Best practice is to open title and escrow the moment you have a fully executed contract, even before the buyer’s financing is finalized. The earlier the order opens, the sooner the title company can complete its search and reveal anything that needs clearing — an old unreleased mortgage, a lien, a probate gap, a boundary or easement question — so there’s runway to resolve it without threatening the closing date. Opening early also gets the earnest money safely into escrow and gives the escrow officer time to coordinate payoffs, HOA documents, and lender requirements. Closing delays are far more often caused by issues discovered late than by problems that couldn’t be solved, and early opening is the simplest way to avoid them.