Real Estate Template: The Ultimate Buyer’s Agent Checklist
Checklists are critical for real estate agents. They serve as reminders to fulfill essential tasks and also ensure that deadlines and milestones are met on time.
But for many new realtors, it can be hard to know what to include in a checklist.
That’s why we’re publishing a series of articles, each of which provides a simple real estate template checklist that you can use to get started.
This article focuses on the buyer’s side checklist. We’ll walk you through each step and explain what needs to happen. We’ve also provided a downloadable version that you can copy for each new transaction you start.
Read to the end of the article to discover how you can use Paperless Pipeline’s checklists to never miss another transaction deadline!
Paperless Pipeline’s Real Estate Buyer’s Checklist
Let’s go through the checklist task-by-task, stage-by-stage.
Active Buyer
This is where a buyer expresses an interest in working with you and you do the groundwork to find them a property.
Add the buyer information to Paperless Pipeline
The first step is to set your buyer up on your transaction management system and record their details.
Go into your transaction management platform and create a new transaction. With Paperless Pipeline you do this by clicking “Add Transaction” in the upper right corner of any page.
There are a number of different fields to complete. Some of these will need to be filled but others may be left blank until you have the required information.
Here are some that are essential at this stage:
- Under the “Status” drop-down menu, select “Active”.
- Add the buyer’s name and lead source (if relevant).
- Click “add buyer as contact” and add their details.
Send a welcome email to the buyer
Get the relationship off to a great start by sending the buyer a welcome email. Thank them for choosing you and explain the next steps.
You can speed up this process by:
Clients want to get messages from you—not a generic email from your transaction management tool. So ensure you add personalized elements that show it was meant for them only.
This might include:
Ensure pre-approval or proof of funds (POF) is current
Ideally, your clients will already have the funds to buy a property through finance or their own money.
They’ll need a letter from their bank or lender to prove this. Finance offers have expiration dates, so check if there is enough time to go through the whole transaction process.
If there isn’t, ask your client to apply for an extension. If they don’t have a pre-approval letter or POF, ask them to get one as a priority.
Get a signed buyer agency agreement
Having a signed agreement in place is critical for buyer’s agents. If you don’t, other agents could easily swoop in and steal your client.
A good buyer agreement contract should cover:
Set up a property search
Next, look for properties that match your buyer’s requirements. You won’t need us to tell you how to do this, but most agents usually start by searching their multiple listings service (MLS).
The next steps are:
Making Offers
This is where the buyer’s agent helps their client get the best possible deal on a property.
Run comparative market analysis (CMA)
This is where you work out how much the property is worth based on current market conditions.
Look at the selling value of similar properties in the local area.
Consider factors like:
Discuss this with your client and help them to decide if they want to make an offer and how much it would be.
Notify the listing agent of an incoming offer
You need to email your offer to the seller’s agent. The problem is, every real estate professional gets tons of emails and they could easily miss yours.
It’s a good idea to call the listing agent and let them know that your client is going to make an offer and tell them to look out for it.
Draft the purchase agreement or offer
Making an offer isn’t just a case of telling the listing agent what price your client is willing to pay.
You’ll also need to list their terms and conditions, including:
Negotiate
A seller can choose to accept, reject, or send a counteroffer. They can only accept or send a counteroffer to one buyer at a time.
Your buyers can choose to either accept or reject the seller’s counteroffer or send their own counteroffer.
Negotiations can continue indefinitely until one party accepts or rejects an offer.
Obtain all the signed documents
Once an offer is accepted, both parties sign a purchase agreement. For your buyers, this means they pledge to buy the property. They cannot back out unless a contingency is broken.
Make sure you get a copy of the purchase agreement that is signed by both the buyer and the seller.
Under Contract
This part of the checklist involves several critical deadlines. At this stage, many tasks might be passed over to an admin or a transaction coordinator.
Change the status in Paperless Pipeline to Pending
Now that your buyer is under contract, it’s critical that you move the transaction into the pending category on your transaction management tool.
This is easy in Paperless Pipeline—simply open the transaction, scroll down to the drop-down menu labeled ‘Status’, and select ‘Under Contract’.
Retrieve the missing documents and signatures as required
Now’s a good time to make sure everything is up-to-date. Are any documents missing? Has anyone forgotten to sign anything? If so, get these things sorted before moving on.
Send congrats or transaction timeline email to the buyer
Getting an offer on a home accepted is big news for your buyer. Get in touch with them and congratulate them. By this point you should have a great relationship with the buyer, so we recommend a phone call.
Confirm earnest money or collect the receipt
Your client needs to pay a deposit into an escrow account to prove they intend to buy the property. This is usually around 1-3% of the sale price. Sometimes it is the seller’s brokerage that provides the escrow account, other times it is the title company.
If the buyer backs out of the deal, the seller will keep all or part of the deposit.
Request the lender to order a title survey
Once a deposit is paid you should contact your client’s mortgage lender and ask them to order a title survey. This is performed by title companies and involves checking public records to confirm that the seller does own the property as described and has the rights to sell it to you.
Request the lender to order an appraisal
You’ll also need to ask the lender to order an appraisal. This is when they inspect the property to ensure that it is worth what your client is paying for it. It does not count as a home inspection.
Assist the buyer with scheduling inspections as needed
Your buyer will need to arrange inspections to ensure they are satisfied with the property’s condition. Most homes will only require a general inspection.
But in some cases, it might be worth considering a specialist inspection.
Some aspects that are covered in an inspection include:
Verify that all title work is complete
Check that you have received the title report and that everything is in order. If there are any problems with the title, you should inform the buyer and then point them out to the seller.
Your client or the seller (or both) may have to hire an attorney to sort the issue out. A title issue could even be cause for your client to back out of the deal.
Verify that the appraisal has passed
An appraisal report should only take a few weeks. If the value stated in the appraisal report is higher than your client has agreed to pay then you don’t need to do anything.
But if the property is worth less than what you are borrowing, your lender may withdraw their initial finance offer. Your client will need to get another mortgage offer.
They might also wish to renegotiate the price with the seller.
Review inspection reports with the buyer
Sit down with your client and go through the issues highlighted in the inspection reports. Are these priced into the value of the house? Are there any that involve significant repair costs?
If so, they can choose to renegotiate the property’s price or pull out of the deal altogether.
Assist the buyer with ordering a home warranty (if applicable)
Home warranties cover homeowners for repair and maintenance issues at their property. This is different from insurance, which covers a wider range of more serious issues—like fire or criminal damage. They are usually for new homes.
Some home warranties contain clauses that mean your client won’t be covered for common issues, so it’s worth helping them read the small print to understand what they are buying.
Remind the buyer to purchase homeowner’s insurance
Most mortgage companies insist their clients buy homeowner’s insurance as part of their finance agreement. Your client will need to prove they have it before the lender will release the funds to buy the property.
Confirm the lender’s clear to close
Once the mortgage lender is satisfied that they have everything they need to release the funds, it will issue a “clear to close”. This triggers the final stages of a deal. After this, a loan officer will schedule a time and date for the closing meeting and assemble the final documents.
Some lenders move quite slowly, so it’s a good idea to drop yours a line and prompt them to issue a clear to close.
Remind the buyer to coordinate the utility transfer
This isn’t critical for the real estate process, but it is a very helpful reminder for your client. There’s nothing more frustrating than paying for bills on the wrong property and not having water, electricity, or internet!
Confirm the closing date and time
Make sure your client knows when and where the closing meeting will be taking place. You should also tell them what to expect. Offer to attend the meeting with them for support and to celebrate the big day.
Send the final walkthrough and closing email to the buyer
The final walkthrough is your buyer’s last chance to view the property and highlight any issues before closing on the deal. At this stage, some of the issues identified during the inspections may have been addressed—this will be your client’s chance to review the work and ensure they are happy with it.
Purchase the closing gift
Congratulations! Another sale is complete. Send your client a card and a present to congratulate them on their new home and thank them for choosing you to represent them.
This is usually a good time to ask them for a reference, get a photo with you to post on a social media platform, or get them to rate you online.
Send the commission disbursement authorization (CDA) to the title company or attorney
As the buying agent, you’re responsible for paying anyone who worked for your client. This includes any inspectors, attorneys, and the title company.
Here’s how to do this using Paperless Pipeline:
- Open the transaction and click “note/email”.
- Enter the email address of the contact you want to pay.
- Fill out the subject and body of the email. For more information on what to include, check out our article on how to create a real estate CDA.
- Scroll down to the docs section and select the CDA.
- Click “Send Email”.
Ensure that no additional amendments are required
Real estate deals can take a long time and many things can change during the process.
This may mean that changes or modifications need to be made to the purchase agreement or contract.
Some examples include:
- An inspection revealed repairs need to be made to the property.
- The appraisal came in lower than expected.
- Delays in financing approval.
- Title issues.
- Personal scheduling conflicts.
Receive or distribute the closing disclosure and settlement statement
These are two documents.
- The settlement statement summarizes the financial details of the transaction, including the names of all parties involved, contingencies, deadlines, etc.
- The closing disclosure provides financial details about your client’s mortgage loan. It covers things like terms, monthly payments, fees, etc.
You should check that both documents are accurate and send them to your clients to be signed.
Attend the final walkthrough with the buyer
As mentioned above, this is your client’s last chance to deal with any issues.
Post Closing
Even after a deal is completed, there are still a number of critical marketing and compliance tasks that need to be fulfilled.
Send a thank you or congrats email to the buyer
You’ve already sent a gift, but it’s also worth sending an email to congratulate and thank your client.
Send the vendors a thank you email
Typically at the end of a real estate deal, it’s a nice gesture for agents to thank all parties involved in the transaction. This could include:
In other words, anyone who helped the process move smoothly.
This will help you foster good relationships—after all, you never know who you might end up working with again!
Add the buyer information to your CRM
Just because your client has just bought a home, doesn’t mean the relationship ends there. Adding them to your CRM and staying in touch with them will pay dividends in the long run. According to ATTOM data, the average U.S. homeowner moves house every 5.59 years. It’s important to stay in touch with these existing clients. This way, when they come to sell their home, they’ll think of you.
Submit the final documents to brokerage compliance
It’s critical that all documents required by your broker are:
This step is critical for brokerage compliance. Also, some brokers won’t issue an agent’s CDA if they don’t do this. So it’s also important if you want to get paid!
Post a JUST SOLD photo to social media
This isn’t critical to the closing process, but it is important for your brand-building success. The ideal picture will show the property, the sold sign, and you with the happy buyers.
Change the status in Paperless Pipeline to Closed
That’s it! The final stage is to close off the transaction in Paperless Pipeline. As before, open the contract, click the status drop-down menu, and choose “Closed”. Paperless Pipeline will store the transaction details for up to 10 years.
Create Powerful Checklists with Paperless Pipeline
The checklist in this article is a good spreadsheet-based checklist for buyers.
But spreadsheets aren’t designed to manage processes and don’t integrate with your other apps.
Plus, there’s no guarantee your agents will remember all the tasks and deadlines just because they are written in a spreadsheet.
That’s where Paperless Pipeline’s transaction management software comes in.
We allow you to create customized and automated checklists to ensure that:
Find out for yourself how Paperless Pipeline’s checklists can help you—sign up for a free trial today.