How a deal works

A deal moves through a fixed set of stages, and at every one exactly one side is holding it up — start here, then read the stage you are sitting in.

A deal is the agreement between a buyer and a seller about one listing. It moves through a fixed set of stages, and at every stage exactly one side is the one holding it up.

That single property is what makes the whole thing readable: you never have to guess what is happening, only which stage the deal is in and therefore whose turn it is. The pages below are that map — the stages themselves, how a deal can be broken into steps, when money actually moves, and what to do when it ends badly or does not move at all.

If you are here because something is stuck, go straight to Why a deal is stuck and work backwards.