To be honest the escrow wouldn't be protecting you, it would be protecting the buyer because it is easy to validate the person has the funds, that is why escrow is used in real-estate transfers.
Yes, exactly. Escrow will be used. It will be used to protect the buyer mostly, of course. But during the confirmation process (which is short of course, but can take an hour or longer), then the escrow would be there for me.
There is just no getting around escrow with real estate IMHO.
Except that I have sold property in Ebay for coin. Ebay works, because there is a lot that the seller risks if they do not complete the transaction properly. But with an amount this high, I would insist on using escrow.