Applicability: United States property due diligence; transaction requirements vary locally. Editorial review: 2026-09-25. The checklist organizes research and does not certify a property or contract.
Outcome
Build a practical list of evidence gaps, conflicts and follow-up actions before making a purchase decision. Keep a favorable financial calculation from hiding an unresolved property question.
Before you begin
Have the property identity, proposed strategy and any records or report findings already available. Use the free checklist without an account; sign in with a verified account to save a private snapshot.
Choose the strategy you are actually assessing. The checklist offers Wholesale, Fix and flip and Long-term rental. It does not replace a transaction-specific inspection plan, title review or contract calendar.
Practical steps
- Open the Property due-diligence checklist and select Investment strategy.
- Review the shared questions: parcel and unit identity; deeds, recorded liens and authority to sell; taxes and special assessments; proposed use and base zoning; and flood, historic and other overlays.
- Review the strategy-specific questions. Fix and flip and rental add condition, repairs and permit needs. Rental adds licensing and occupancy. Wholesale adds assignment terms and required disclosures.
- Set each item to Pending, Found, Missing or Conflicting. Pending means the question still needs work; use Missing for a known evidence gap and Conflicting when the available accounts disagree.
- Use Evidence note to record the dated evidence, the question it answers and the next action. Keep competing records visible when they conflict.
- Choose Review result. Read the unresolved items and relevant office or professional, then name and save the snapshot. Revisit your notes as new evidence becomes available and save a new result when needed.
Worked example
A fictional investor has an assessor entry with one owner name and a more recent recorded deed with another. They mark Deeds, recorded liens, and authority to sell as Conflicting and note the two dates. Their next action is to have the title company explain the record chain and confirm who may convey the property.
They also mark the repair scope Pending because an inspection has not occurred. A positive offer calculation remains provisional while those two questions are unresolved. Finding the deed alone does not clear the entire title item.
How to interpret it
The result counts records you marked Found. It is not a completion percentage for legal, physical or financial due diligence. Found means you located something; assess its relevance, date and strength before relying on it.
Checklist status is entered by you. It is separate from the evidence labels in a research report and does not turn an assumption into a verified fact. A report marked complete can still provide missing or conflicting evidence for a checklist question.
Keep contract deadlines, contingencies and professional responsibilities in your transaction records. The checklist does not automatically contact an office, order an inspection or track your contract dates.
Common problems
- All items Found but a concern remains: add the unresolved limitation to the note and obtain the needed review. The count is not a clearance certificate.
- Strategy changes: check the newly relevant items; do not assume a rental checklist answers wholesale contract questions.
- Evidence contradicts an earlier note: preserve the conflict and its dates instead of selecting the more convenient answer.
- Research is unavailable: use the checklist to retain the question and next action; an unavailable report does not remove the need for verification.
Next action
Start property research for unanswered topics. Read Understand property evidence to evaluate conflicting records, or Probate records when authority to sell involves an estate.