Client notes you can use later

A client note is worth keeping when it helps you act later: call at the right time, show the right homes, prepare for a listing appointment. Write what the client told you, date it, and say where you heard it.

Weeks later you will not remember whether the budget was $1.4M or $1.5M, or whether the seller said spring or summer. A short dated note answers that in seconds, and lets you tell the client exactly what you are working from.

For a buyer, keep what shapes the search.

Budget

The number they gave, and whether it is a ceiling or a comfortable figure. “Up to $1.5M” and “around $1.5M” lead to different showings.

Timing

When they need or want to move, and why, in their words: “before school starts in August”, “when our lease ends in June”.

Financing

Pre-approved, still talking to a lender, or paying cash, as they told you, with the date. An approval from months ago may need updating.

Area

The cities or neighborhoods they named. Record their choice, not yours.

Must-haves

Bedrooms, a yard, parking, a home office. Keep what they need apart from what they would like.

For a seller, keep what the listing depends on.

Price expectations

The number they have in mind and where it came from. Keep it next to the price you later recommend.

Timing

When they want to list, when they need to be out, and anything it depends on, such as finding their next home.

Prep

Repairs, paint, carpet, staging: what needs doing before the photos, who is doing it, and by when.

The listing appointment

The day, time and address, and what you said you would bring.

Date every note, and say where it came from.

Write the day you heard it and how: a call, a showing, an email, a word at an open house. If someone else told you, such as a co-buyer, say so. “Budget up to $1.5M (Amy, by phone, Oct 30)” can be checked. “Budget 1.5” cannot.

Correct a detail; don’t overwrite it.

Budgets move, timelines slip, a seller rethinks the price. When a detail changes, add the new value with its date and keep the old one, marked as replaced. Then you can see what changed and when, and explain it if a client asks.

Leave out what you should not act on.

Fair housing rules apply to your notes as much as to what you say and do. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status and national origin, and state and local laws often add more protected classes.

Do not record a preference tied to any of these, whether about the client or about who lives in an area, and do not act on one if a client states it. Describe homes and areas by objective features: the square footage, the lot, the commute, the distance to a park or a train.

A buyer’s own stated needs for the home are ordinary notes: “wants to be in the Sunnyvale school district”, “needs a yard”, “three bedrooms”. Write them in the buyer’s words, as the buyer’s requirement.

Leave out what your work does not need, too. Social Security numbers, bank or card numbers, passwords and health details do not belong in client notes.

This is general information, not legal advice. Your broker and your state’s rules decide what applies to you.

Client notes in Estalogue.

Estalogue keeps these details for you. Tell the assistant what a client said, by typing or holding to talk, and it saves the budget, timing, financing, area and the rest under that client. Each detail shows where it came from (“From a conversation” or “Entered by hand”) and when. Tap it to correct it; the earlier value stays in the client’s History.

It will not record wishes based on protected characteristics, and it can be wrong, so check the amounts and dates. See how it works.