How Does the Texas Home Selling Process Work Step by Step?

Most sellers think the process starts when they list and ends when they close. The reality is more involved — and knowing what comes between those two moments makes everything smoother. Here is the full Texas home selling process from beginning to end.

Step 1: Choose Your Agent and Sign a Listing Agreement

Before your home appears anywhere publicly, you sign a Listing Agreement with a licensed Texas real estate broker. This document authorizes the broker to market your property, specifies the listing price and period, documents the commission structure, and outlines both parties' duties. Following the 2024 NAR settlement, commission structures are explicitly negotiated and documented rather than assumed. A trustworthy listing agent will walk through every provision of the agreement before asking for your signature.

Step 2: Prepare the Home and Complete Disclosures

Before listing, sellers must complete the Texas Seller's Disclosure Notice (TREC Form OP-H) disclosing the known condition of the property — foundation, roof, plumbing, electrical, flooding history, and more. Simultaneously, the home is prepared for market: decluttering, repairs, professional photography, and any agreed-upon staging. In the current Boerne market, professional photography is non-negotiable — listing photos are the first showing for most buyers, and homes with poor photography are scrolled past regardless of their actual condition.

Step 3: List the Property on the MLS

Once preparation is complete, your agent enters the listing on the MLS with professional photos, an accurate and compelling description, and complete property details. Most listing agents also execute additional marketing simultaneously: agent network outreach, social media, email campaigns to buyer databases, and open house scheduling. The first 14 days on market generate the highest buyer attention — making launch strategy a critical component of selling performance.

Step 4: Receive and Negotiate Offers

When offers are received, your agent presents them to you with a full breakdown of terms — purchase price, financing type, earnest money, option period, requested concessions, and proposed closing date. In the current Texas market, most offers come in below list price, and negotiation through counter-offers is common. Your agent should advise you not just on price but on the overall strength of each offer — a cash offer at a lower price may net more than a financed offer with significant concession requests and a longer closing timeline.

Step 5: Option Period and Inspections

Once a contract is executed, the buyer enters the option period — typically five to ten days — during which they conduct inspections and may negotiate repairs, credits, or a price reduction. Sellers should expect inspection findings and should be prepared to negotiate rather than assume the buyer will accept the home as-is. Your agent will advise on how to respond to repair requests in a way that preserves the transaction without conceding more than necessary.

Step 6: Appraisal, Loan Processing, and Closing

After the option period, the buyer's lender orders the appraisal and begins formal underwriting. If the appraisal comes in below the contract price, a new negotiation may occur. Once underwriting clears, the title company finalizes the title search, prepares the closing disclosure, and schedules closing. On closing day in Texas, using wet funding, you sign the required documents, the buyer's funds are verified and disbursed, and the deed is recorded. Your net proceeds are typically wired to you on the same day.

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