The 5 Simple Steps in a Real Estate Transaction

By Darren James

Darren James is a highly accomplished real estate professional and the founder of one of Baton Rouge’s premier real estate firms. With over 20 years of experience in selling and marketing real estate.

We hear it all the time: real estate seems like this long, stressful process. But once we explain how it works, most people realize it’s not as complicated as they thought.

When you’re buying or selling a home, we typically follow the same five steps. Once you understand them, everything starts to make more sense. Let’s walk through what really happens:

1. Accepted offer. Everything begins with the offer. The goal for both sides is to agree on terms and get the offer accepted. Once that’s in place, things can officially move forward.

2. Home inspection. After the offer is accepted, buyers typically move forward with a home inspection. This part is technically optional, but we strongly recommend it. We’ve seen buyers waive inspections before, but for your protection, it’s always smart to have one.

Inspectors focus on three big areas: structure, safety, and systems. If there are problems, this is when we find out.

3. Home appraisal. If the buyer’s using a loan, the lender will order an appraisal. An appraisal looks at how much the home is worth.

The lender wants to know what the home is worth in today’s market, especially if they ever need to sell it in the future. If the buyer defaults, they need to know what they could reasonably expect to get back.

4. Final walkthrough. After the appraisal and inspection are done, we’re close to the end. Buyers do one last walk through the property—usually the day before closing, sometimes a few days earlier.

The goal here is simple: check that the house is in the same condition as when the offer was accepted. If the seller agreed to fix anything, this is when the buyer makes sure it’s been done. And we make sure nothing’s gone missing or been damaged during the move-out.

5. Closing day. This is the big day when everything’s signed, funds are handled, and keys are exchanged. It’s the moment we’ve all been working toward.

It’s the celebration moment. We made it!

That’s the full picture: accepted offer, inspection, appraisal, final walkthrough, and closing. Once we break it down, it’s not as intimidating as it first seems.

If you’re planning to buy, sell, or move anywhere in the U.S., we’d be glad to help you take the next step. Feel free to reach out to me at (225) 335-7666 or darren@agent225.com. You can also visit Agent225.com to learn more about how we can help you.