By the Templateez Team · Licensed Attorney · June 2026

Real Estate Intake Forms: What Every Attorney and Agent Needs to Capture

A real estate closing falls apart for one of two reasons: something went wrong with the deal, or something went wrong with the paperwork. The second one is preventable. And it almost always traces back to intake.

When a new client walks in with a purchase contract or a listing agreement, the first ten minutes of conversation determine whether you spend the next sixty days on top of the transaction or chasing information you should have gathered on day one. A good intake form is the difference.

Purchase, Sale, or Refinance — They Are Not the Same Form

This is where most generic intake templates fail. They treat every real estate matter like a purchase. But a seller has completely different concerns than a buyer, and a refinance client has almost none of the same contingencies as either.

For a purchase, you need pre-approval status, financing type (conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, portfolio), down payment amount, the lender contact, and every contingency in the contract — inspection, appraisal, mortgage, attorney review. You also need to know if the buyer is using gift funds, because that triggers its own documentation trail.

For a sale, the critical fields shift to existing mortgage payoff, any liens or judgments against the property, whether the seller has a home equity line that needs to be closed, and the listing status — MLS-listed, off-market, FSBO, or auction. You need the listing agent contact and the commission structure before you can review the contract intelligently.

A refinance is a different animal entirely. There is no opposing party. The fields that matter are current lender, current rate, new lender, new rate, cash-out amount (if any), and whether there is an existing second mortgage or HELOC that will be subordinated or paid off. Miss that subordination question and you will find out about it three days before closing.

Your intake form should branch based on transaction type. One undifferentiated form guarantees you will be making phone calls later to fill in blanks.

Property Type Drives Everything Downstream

Single-family, multi-unit, condo, co-op, townhouse, vacant land, commercial — each of these carries different due diligence requirements, and your intake form should flag the type immediately so nothing gets overlooked.

Condos and Co-ops

A condo purchase in New Jersey requires the seller to provide the public offering statement, the association budget, the bylaws, and the resale certificate. Your intake form needs to capture the HOA name, management company contact, monthly assessment amount, any pending special assessments, and whether a transfer fee or move-in fee applies. Co-ops add another layer — board approval, stock and lease assignment, and flip taxes.

Multi-Unit Properties

If the property has tenants, you need every lease summarized at intake: unit number, tenant name, lease term, monthly rent, security deposit amount, and whether any tenant has a right of first refusal. For disputes that arise between landlords and tenants — evictions, habitability claims, security deposit fights — a landlord-tenant intake form captures the procedural deadlines and defense-specific fields that a transactional real estate intake misses. This is not optional information you can gather later. An estoppel letter request goes out within the first week, and you cannot draft it without knowing what leases exist.

Commercial Transactions

Commercial deals require their own level of detail — zoning classification, environmental Phase I status, existing survey date, tenant rolls, CAM reconciliation, and assignment of existing service contracts. If you handle commercial work regularly, consider using a dedicated commercial transaction intake form alongside your residential one.

Financing Contingencies and Pre-Approval

Your intake should capture more than just "is the buyer pre-approved — yes or no." You need the pre-approval amount, the issuing lender, the loan officer name and direct number, the type of loan, and the lock expiration date if one exists. You also need to know if the approval is conditional on selling another property, because that sale contingency changes your entire timeline calculus.

For cash purchases, capture proof-of-funds status. A bank statement or a letter from the financial institution — you need to know whether the buyer actually has it or is still liquidating assets.

Title Status and Title Insurance

At intake, ask whether the client has an existing title policy (for refinances and sales, they often do). Record the title company from the prior transaction if known. For purchases, capture whether the buyer wants owner's title insurance or is waiving it, and whether the contract specifies who pays for the title search and insurance premium.

If there are known title issues — boundary disputes, easement questions, estate properties where probate has not been completed — get them documented at intake, not as a surprise on the title commitment. For properties governed by a homeowners association or condominium board, a dedicated HOA and condo disputes intake form captures the governing documents, assessment history, and covenant violation details that a transactional real estate intake does not cover.

Survey and Inspection Requirements

Does the contract require a new survey, or will an existing survey with an affidavit of no change suffice? Is there an inspection contingency, and what is the deadline? Does the buyer want a general home inspection only, or also radon, termite, sewer scope, oil tank sweep, or mold testing?

Capturing these specifics at intake — with their contractual deadlines — means you can build a calendar of critical dates before the file even hits your desk for substantive review.

Attorney Review Periods

If you practice in an attorney-review state, the review period is the single most time-sensitive element of the transaction. New Jersey gives three business days from execution. Illinois gives five business days. These are hard deadlines, and the clock starts running whether your intake is complete or not.

Your intake form should prominently capture the contract execution date and calculate or flag the review expiration. If a client calls on day two and your intake is still sitting in a pile, you have already lost half your review window. We cover the downstream consequences of this in our companion post on what happens when your intake form misses key details.

Closing Timeline and Earnest Money

Capture the contract closing date, the earnest money amount, where the deposit is being held (attorney trust account, broker escrow, title company), and whether the deposit has already been delivered. If the contract has a time-is-of-the-essence clause, that needs to be flagged at intake — it changes the consequences of every missed deadline.

Also ask about the client's flexibility on closing date. Many deals need an adjournment, and knowing upfront whether your client can accommodate a two-week extension avoids a scramble later.

Building Your Real Estate Intake Process

The goal is not to create a form so long that clients refuse to fill it out. The goal is to capture the twenty or thirty fields that determine how you handle the matter — transaction type, property type, financing, title, contingencies, and timeline — so that nothing critical gets discovered for the first time at the closing table.

A well-structured intake form paired with a client questionnaire gives you the complete picture: the intake captures the deal mechanics for your internal file, and the questionnaire captures the client's goals, concerns, and prior experience with real estate transactions.

If you handle a mix of legal practice areas, our Legal Forms Bundle includes intake and questionnaire sets across 38 legal specialties, including real estate.