Sellers compare offers by price. Buyers know this, which is why the highest offer is not reliably the best one. The number that matters is what actually reaches your account, and working it out takes twenty minutes and a piece of paper.
This article shows you how to build a seller's net sheet for an Oklahoma sale, what belongs on it, the deductions people forget, and how to use it to compare offers that look nothing alike.
We buy houses and we are one of the columns you should be comparing. We are not attorneys, accountants or title agents. Fee structures and customary practice vary by county and change, so get your actual figures from your title company rather than from any template.
Why price is the wrong comparison
Two offers on the same house:
- Offer A: $240,000, financed, buyer asks for closing cost assistance, six percent commission, sixty days to close, appraisal and inspection contingencies
- Offer B: $215,000, cash, no fees, no repairs, fourteen days to close
The first is $25,000 higher. Whether it nets more depends on the commission, the assistance, the repairs that emerge, the carrying costs of another six weeks, and whether it closes at all.
A seller who compares headline prices is comparing the only number the other side chose to make prominent.
Building the sheet
Start with the offer price and subtract everything. In rough order.
What you owe on the property
- Mortgage payoff. Not the balance on your last statement. Call the servicer for a payoff figure to a specific date, including interest and any fees. This is the largest single number and the one people estimate wrongly
- Second mortgages, HELOCs and equity loans
- Any prepayment penalty, if your loan carries one
Anything attached to the property
- Delinquent property taxes, covered in our article on the county tax sale
- Judgment liens, mechanic's liens, HOA arrears and city code fines
- Unreleased items requiring resolution, covered in our article on mechanic's liens
Transaction costs
- Agent commission, if applicable
- Owner's title policy premium, which the seller customarily pays in Oklahoma
- Abstracting, updating and certifying, which on an older parcel is more
- Closing fee charged by the title company
- Documentary stamp tax on the deed
- Recording fees
- Attorney fees for the title opinion
Prorations
- Property taxes apportioned to the closing date. Depending on timing this can be a credit or a charge and it surprises people either way
- HOA dues, apportioned
- Any prepaid items being adjusted
Whatever was negotiated
- Repair credits agreed after inspection
- Closing cost assistance to the buyer, which is money off your side even though it does not change the headline price
- A home warranty you agreed to provide
The deductions sellers forget
These are the ones that make an estimate wrong rather than incomplete.
- Carrying costs until closing. Mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance for however many more months. A sixty day closing costs two more months of everything
- Repairs that emerge from the inspection. Not knowable in advance, and worth putting a realistic placeholder against on an older house rather than assuming zero
- Pre-listing work already spent or committed
- Moving costs, and temporary accommodation if the timing does not line up
- Vacant property costs if you have already moved out, including the insurance problem covered in our article on vacant property insurance
- Tax consequences, which are not a closing cost and do affect what you keep. Our capital gains orientation covers the questions for a CPA
The first one is the one that changes comparisons most, because it scales with time and time is exactly what differs between a cash offer and a financed one.
The column nobody includes
A net sheet gives you a number for each offer. It does not tell you the chance of reaching it.
An offer that nets $10,000 more but has a meaningful chance of collapsing at the appraisal or the inspection is not straightforwardly better than a certain one. And a collapsed sale is not neutral: you lose the weeks, you gain days on market, covered in our article on days on market, and you start again.
You cannot calculate this precisely and you can note it. Beside each offer, write what could stop it: appraisal, financing, inspection, buyer's own sale, title. An offer with four of those beside it is a different proposition to one with one.
That is also why proof of funds and pre-approval matter, covered in our article on proof of funds.
Comparing three routes properly
Run the same sheet three times and the answer frequently changes.
Three columns, same house
- Full service listing. Highest price, minus commission, minus repairs that emerge, minus three to four months of carrying costs, times the probability it closes first time
- Flat fee MLS. Same price potential, lower listing-side cost, plus your own time, and the buyer agent question covered in our article on flat fee MLS
- Cash sale. Lowest price, no commission, no repairs, no assistance, minimal carrying costs, high certainty
On a sound house in a dense market with three months available, the first column usually wins and we say so consistently. On a house with condition problems, in a thin market, or with a deadline, the columns converge and sometimes reverse.
Our guide on cash offer versus listing works through this in more detail.
Getting real numbers rather than estimates
- Call your mortgage servicer for a written payoff to a specific date
- Call the county treasurer and confirm the tax position
- Ask a title company for an estimate of the title, abstracting and closing costs on your property. They do this routinely and it costs nothing
- Check the record for liens you may not know about, covered in our county records guide
- Ask any agent for their net sheet and check their assumptions rather than accepting the total
Four phone calls and you have real numbers instead of an estimate. That is a morning's work against the largest transaction most people ever make.
What we do
Our interest, stated plainly. Our offer comes with the comparable sales and the repair estimate we used, and we will walk through the net with you rather than handing over a headline figure.
What we would ask is that you build the same sheet for a listing and compare properly. If the listing column is meaningfully higher and you have the time and the house is in a condition to be listed, list it. We would rather lose a sale we should not have won than have you find out afterwards.
Ask any buyer, including us, to show you the net rather than the price. A buyer unwilling to do that is relying on you not doing the arithmetic.
The short version
Six things worth knowing
- Compare nets, not prices. The headline is the number the other side chose to feature
- Get a written payoff figure to a specific date. It is the number most often estimated wrongly
- Closing cost assistance is money off your side without changing the price
- Carrying costs scale with time, which is exactly what differs between offers
- Beside each offer, write what could stop it. Certainty has a value
- Four phone calls turns an estimate into real numbers
Frequently asked questions
What is a seller's net sheet?
An estimate of what you actually receive after every deduction, starting from the offer price and subtracting the payoff, liens, transaction costs, prorations and anything negotiated. It is the only number that matters when comparing offers.
Why is comparing prices misleading?
Because the headline is the number the other side chose to make prominent. A higher offer with commission, closing cost assistance, repairs and two extra months of carrying costs can net less than a lower one that closes quickly.
What is the biggest number on the sheet?
The mortgage payoff, and it is the one most often estimated wrongly. Call the servicer for a written payoff to a specific date including interest and fees, rather than using the balance on your last statement.
Why does the payoff date matter?
Because it includes interest to that date. A payoff quoted for the fifteenth is not correct for the twentieth, and where a closing slips the figure changes and produces a shortfall at disbursement.
What transaction costs does a seller pay in Oklahoma?
Customarily the owner's title policy premium, abstracting, the closing fee, documentary stamp tax, recording fees, attorney fees for the title opinion, and agent commission where applicable. Custom varies by county and is negotiable.
What are prorations?
Property taxes and HOA dues apportioned to the closing date, along with any prepaid items being adjusted. Depending on timing these can be a credit or a charge, and they surprise sellers either way.
What is closing cost assistance?
Money you contribute toward the buyer's closing costs. It comes off your side without changing the headline price, which is exactly why an offer with assistance built in can net less than a lower offer without it.
What do sellers most often forget?
Carrying costs until closing. Mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance for however many more months. A sixty day closing costs two more months of everything, and that scales with time.
Should I budget for inspection repairs?
On an older house, put a realistic placeholder rather than assuming zero. Repairs emerging after inspection are not knowable in advance and pretending they will be nothing makes the whole sheet optimistic.
Do taxes belong on the net sheet?
Not as a closing cost, and they do affect what you keep. Capital gains treatment depends on your basis, the primary residence exclusion and whether the property was ever rented. That is a question for a CPA before you agree a sale.
How do I account for the chance a sale falls through?
You cannot calculate it precisely and you can note it. Beside each offer write what could stop it: appraisal, financing, inspection, the buyer's own sale, title. Four of those beside an offer is a different proposition to one.
Is a failed sale neutral?
No. You lose the weeks, you gain days on market that later buyers can see, and you start again. That is why certainty has a real value that does not appear anywhere on a net sheet.
How do I compare a listing against a cash offer?
Run the same sheet three times: full service listing minus commission, repairs and three to four months of carrying costs; flat fee MLS with the buyer agent question; and a cash sale with no fees and minimal carrying. Then compare the bottom lines.
Which usually wins?
On a sound house in a dense market with three months available, the listing column usually wins and we say so consistently. On a house with condition problems, in a thin market, or with a deadline, the columns converge and sometimes reverse.
How do I get real numbers rather than estimates?
Call your mortgage servicer for a written payoff, the county treasurer for the tax position, and a title company for an estimate of title, abstracting and closing costs. Then check the record for liens you may not know about.
Will a title company give me an estimate?
They do this routinely and it costs nothing. Asking early rather than at closing means the figures appear on your net sheet while you are still deciding rather than surprising you at the table.
Should I trust an agent's net sheet?
Ask for it and check the assumptions rather than accepting the total. What payoff figure did they use, what did they assume for repairs, and how many months of carrying costs are in there. Those three assumptions drive the answer.
What about liens I do not know about?
They come off the proceeds, so an unknown lien makes your estimate wrong. Checking the county clerk's record is worth an afternoon, particularly if you have had significant work done on the property.
Does a cash offer really save the commission?
Where you sell directly with no agent involved, yes. That is a real saving and it does not by itself make a cash offer better, because the gross price is lower. That is precisely why you run the net rather than arguing about which is better in principle.
Should I ask a cash buyer to show me the net?
Yes, and ask us too. A buyer unwilling to walk through the net rather than the price is relying on you not doing the arithmetic, which is a reasonable thing to hold against them.
How long does building a net sheet take?
About twenty minutes with the figures, and four phone calls to get real figures rather than estimates. That is a morning against the largest transaction most people ever make.
What is the single most useful thing on this page?
Getting a written payoff figure to a specific date. It is the largest number, it is the one most often wrong, and every other calculation on the sheet depends on it being right.
We buy houses and we are one of the columns you should be comparing. We are not attorneys, accountants or title agents. Fee structures and customary practice vary by county and change, so get your actual figures from your title company rather than from any template.