Rosemary,
Katie explained it very well in her answer. Let me add that in Hawaii, parties do not generally hire a real estate lawyer to go over contracts, unlike other states such as New York where I had the pleasure to practice real estate before moving to Hawaii.
Any reputable Escrow company in Hawaii will not let you open escrow without a "fully executed contract", meaning one that has been signed by all parties: sellers, buyers and both Brokerages.
Monique

Aloha, Rosemary... The two previous answers illustrate why it is so critical - especially in Hawaii - to have local representation and not count on answers from Realtors or Brokers in other states. Real Estate laws are governed by the STATE and all state laws regarding real estate are different from state to state. Additionally, we practice real estate differently from much of the mainland in that we negotiate price and terms up front, and then we go into escrow where the buyer does the rest of their due diligence before closing. So, assuming you're asking about a property in 96816, the answer to your question is a resounding NO! Absolutely, a transaction cannot go to escrow without the seller's signature, it is not a valid contract without the seller's signature - each and EVERY seller on title's signature, in fact. From the buyer's side, a contract can go into escrow with only one Buyer's signature on the contract and another buyer or more can be added to the transaction later, but NOT from the Seller's side. Additionally, most Brokers in Hawaii will not allow escrow to open up a transaction without the BROKER's signature as well as the signatures of all parties. The only time when you may seen an exception to this is when buying a developer-owned property where they have their own contract and might open escrow before you actually see the developer's signature on the contract. Verbal does NOT count for anything in Hawaii, do NOT believe anyone who tells you otherwise. One of our famous sayings here is "If it's not in writing, it never happened."

Rosemary, I'm concerned about you - it sounds like maybe you're working with a Realtor who isn't explaining the buying process to you thoroughly or in a way that makes sense to you. Please feel free to call or email me directly, I'm happy to help sort things through for you. I do feel it's my duty as a Broker here in HI to make sure you are well represented and buying property can be one of the most stressful things to do in life, and can often be confusing, especially here in Hawaii. 808.895.4327 katie@hawaiilife.com.

Rosemary -

When I was in Vegas I sent buyer's only signatures to escrow many times. With a good number of homes in Vegas being vacation homes, it was not uncommon for me to receive verbal accptance from a Seller that was out of state or the country. As my broker only used an escrow company and did not maintain his own escrow account, we had to turn in deposit money within 24 hours from notice of Sellers accptance. If it was going to take the seller a couple of days to get me his signature, I would send the paperwork over and they would assign escrow agent, numbers and start pulling prelims, etc.

It will depend on what the procedures of your escrow company if they will do this.

Your question is not completely clear. Signature on what? The purchase agreement? The escrow papers?

Is there just one buyer or multiple buyers?

By "go to escrow", do you mean open the escrow to start the process, or close the escrow taking title to the property?

What is the situation?