What to keep in a transaction file

The records a listing file and a buyer file should hold, who adds them, and who decides they are complete.

A transaction file is the brokerage's record of one side of one deal. In this office that record is called a file, and its type is listing or buyer. A referral is its own thing and is not counted as a closing. The file has to answer two questions later: did the office have the documents it requires, and how was the commission divided. A folder of unlabeled scans answers neither.

Your list, not a universal one

State rules and your brokerage's policy decide which documents a file must hold. This page is not that list and it is not legal advice. What it can do is separate the piles offices mix together, so the checklist you do adopt is the same on every new file.

Offices commonly keep, on the side they represent: the agreement that opened the side, the disclosures and addenda that belong with it, inspection paperwork, and the settlement statement or closing disclosure the parties signed. The commission side of the same file holds the commission agreement or the listing's compensation terms, the CDA sent to title, and the statement given to the agent. Names vary by state. The split between the deal documents and the commission documents should not.

A listing file and a buyer file are not copies

A listing file starts earlier and lives longer. It carries the listing itself, its price and its dates, and it stays open until the listing ends or the sale closes. A buyer file starts when that side is under contract. When one agent represents both sides, the office has two commissions and should be able to see both, not one blended PDF. The transaction fee, if you charge one, is a per-side fee unless your plan says a both-sides file is charged once. Write that rule on the plan, not in the file after the fact.

The document checklist can differ by type. A listing that is not under contract yet does not need a buyer's inspection report. A change to the office's checklist should show what it will do to files that are already open, so a new line does not appear the night before closing on a file that was complete yesterday. Agents meet the checklist on their file. They should not have to open the screen where the office edits the master list.

Who puts a document on a line

The agent drops the stack on the file. Each document belongs on its own checklist line. A name the office is not confident about should wait for a person to place it, rather than land on the wrong line because the filename looked close. The broker-owner or office manager reviews, approving one document or every uploaded document that is ready. An agent or an assistant can hand the file in. Review is the office's.

A file that is still missing a line should say so on that file, and the agent's list of open files should say which documents are still owed. Hunting for that in an inbox is how a disclosure sits in a thread titled scan while the checklist says missing.

Dates live on the file too

Documents without dates are how a file looks complete and is late. The dates offices plot are the ones on the file: closing, listing, possession, acceptance, inspection and offer. Overdue dates are the ones to see first. A listing's expiry matters only while the listing is still open.

You can draft the inspection and financing dates from the contract before those documents exist. Count calendar days from the contract date, then read the purchase agreement before you treat the result as the legal deadline. Some agreements skip weekends and holidays. Some do not. The transaction timeline calculator does the calendar arithmetic and flags a Saturday or a Sunday. It does not interpret the contract, and it does not store the dates.

Where the file is stored

Once the broker-owner connects Google Drive, each file can have its own folder in the brokerage's Drive: a transactions folder, then the year the file was opened, then a folder named for the address and the agents. The document itself is stored in that Drive. Deskwork keeps the checklist and the file name, not a second copy of the document. A picture chosen as the file's photo is the exception the office keeps with the file. Agents can open their own file's folder when the office shares folders with the agents on the file.

The commission records sit with the same file, not in a shoe box of statements at year end. When the closing is paid, the statement shows the sale, the office's share, the fee and the cap. Keep that statement. If it was wrong, keep it and issue another the agent can tell from the first. How those commission lines are checked against the CDA is how to reconcile commission at closing.

What done means

A file is ready for the broker to close when its checklist lines are either approved or consciously not required, its dates are the dates on the contract, and its commission figures reconcile. It is paid when the statement has been issued and the cap, if any, has been counted once. Archived does not mean thrown away. It means the office can still open the plan the closing was paid on.

The people who open those files are the ones you added to the roster. What you owe a new agent before their first file exists is a separate checklist, covered in the new agent checklist for a brokerage.

Questions brokers ask

Is a listing file the same checklist as a buyer file?

Not usually. A listing starts before a contract and carries the listing's own dates. A buyer file starts when that side is under contract. Use the office's checklist for each type, and look at what a checklist change would do to files already open.

Where do the documents go?

Once Google Drive is connected, each file can have its own folder in the brokerage's Drive. The document is stored there. Deskwork keeps the checklist and the file name, not a second copy of the document.

What if a document does not match a checklist line?

Leave it unmatched for a person to place. Do not guess a line from a filename that only looks close. The agent still sees it as not yet on the checklist.

Try it on your own office

Set up a plan, file a deal and close it before you decide. A desk you set up yourself through the signup page is free. If we set up your desk with you, what your brokerage pays is set out in our written agreement with you. Read about pricing.