Real Estate Assistant Training Checklist

Create the brokerage email account on the team domain — never let the assistant work client correspondence from a personal Gmail. Configure two-factor authentication and add the brokerage signature block with required license-law disclosures (broker name, agent license number where applicable).

Add the assistant to Dotloop, SkySlope, or Brokermint with the appropriate role — most brokerages use a 'Transaction Coordinator' role that can edit loops but not finalize compliance review. Confirm the assistant can see active deals but is restricted from agent commission data.

Provision Follow Up Boss, kvCORE/BoldTrail, or Sierra Interactive seat. Confirm the assistant uses the team CRM for every lead touch — if leads end up in a personal phone or Gmail, ownership disputes happen when the assistant departs.

Add the assistant to ShowingTime (or CSS / BrokerBay depending on MLS) so they can confirm and reschedule showings. Issue a Supra eKey or set up the SentriLock app on their phone if they will physically open lockboxes.

Walk through your state's agency disclosure rule — most states require the form at first substantive contact, before any discussion of buying or selling preferences. Show the assistant where the signed form lives in the transaction file and how a missing disclosure becomes a license-law citation at audit.

Cover the federal protected classes plus your state's additions (sexual orientation, gender identity, source of income are common state-level adds). Review banned listing-description language: 'perfect for', 'family-friendly', 'walk to', any reference to schools, demographics, or religious institutions. The assistant will draft listing copy — they need this before they touch the MLS.

Wire fraud is the single most expensive failure mode in residential real estate. Establish the rule: wire instructions are verified verbally with the title or escrow officer at a phone number pulled from the engagement file — never a number from the wiring email itself. Train the assistant to coach buyers on this directly when EMD or down-payment wires approach.

Most states require earnest money deposit to broker trust within three business days of contract acceptance. Late deposit = state commission citation. Show the assistant where to log EMD receipt and the daily check that flags any deal where EMD is overdue.

Capture the signed confidentiality and data-handling acknowledgment covering client PII, transaction documents, and CRM contact data. This goes in the assistant's HR file — brokerages get burned when departing assistants take pipeline data with them.

Dual agency is prohibited in FL, CO, KS, OK, VT, and AK; permitted with written informed consent in most other states. The downstream training depends on the answer — in dual-agency states the assistant must understand consent timing; in prohibited states they must flag any deal where the brokerage represents both sides.

In dual-agency-permitted states, written informed consent must be in the file before the dual-agency relationship begins — not after the fact, not oral. Walk the assistant through the state-approved consent form and show two examples from prior closed files of how it was timed and acknowledged.

Cover every field on the listing intake form — square footage and its source, year built, HOA presence, syndication preferences (full vs. quiet listing), photo cap for your MLS. The assistant will own this form going forward; missing fields show up as MLS rejection or syndication delay.

Most regional MLSs (Bright, Stellar, MetroList, etc.) provide a sandbox or training environment. Have the assistant input two prior listings from scratch and review the result against what was actually posted. Common mistakes: incorrect status (Active vs. Coming Soon), wrong syndication flags, photo order.

Any home built before 1978 requires the federal LBP disclosure form, the EPA pamphlet, and a 10-day inspection opportunity (waivable). The trigger is year-built on intake. EPA fines plus buyer rescission rights make this one of the most expensive missed disclosures.

Have the assistant ride along on a real photo shoot — meeting the photographer (HomeJab, VHT, or your local provider), reviewing the staging, confirming drone permission if applicable. They need to see what 'ready for photos' looks like before they're scheduling shoots solo.

Walk through pulling every dated contingency off a ratified contract: option period (TX), attorney review (NJ/NY), inspection, appraisal, financing, title, closing. Each goes on the calendar with a 48-hour buffer reminder. Missing the inspection objection deadline by one day is the single most common deal-killer.

From contract acceptance, the EMD must be in the broker trust account within the state-required window (usually 3 business days). Train the assistant to log the contract effective date, the deposit deadline, and to verify the bank confirmation — not just the buyer's word that the wire went out.

Cover the full sequence: inspection ordered → report received → buyer drafts objections → seller responds → resolution amendment signed before contingency expiration. Show the assistant a closed file where this went sideways and what the rescue looked like.

Pre-approval ≠ conditional commitment ≠ clear-to-close. Train the assistant to track these as three separate milestones with the lender and to flag any deal where clear-to-close is approaching the contingency deadline without sign-off. Appraisal gaps and underwriting conditions are the late-stage failure modes.

Walk through the team's templated responses for showing requests, offer acknowledgments, inspection coordination, and closing logistics. Confirm the assistant uses the brokerage email signature with required disclosures, not a personal one.

ShowingTime auto-prompts buyer's agents for feedback after a tour. Train the assistant to compile feedback weekly into a seller-facing summary — Day 3 first report, Day 7 cumulative, Day 14 with price-discussion recommendation if traffic is low.

Buyers ask 'is this a good neighborhood?' constantly. The compliant answer points them to objective resources — school district websites, crime data sources, walkability tools — never personal characterization. Steering happens accidentally; rehearse the script with the assistant before they take a call solo.

The assistant should have shadowed at least one full listing activation and one contract-to-close during the first 30 days. Pull the loop and verify completeness: agency disclosures, seller's property disclosure, LBP if pre-1978, EMD receipt, contingency tracker, signed addenda.

The managing broker or team lead makes the call: ready for solo deal coordination, ready with supervision, or needs more training. Capture the assessment, written notes on strengths and gaps, and a signature in the assistant's file.

Map the gap areas from the readiness review to specific re-training sessions — most commonly contingency calendaring, MLS input accuracy, or fair housing scripts. Set a 60-day re-review on the calendar before the assistant takes solo files.