Oklahoma real estate: buy or sell with a local AXEN agent
Oklahoma does title differently. Instead of a title search you get an abstract, a bound history of the land, and a lawyer reads it and writes an opinion. Minerals are often owned by somebody else. And your tax cap resets the year you buy. Here is what is the same everywhere in Oklahoma, and where to search homes.
Oklahoma cities we cover
Tap a city for its local guide or the newest homes for sale there.
What every Oklahoma buyer and seller should know
The seller gives you a disclosure or a disclaimer
Oklahoma law makes the seller of a 1 or 2 unit home give you either a Residential Property Condition Disclosure Statement or a Disclaimer Statement, on the Real Estate Commission's form. It has to be signed and dated no more than 180 days before you get it, and delivered before your offer is accepted. Pre-1978 homes also need the federal lead paint disclosure.
There is no cancel button, there is a damages claim
This is where Oklahoma differs from a lot of states. If the form comes after your offer, the seller can only accept that offer after you sign for the form and confirm the offer. The Act does not give you a separate right to terminate. Your remedy is a court claim for actual damages within two years of transfer. Your real out is the inspection period in the contract.
Documentary stamps are due on the deed
The tax is 75 cents for each $500 of price, or any part of $500, once the price is over $100. By statute either side can be made to pay it. The state contract puts it on the seller. Stamps are bought from the county clerk and have to be on the deed before it can be filed.
The abstract, then an attorney's opinion
The seller pays for a complete, current, surface-rights-only Abstract of Title, certified by an Oklahoma-licensed and bonded abstract company. You pay for either an attorney's title opinion or a title insurance commitment based on one. Attorneys judge marketable title using the Oklahoma Bar Association's Title Examination Standards. At closing the abstract becomes yours. Keep it.
Homestead takes $1,000 off assessed value, and your county sets the ratio
File with your county assessor. The deadline is March 15, or within 30 days of a notice that your value went up, whichever is later. You have to own and live there on January 1. The basic exemption renews on its own while you stay. An additional homestead exemption takes off another $1,000 if your gross household income was $30,000 or less last year, but you have to file for that one every year unless you are 65 or older and already got it once.
The tax cap resets when you buy
Taxable fair cash value cannot rise more than 3% a year on a homestead or farm land, or 5% on other real property. That cap comes off in the year the title transfers, and new improvements get added at full value. Some family transfers do not count, including between spouses, parent and child, and into your own revocable trust. So the new owner's bill can be a lot higher than the old owner's. Ask the assessor before you write the offer.
Minerals are often owned by somebody else
The state contract passes only the mineral rights the seller still owns, and expressly leaves out minerals already reserved or conveyed of record. Lots of Oklahoma property had its minerals severed decades ago. Have the title attorney check the record, and check the Corporation Commission for wells. In Osage County the entire mineral estate is held in federal trust for the Osage Nation.
Flood and HOA papers are separate checks
Cities and counties in the Oklahoma Water Resources Board floodplain program use an accredited floodplain administrator. The local floodplain board issues development permits, and in many places the administrator issues them for the board. Ask that office, not the seller. If the home is in a recorded real estate development, the title company has to give you a copy of the recorded covenants at or before closing and can charge no more than $25 for it.
Closing costs in Oklahoma: who pays what
Who pays what in Oklahoma. The stamps and the recording fees are set by law. Most of the rest is set by the state contract, which means it is a checkbox you can negotiate.
| Buyer pays | How it works |
|---|---|
| Attorney's title opinion or title commitment | Your expense under the state contract. The fee is set by the attorney or title firm. |
| Owner's or lender's title policy | Only if you elect it, or your lender requires it. Priced by the title insurer. |
| Your closing fee | Charged by the closing office. |
| Recording the deed and mortgage | Set by state law: $8 for the first page plus a $10 preservation fee, so $18, then $2 for each page after. |
| Inspections | Your expense. Oklahoma home inspectors are licensed by the Construction Industries Board. |
| Termite report | Your expense. It goes on the state's official form. |
| Survey or mortgage inspection report | A checkbox in the contract. Buyer or seller, whichever you agree. |
| Tax proration | The year's tax split through the closing date. |
| Seller pays | How it works |
|---|---|
| Abstract of title or continuation | Your expense. A licensed, bonded Oklahoma abstract company certifies it, and it has to be ready 30 days before closing. |
| Documentary stamps | 75 cents per $500 of price, or any part of $500, over $100. |
| Your closing fee | Charged by the closing office. |
| Your recording fees | Releases and other seller filings on the county clerk's schedule. |
| HOA status letter and transfer fees | Your expense under the state contract. |
| Copy of the recorded covenants | The title company provides it. The buyer can be charged $25 or less. |
| Government special assessments | Paid in full by the seller at closing. |
| Agreed repairs and termite treatment | Your expense if the two sides agree in writing. |
Recording fees, the floodplain office and how homestead is filed change by county, and assessment ratios differ county to county. Osage County property needs its own look because the mineral estate is federal trust land. Ask your AXEN agent what applies in your county before you sign.
How a Oklahoma home purchase runs
From accepted contract to recorded deed, most Oklahoma sales run 30 to 45 days. The abstract step is the one that is different here.
Get pre-approved →-
Contract accepted, earnest money in. You deliver earnest money within 3 days of full signing.
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Inspection window opens. You get 10 days if the blank is left empty, covering every inspection including termite.
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Repair notice and talks. You send the repair request within 24 hours of the window closing, then both sides have 7 days to agree or the deal ends.
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Seller orders the abstract update. The abstract company brings the abstract current and certifies it. Allow 2 to 4 weeks. It has to be available 30 days before closing.
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Attorney examines title. Your attorney reads the abstract and issues a title opinion, or a title insurer issues a commitment based on that opinion. Usually a few business days.
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You state title objections. You have 10 days after getting the title evidence to send written requirements.
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Seller cures title problems. Closing can be pushed 30 days if the blank is empty. Once cured, the two sides close within 5 days of notice.
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Closing. The deed is signed with the required ownership affidavit attached, the title company delivers the recorded covenants, and the money moves.
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Recording. The county clerk sells and affixes the documentary stamps and records the deed and mortgage. The abstract becomes yours.
Oklahoma by region
Oklahoma's two metros sit 100 miles apart and look nothing alike. Tap a city for homes for sale there.
Green Country
Hilly, wooded country around the Arkansas River, built around Tulsa. Older in-town neighborhoods sit next to newer suburbs to the north and east.
Oklahoma City metro
Flat, fast-growing and spread out along I-35 and I-44. Edmond sits north of the city, Moore and Norman to the south.
Southwest and north central Oklahoma
Two standalone markets outside the metros. Lawton sits next to Fort Sill. Stillwater is a college town in the Cimarron valley.
AXEN Realty in Oklahoma
Every AXEN agent in Oklahoma works under a licensed managing broker: Monica Burke (AXEN Realty, LLC, firm license 212083). See every state on the state brokers page.
Buying? Start with the home buying guide and get pre-approved.
Selling? Read the home selling guide and get your home value.
Moving here? Read buying in a new state.
Real estate agent? Changing brokerages in Oklahoma: you file it online; both brokerages approve; state fee: $40 plus a card fee. See how to transfer an Oklahoma license, the switching checklist, advice for new agents and how keeping 100% works.
Oklahoma real estate questions
Do I get the mineral rights when I buy?
Often not. The state contract passes only the minerals the seller still owns, and leaves out minerals already reserved or conveyed on record. Many Oklahoma homes had minerals severed decades ago. Have the title attorney check the record. In Osage County all minerals are held in federal trust.
What is an abstract of title?
It is a bound history of every recorded document that touches your land. An Oklahoma-licensed, bonded abstract company builds it and certifies it. The seller pays to bring it current before closing. Your attorney reads it and writes the title opinion. At closing it becomes yours.
Do I still need title insurance?
Not by law. The state contract lets you choose a title insurance commitment based on an attorney's opinion, or just the attorney's opinion with no policy. A lender will usually require the policy. The opinion tells you the condition of the title. The policy pays if something was missed.
Does the seller have to fill out the disclosure form?
Yes, for most 1 and 2 unit homes. The seller gives either the disclosure form or a disclaimer form on the Real Estate Commission's version, signed within the last 180 days, before your offer is accepted. Some transfers are exempt. Ask your agent which applies.
Who pays the documentary stamps?
The state contract puts them on the seller. By statute either side can be made to pay. They run 75 cents per $500 of price, or any part of $500, once the price passes $100. The county clerk sells them when the deed is filed, and the deed cannot record without them.
How do I claim the homestead exemption?
File with your county assessor after you move in. File by March 15, or within 30 days of a notice that your value went up, whichever is later. You have to own and live there on January 1. It takes $1,000 off assessed value, and the basic exemption renews by itself. Oklahoma has no single statewide assessment ratio. The constitution sets a range of 11% to 13.5% of fair cash value and each county fixes its own. Because it comes off assessed value and not market value, $1,000 off is worth roughly $8,000 to $9,000 of market value.
Why did my tax bill jump the year after I bought?
The Oklahoma constitution caps yearly growth in taxable value at 3% for a homestead and 5% for other property. That cap comes off in the year the title transfers. The value then resets toward market, so your bill can be well above the old owner's.
Does a storm shelter change my taxes?
It can help. Oklahoma has a storm shelter exemption you claim with the county assessor on Form 905. It covers up to 100 square feet, in-ground or a safe room. Like other breaks it is tied to the current owner and gets looked at again when the title transfers.