The escrow process is the period of time between the acceptance of a purchase agreement and the closing of the sale. Once the offer to purchase contract is fully signed, the buyer will deposit earnest money into the listing broker's escrow account.Escrow is the time period between signing the purchase agreement and closing on the house. The due diligence fee is a fee paid to the Seller once the contract has been executed, essentially asking the Seller to take their home off the market for you. Closing on a real estate transaction in North Carolina can get pretty tricky. Luckily, we're here to help guide you through it. There is an automatic 14 day extension in the default NC sales agreement for buyer. In the event that you, the seller, backs out of the sale, the earnest money is returned to the buyer. At that juncture, the buyer is faced with either completing the purchase or terminating and wrestling with the seller for their earnest money back. You must disclose any issues with your house.