions will have seen things that a newer escrow officer simply hasn't. They'll often spot a potential problem earlier, know which questions to ask and have a better idea of where something could go wrong.

That experience can be difficult to put on a resume. It's also one of the reasons why some of the best candidates aren't necessarily the ones who look the most impressive on paper.

The best candidates aren't always looking

This is probably the biggest challenge we see when recruiting escrow professionals.

A really good escrow officer is often already employed, busy and reasonably happy where they are. They're not spending their evenings scrolling through job boards looking for their next opportunity.

That doesn't mean they wouldn't move.

They might be interested in a better opportunity, a different market, more earning potential, a stronger management team or simply a company where they feel they can progress. You just have to actually have the conversation with them.

That's where specialist recruitment can make a difference. Rather than waiting for the right person to apply, you can identify the people already doing the job well and find out what would make them consider a move.

So what should title companies actually look for?

There isn't one perfect profile. The right escrow officer depends heavily on the market, the type of business and the role itself.

But if I was putting together a shortlist, I'd be looking beyond years of experience and asking some fairly simple questions. What types of files are they handling? How much volume are they used to? What happens when a transaction goes wrong? How do they deal with difficult clients? What relationships have they built? And, perhaps most importantly, would the people they've worked with want to work with them again?

That's usually where you start to get a much better picture of the candidate.

The title and escrow industry has changed a lot, and technology is going to continue changing how transactions are handled. But I don't think the fundamentals have changed that much. Companies still need experienced people who know their market, understand their clients and can be trusted to get the job done when things get complicated.

At SmartFind Talent, that's the type of candidate we spend our time finding. We specialize in escrow and title recruitment across the US, working with companies looking for experienced professionals across escrow, title, sales and management.

Because sometimes the best candidate isn't the one who's applying for your job. It's the one you haven't spoken to yet.