Transaction Coordinator Checklist
This is the administrative side of a transaction, the way we work it at Freedom Real Estate Services. It’s organized by phase, the four stages every transaction moves through from executed contract to closing. Decisions, negotiations and anything that needs a license stay with the agent; the TC tracks, checks, organizes and keeps everyone on schedule.
Table of Contents
▼Every TC has their own version of this. What matters isn’t the exact format — it’s that nothing gets missed. A checklist is only as good as the system behind it.
Want the downloadable version? Grab our Contract to Close Checklist — 90+ items covering both buyer and seller sides.
Phase 1: File Setup (Days 1-3)
This is where the foundation gets laid. Rush this phase and you’ll spend the rest of the transaction catching up.
Contract Intake
- Read the entire executed contract, every page and every addendum
- Confirm all signatures and initials are present
- Note the contract price, earnest money amount and option fee
- Identify every contingency deadline and its expiration date
- Note any special provisions that set dates to track
- Confirm every addendum the contract shows as attached is in the file
Deadline Timeline
- Enter all critical dates into your tracking system and the brokerage back office
- Option period expiration (if applicable)
- Inspection deadline
- Financing contingency deadline
- Appraisal deadline
- Title commitment delivery date
- Survey delivery date
- HOA document delivery date
- Closing date
- Set reminders for 48 hours before each deadline
- Email the key dates to the agent
Contact Sheet
- Other agent: name, phone, email, brokerage
- Lender: loan officer name, phone, email, company
- Title company: escrow officer name, phone, email
- HOA management company, if applicable
Introductions
- Send the introduction email to the other agent, the escrow officer, the lender and any other necessary parties
- Send the executed contract to the other agent, title and the lender
- Track title’s receipt of the contract
- Track earnest money and option fee delivery to the escrow agent
Phase 2: Due Diligence (Days 3-15)
The testing phase. This is where issues surface and the agents negotiate.
Inspections and Option Period
- Track the inspection and option period deadlines
- Inspection reports in the file, if the agent shares them
- Repair amendment filled out only at the agent’s specific written direction, if asked
- Repair amendment signed by all parties and in the file
- Option period termination or extension tracked
Appraisal
- Confirm with the lender that the appraisal is ordered
- Appraisal received by the lender
- If the appraisal comes in low, tell the agent right away and track any related deadline
- Appraisal contingency outcome documented (waived, amended or terminated)
Title and Survey
- Title commitment delivery date tracked
- Objection period tracked
- Survey or affidavit delivery date tracked
- Survey delivered to title
Financing
- Check in with the lender on loan status
- Track the financing contingency deadline
HOA (if applicable)
- Resale certificate and subdivision information delivery tracked
- HOA review or termination period tracked
Phase 3: Pre-Closing (Days 15-30+)
Everything converges. Proactive follow-up prevents last-minute scrambles.
Loan Status
- Weekly updates to title, the lender and the other agent
- Clear to close received from the lender
Closing Coordination
- Closing scheduled with title
- Closing date and time confirmed with the agents, title and the lender
- Utility connect and disconnect reminders sent to the agent
- Reminders to forward mail, cancel services and transfer smart-home access sent to the agent
Final Documents
- Repair receipts in the file, if the contract requires them
Compliance
- All documents the brokerage requires are in the file
- All signatures and initials checked across all documents
- File organized the way the brokerage requires
- Missing documents flagged to the agent and collected
Phase 4: Closing
Closing Day
- Help the agent complete the CDA request
- Stay available to the agent for questions
After Closing
- Complete copy of every transaction document sent to the agent
- Compliance file submitted to the brokerage for the broker’s review
- Closed file removed from your systems once the agent and brokerage have it. Keeping records is the broker’s and the agent’s job, not the TC’s.
Using This Checklist
This isn’t meant to be printed and checked off by hand. It’s a framework. The actual implementation lives in whatever systems your TC uses to track files — combined with keeping your brokerage’s back office and compliance platform up to date.
The value isn’t in the checklist itself. It’s in the system that makes sure every item gets done, on time, on every file.
Learning to be a TC? Our transaction coordinator training walks through this workflow with the templates we actually use.
An agent who’d rather hand this off? That’s what we do.
Call: (713) 364-4382
