When buying Real Estate most jurisdiction require some form of consideration to make the real estate contract enforceable, this consideration is normally exercised in the form of an escrow deposit --commonly known as an earnest money deposit. This deposit is normally held by an Escrow agent, a neutral third party (generally a Real Estate Attorney or Title Company) in a real estate transaction tasked with holding funds and ensuring that all terms of escrow are completed prior to delivering property documents (such as the Deed) or funds.