Services
02. Real Estate
Real Estate
Real estate is a very complex subject that is virtually impossible to summarize in a brief manner.
However, on this page, we have described some situations about real estate transactions that you should find helpful.
The real estate transaction process is basically two stages: Contracting and Closing.
Contracting
During the contracting phase, the parties reach the negotiated price, terms, and conditions, and agree upon any other contingencies. The contract should be carefully considered to make sure that it allows for due diligence regarding the physical attributes of the property, and for title review regarding the legal title of the property. Oklahoma is still an abstracting state (as discussed below), and the contract should address what title will be conveyed.
Title Review
After the contract and its terms have been agreed to, the local abstract company will need to either update the existing abstract or, if no abstract exists, construct a new abstract. Once the abstract is completed, it will be delivered to the Buyer’s attorney for review to ensure the cleanliness of the property’s title.
Abstract v. Title Insurance
For those contemplating a real estate transaction in Oklahoma, you should be aware that Oklahoma is still an abstracting state. Most states allow for the mere issuance of a title policy, but Oklahoma still requires the construction or update of an abstract before a title insurance policy can be issued.
Closing
Closing is the final step of a real estate transaction, and it usually involves a non-interested party that pays the sales proceeds from the Buyer to the Seller, files the deed from the Seller to the Buyer, and, from the proceeds, pays any other expenses incurred by the transaction.
