The Agent’s Side of Contract to Close
Once a contract is executed, two jobs run at the same time. One is yours: the decisions, the negotiations, the client conversations and the signatures. The other is administrative: tracking every deadline, checking every document, and keeping title, the lender and the other agent moving. A transaction coordinator handles the second job so you can do the first.
This checklist is your side, phase by phase, with what your TC handles next to it. For the TC’s side in detail, see the transaction coordinator checklist. For how the phases fit together on the calendar, see the real estate transaction timeline.
Deadlines, forms and customs vary by state and by contract. Your contract controls; your state’s details are in our state closing-process guides.
Table of Contents
▼Phase 1: Executed Contract
You handle:
- Get the contract and every addendum fully signed and dated by all parties
- Send the executed contract and addenda to your TC
- Make sure your buyer knows the earnest money deadline (and the option fee deadline, where the contract has one) and how to deliver it
- Remind your client to verify wiring instructions by phone, never from an email
- Read the key-dates email from your TC and flag anything that doesn’t match your reading of the contract
Your TC handles:
- Introduction email to the other agent, the escrow officer, the lender and any other necessary parties
- The executed contract sent to the other agent, title and the lender
- Key dates emailed to you after the introduction
- Tracking that title received the contract, and that the earnest money and option fee were delivered
Phase 2: Inspections and the Option or Due Diligence Period
You handle:
- Get inspections scheduled and completed inside the inspection or option period
- Go over the reports with your client; your client decides whether to proceed, ask for repairs, or terminate
- Negotiate repairs or credits with the other agent
- Send your TC specific written direction for any amendment or notice you want filled out
- Review what your TC filled out, approve it, and get it signed
- On the listing side: take the buyer’s repair request to your seller and negotiate the response
Your TC handles:
- The inspection or option period deadline, with a 48-hour reminder before it ends
- Filling out amendments and notices only at your specific written direction, then sending them back to you to review and send
- Checking every signed document for signatures, initials, dates and blanks
Phase 3: Financing, Appraisal and Title
You handle:
- Keep your buyer responsive to the lender’s document requests
- If the appraisal comes in low, work through your client’s options and negotiate with the other agent
- Go over the title commitment and survey with your client; objections are your client’s decision
- On the buyer side: make sure your buyer has the HOA documents and knows any review deadline that comes with them
Your TC handles:
- Survey, seller’s disclosure and other document due dates tracked
- Contract obligations like the HOA resale certificate tracked
- Financing and other contingency dates tracked, with 48-hour reminders
- After the option period, weekly updates to title, the lender and the other agent
- A Monday key-dates report and a Thursday status report for you
Phase 4: Pre-Closing
You handle:
- Schedule and attend the final walkthrough with your buyer
- Confirm the closing time and place with your client
- Pass along the closing reminders: utilities, mail forwarding, monitoring and lawn services, smart-home access
- Settlement statement questions go between you, your client, your broker, title and the lender
- Your broker approves your commission disbursement authorization (CDA)
Your TC handles:
- Closing scheduled with title
- Reminders to you about utility connect and disconnect, forwarding mail, cancelling monitoring and lawn services, and transferring smart-home access
- Help completing the CDA request
- Broker compliance: the file checked for completeness against your brokerage’s requirements
Phase 5: Closing and After
You handle:
- Closing day with your client, however you normally handle it
- Keys and possession as the contract says
- Keeping your copy of the file under your broker’s policy; record retention is the broker’s and the agent’s job
- Following up with your client after closing
Your TC handles:
- A complete copy of every transaction document sent to you after closing
Want the Full Checklist?
This page is the agent’s half. The free Contract to Close Checklist has 90+ items across four phases, for both buyer and seller sides, plus a contract check-in and an important-dates tracker.
If you’d rather hand the administrative half to someone else, that’s what we do.
State Guides
Who closes, which forms you use and how the deadlines run all depend on the state. Our closing-process guides by state:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Louisiana
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
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