Step-by-Step Buying and Selling in Simple Language

Don’t let those big real estate words keep you from having a great time buying and selling your house. We’ve mapped it out for you to make it relaxing and enjoyable.

Buying a Home

1. Get Pre-approved - It is essential that you get pre-approved for your mortgage before you start looking for a home. This allows you to know how much you can spend on your new dream home. We have listed our favorite mortgage lender on our More Info page.
    
   Before you meet with the mortgage lender, ask what paperwork you should bring.  Typically, they need to see the past few years of tax returns, several months of bank account statements, and paycheck stubs.
    
   Your mortgage lender can provide a "good faith estimate" of all the fees, closing costs, and down payments.  This will let you know how much cash you need at closing (see item 17).
    
2. Contact a REALTOR® - Don’t fool around with the biggest purchase of your life. Get a professional involved. We recommend Jennifer Waggoner with Century 21 Goodyear Green with both Edmond and Guthrie offices.
    
3. Stick with your REALTOR® - Your REALTOR® can help you with the purchase of any home, even if it is listed by another REALTOR®.  Some people foolishly contact the listing agents for every home they are interested in.  If you are happy with your REALTOR®, don't jump around.
    
4. Describe what you want - Your REALTOR® is trained to find you the best home, but you have to clearly tell them what you want and what is most important to you.
    
5. REALTOR® searches homes - Armed with the knowledge of what you want, your REALTOR® will start the search on a huge real estate database called MLS Gateway. Practically all REALTORS® list their properties in this database. If you have email access, your REALTOR® can email you all the homes that meet your criteria. This email will have photos and a detailed description of the homes. If you don’t have email access, your REALTOR® can print this information for you.
    
6. Check out the homes - First, review the email. For the ones you like, drive by and take a look at them. Many homes will drop off your list after you actually drive by them. Many homes have pretty pictures, but are ugly in real life!
    
7. Take a tour - Once you have narrowed the list, your REALTOR® can schedule tours of the homes you like. Check everything out carefully and read the disclosures. The “disclosure” is a document that the seller fills out that that describes the condition and history of the home.
    
8. Make an offer (contract) - If you find your dream home, then make an offer on it. You will fill out a contract, which will describe your offer, the repair cap, the escrow amount, and many other things that your REALTOR® will explain.
    
   The “repair cap” is the maximum amount of money that the seller has to pay to have things fixed. If the cost of the repairs goes beyond that cap, then you have to renegotiate the contract. The required repairs will be highlighted when you get the home inspection (see below).
    
   The “escrow amount” is the amount of money that you are willing to provide in a special account to secure the contract. This shows the seller that you are serious, because if you decide to back out of the deal, the seller can keep the escrow money under certain circumstances. Any escrow money that you provide will be applied to the home cost, later at closing (see below).
    
9. Seller accepts or counteroffers - The seller will take a look at your offer (contract) and either accept it, counteroffer, or reject it. This process goes on until a contract that is acceptable to both the seller and buyer is achieved. If no contract is negotiated, then the earnest money is returned to the buyer. 
    
10. REALTOR® sends contract to mortgage lender - The agreed upon contract is then sent to the mortgage lender. The lender needs the contract to start the mortgage process so money will be available to the seller at closing. 
     
11. Meet with mortgage lender - After the contract is sent to the mortgage lender, you will need to meet with the lender to provide them with all the information they need. 
     
12. Appraisal - The mortgage lender will send an appraiser to determine the value of the home.  This ensures that the loan amount matches the actual value of the home.
     
13. REALTOR® initiates abstract process - The abstract company will handle all the legal issues associated with the title of the property. Don’t worry about this step--the abstract company will tackle the huge legal red tape that is required to transfer property to a new owner (you). They make sure that everything is legal and all the T’s are crossed. 
     
14. Home inspection - Usually while you and the REALTOR® are at the home, the home inspector, that you choose, will go through the home and list all the things that need repair. 
     
15. Seller fixes items or pays - The seller can either fix the items that the inspector lists or they can pay the buyer the equivalent amount of money. If the total amount of repairs exceed the repair cap then it’s back to the negotiating table (see item 8 above). 
     
16. Final walkthrough - Right before closing, you will walk through the home to make sure that the items were fixed and to make sure everything is still OK with the property.
      
17. Closing - sign everything. You’ve never signed more documents in your life than at closing. I hope you have a strong hand. But don’t despair, you are a few moments away from owning your dream home.
     
18. Move in! You did it! Enjoy.
     

Selling your House

1. Contact a REALTOR® - Don’t mess around with something this big. Your REALTOR® will guide you through the steps to make sure you get the most money possible.  We recommend Jennifer Waggoner with Century 21 Goodyear Green, which has offices in both Edmond and Guthrie.  You will sign a listing agreement to start the process.
    
2. REALTOR® will research market value - After looking at your house, your REALTOR® will research the range of market values to help you determine the best price to list your house. Your REALTOR® has a huge amount of data available to them.
    
3. Provide disclosure - As a seller you need to provide a disclosure. This is a document that you fill out that describes the condition and history of the house.
    
4. REALTOR® takes pictures - You will need to schedule a time for the REALTOR® to take pictures of the house, so make sure it’s clean! 
    
5. REALTOR® advertises - Your REALTOR® has a multitude of ways to advertise your house, including listing your house in the MLS Gateway. MLS stands for “Multiple Listing Service” Nearly every REALTOR® lists their houses in MLS Gateway. All other REALTORS® will be able to search for your house. Your REALTOR® will list your house in the local newspapers, provide yard signs, and have open houses. Your REALTOR® also has a network of buyers looking for houses.
    
6. Show house - When potential buyers come along, your REALTOR® will show the house. Usually these tours will be scheduled in advance to give you time to prepare. 
    
7. Receive offer (contract) - When an interested buyer makes an offer, your REALTOR® will present the offer and provide advice. If you want to counteroffer, your REALTOR® will prepare the counteroffer and work with the buyer’s real estate agent until a deal is reached. The contract will include the amount that the buyer is going to pay for the house, the repair cap, the escrow amount, and many other things that your REALTOR® will explain.
    
   The “repair cap” is the maximum amount of money that you will need to pay to have things fixed. If the cost of the repairs goes beyond that cap, then you have to renegotiate the contract. The required repairs will be highlighted when you get the home inspection (see below).
    
   The “escrow amount” is the amount of money that the buyer is willing to provide in a special account to secure the contract. This shows you how serious the seller really is, because if the seller decides to back out of the deal, you can keep the escrow money in some circumstances. Any escrow money that the buyer provides will be applied to the house cost, later at closing (see below). 
    
8. Sign contract - If an offer (contract) is agreed upon by both the seller and buyer, then both parties will sign the contract. 
    
9. REALTOR® initiates abstract process - The abstract company will handle all the legal issues associated with the title of the property. Don’t worry about this step--the abstract company will tackle the huge legal red tape that is required to transfer property from you to the new owner. 
    
10. Appraisal - The buyer's mortgage lender will send an appraiser to determine the value of the house.  This ensures that the loan amount matches the actual value of the house.
     
11. Home inspection - The home inspector, that the buyer chooses, will go through the house and list all the things that need repair.
     
12. Seller fixes items or pays - You can either fix the items that the inspector lists or you can pay the buyer the equivalent amount of money. If the total amount of repairs exceeds the repair cap then it’s back to the negotiating table (see item 7 above). 
     
13. Move out - It’s time to pack up. After closing, the buyers own the property so you can’t have your New Kids on the Block record collection hanging on the wall anymore! After you move out, the buyer will have a final walk through before closing. 
     
14. Closing - sign everything. There are a ton of documents to sign, but be happy. You have sold your house!