The Agent's Transaction Checklist, and What Skipping Each Step Costs
By PlainSight — Insightful Actions · Updated September 2026 · ~10 min read
Most of what goes wrong in a transaction isn't bad luck. It's a step that got skipped: a deadline nobody put on the calendar, a disclosure that never made it into the file, a wire nobody called to confirm. Skipped steps are paid for later: in repair credits, commission given back, deposits lost, and claims. This is the protocol, phase by phase, with what each skipped step tends to cost. It's written so a broker can hand it to a team as it stands, and then add the state's own forms and deadlines.
Phase by phase
1. Before the first showing or listing appointment
- Give the agency disclosure your state requires, when it requires it. Many states set the moment as the first substantive contact.Skipped: a license complaint, and a client who can later say they didn't know whose side you were on.
- Sign a written buyer agreement before touring a home. Since August 17, 2024, MLS participants working with a buyer must have one before an in-person or live virtual tour, stating what you'll be paid.Skipped: an MLS rule broken, and compensation you may not be able to collect.
- Sign the listing agreement before marketing, and have the seller complete the seller's disclosure themselves. Help them find the form; don't fill it in for them. Mark any listing fact you haven't verified "per seller".Skipped: failure to disclose and misrepresentation are two of the three most common reasons agents are sued.
- For a home built before 1978, do the lead-based paint disclosure. The buyer or renter gets the EPA pamphlet, any known information and reports, and the Lead Warning Statement before signing; buyers get 10 days to inspect unless they waive it; keep signed copies for three years. Agents share responsibility for this with the seller.Skipped: the seller and you can both face federal penalties.
- Give every client the same service and the same information. Describe the property, never the people. The Fair Housing Act protects race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability, and many states add more.Skipped: a HUD complaint, penalties and your license.
2. The offer and the contract
- Get a pre-approval or proof of funds before writing an offer.Skipped: a contract that falls apart at financing, after everyone has spent money on it.
- Put every date in the contract on the calendar the day it's signed: earnest money, inspection, appraisal, financing, title review, association documents, closing. Share it with the client, the lender and the title or escrow officer.Skipped: the most expensive skipped step there is. A missed inspection or financing date is paid for in repair credits, commission given back, or the deposit.
- Get the earnest money to escrow or the trust account by the deadline, and put the receipt in the file.Skipped: a buyer in default before the inspection, and a dispute over who keeps the deposit.
- Warn the client about wire fraud in writing, the day the contract is signed. Never act on wiring instructions from an email; call a number you already know before sending any money.Skipped: in 2025 the FBI recorded 12,368 real estate fraud victims and $275.1 million lost.
3. Under contract
- Order the inspections the day the contract is signed, and negotiate repairs in writing before the inspection deadline.Skipped: the buyer loses the right to ask, and the credit comes out of someone's commission.
- Track the appraisal and the loan every week. If a date is going to slip, get the extension signed by everyone before the deadline, not after it.Skipped: a seller who can walk away, or a price renegotiated when you have no leverage.
- Read the title commitment and the association documents when they arrive, and send anything unusual to your broker or the attorney that day.Skipped: an easement, a lien or a rental restriction the buyer discovers after closing.
- Put every change in writing, signed by every party. A phone agreement to move a date doesn't move it.
- Take referral fees only from other real estate brokers. RESPA allows fee-sharing between brokers; a payment from a lender, title company or inspector for sending them business is a kickback it prohibits.Skipped: a federal violation for you and the payer.
4. Closing
- Do the final walk-through against the contract and the repair agreement.
- Read the settlement statement line by line against the contract, including the commission lines.Skipped: a credit that should have been there and wasn't, found after the money moved.
- Confirm wiring instructions by phone before any money moves, on a number from a source you trust.
5. After closing
- Turn in the complete file for your broker's review by the office's deadline, and keep it at least as long as your state requires. Claims can arrive years later, when a buyer finds a problem, so some advisers suggest keeping files longer than the minimum.
- Make sure the commission disbursement matches the settlement statement, and that any referral fee is paid broker to broker.
What skipping costs, at a glance
| Skipped step | What it tends to cost |
|---|
| A contract date not on the calendar | A repair credit, commission given back, a lost deposit, or a dead deal. |
|---|
| A disclosure missing from the file | An E&O claim and its deductible. Failure to disclose, misrepresentation and negligence are the three most common reasons agents are sued. |
|---|
| No written buyer agreement before touring | An MLS violation, and compensation you may not be able to collect. |
|---|
| A wire nobody called to confirm | A client's down payment, gone. |
|---|
| An extension signed after the deadline | A seller free to walk away or renegotiate. |
|---|
| A referral fee from a settlement provider | A RESPA violation. |
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| Pre-1978 home, no lead-based paint disclosure | Possible federal penalties, for the seller and the agents. |
|---|
For the broker: make it the office's system
- Sign-off points. The agent and the broker (or the transaction coordinator) sign the checklist at four points: the agreement, the signed contract, before the first contingency deadline, and before closing. Not just after closing, when nothing can be fixed.
- A weekly deadline report. Every open file's next date, reviewed at one short meeting every week.
- New agents ride along. Pair every new agent with a senior agent for their first ten files.
- Price the misses. Keep a line for every repair credit, commission given back, deductible and legal fee, by agent. What gets counted gets fixed, and the total tells you what the checklist is worth.
The one-page checklist (print this)
- Agency disclosure given, dated, in the file
- Written buyer agreement signed before the first tour, or listing agreement before marketing
- Seller's disclosure completed by the seller; unverified facts marked "per seller"
- Pre-1978 home: lead pamphlet, disclosure, warning statement, inspection period, signed copies kept
- Pre-approval or proof of funds before the offer
- Every contract date on the calendar, shared with client, lender and escrow
- Earnest money delivered on time; receipt in the file
- Wire-fraud warning given in writing
- Inspections ordered on day one; repairs agreed in writing before the deadline
- Appraisal and loan tracked weekly; extensions signed before deadlines
- Title commitment and association documents read; anything unusual sent to the broker
- Every change in writing, signed by all parties
- Final walk-through; settlement statement checked line by line
- Wire instructions confirmed by phone on a known number
- File complete and submitted for broker review
See what skipped steps cost a brokerage
PlainSight's real estate brokerage example reads fourteen agents' deals the way a broker would, and prices what skipped steps cost the office over a year: repair credits, commission given back, deductibles and legal fees. Everything runs in your browser.
Take the brokerage tour →
Frequently asked questions
- Is this checklist complete for my state?
- No checklist written for every state can be. Your state sets the agency disclosure, the seller's disclosure form, the earnest money deadline, trust account rules and how long files are kept. Add those to this list, in your office's words.
- What's the single step that saves the most money?
- Putting every contract date on a shared calendar the day the contract is signed, and having someone other than the agent look at the file before the first deadline. Most of what skipped steps cost starts with a date nobody was watching.
- Can PlainSight show what skipped steps cost my office?
- Yes, if your back office records them. Export your deals with the agent, the amount and a line for each credit, concession, deductible or legal fee, and PlainSight breaks the costs down by agent and by kind. Files are read in your browser and never uploaded.
- Is this legal advice?
- No. It's a working protocol. Your state's license law, your forms and your contracts decide the details; ask your broker and a real estate attorney.
Sources
- NAR, “Written Buyer Agreements 101”.
- U.S. EPA, Real Estate Disclosures about Potential Lead Hazards.
- HUD, Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act.
- 12 CFR 1024.14, Prohibition against kickbacks and unearned fees (RESPA, Regulation X).
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 IC3 Annual Report, as reported by NAR, April 2026.
- CRES Insurance, a Gallagher company, “The Top 3 Reasons for E&O Claims Against Real Estate Agents”.
This guide is general information for agents and brokers, not legal advice. State license law, forms and contracts decide the details.