A real estate buyer information form is the intake document your brokerage uses to capture your identity, finances, and property preferences before the home search begins. Fill it out accurately in one sitting by working from source documents — your ID, your lender’s pre-approval letter, and recent account statements — and return it through whatever secure channel the brokerage provides. Since August 17, 2024, agents working through a Multiple Listing Service also need a signed written buyer representation agreement before touring any home, so the intake form is usually the first of two documents you’ll complete at your initial meeting.1National Association of Realtors. What the NAR Settlement Means for Home Buyers and Sellers
Gather These Documents First
Opening the form and realizing halfway through that you need to dig up paperwork turns a ten-minute task into a multi-day one. Pull these together before you start:
- Government-issued photo ID. The form asks for your full legal name exactly as it appears on your driver’s license or passport.
- Your pre-approval letter. It lists the approved loan amount, loan type, and interest rate. Transcribe these figures directly rather than estimating.
- Recent bank and investment statements. Checking, savings, and retirement account balances support what you report for down payment source and available funds.
- A list of monthly debts. Car loans, student loans, credit card minimums, and other recurring obligations. Your agent may use this to gauge your comfort zone for monthly housing costs.
Personal and Contact Information
The first section collects your full legal name, mailing address, email, and phone number. Use the name on your government ID, not a nickname. If two people are buying together, both names go here, and both should match the names that will appear on the purchase contract and mortgage application later. A mismatch between the intake form and title documents creates avoidable confusion at closing.
Several follow-up questions look routine but shape how your agent works. Whether you currently rent or own. Whether you have a home to sell before purchasing. Whether this is your first home purchase. An agent handling a contingent sale, where your purchase depends on selling your current home first, structures the search and offer timeline differently than one working with a first-time buyer who has nothing to offload.
Financial Details and Pre-Approval
This section establishes what you can realistically afford. The core fields:
- Pre-approval status. Whether you’ve been pre-approved, and if so, the lender’s name and the approved amount.
- Price range. The maximum here should match your pre-approval ceiling. A higher number creates false expectations; a lower one unnecessarily narrows your search.
- Loan type. Conventional, FHA, VA, or USDA. The loan type affects minimum down payment: conventional loans start at 3% down, while FHA loans require at least 3.5% for borrowers with credit scores of 580 or above.
- Down payment amount and source. The dollar figure or percentage, and where the funds come from — savings, a family gift, or a retirement account withdrawal.
Copy numbers straight from the pre-approval letter. Your agent will use these figures when drafting offers, and any gap between the intake form and what the lender actually approved can stall negotiations.
The intake form goes to your brokerage, not to a lender, so honest mistakes here are just mistakes your agent will catch. The actual mortgage application is a different document under different rules: federal law treats knowingly false statements on loan applications as a serious crime, carrying penalties up to $1,000,000 in fines or 30 years in prison.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 1014 – Loan and Credit Applications Generally Getting your numbers right from the start keeps a consistent paper trail across the whole transaction.
Property Preferences and Search Criteria
This is the section where your agent learns what you actually want. Typical fields:
- Location. Preferred neighborhoods, zip codes, school districts, or proximity to work. Be specific enough to be useful. “South side” is vague; “within 20 minutes of downtown with access to the Blue Line” gives your agent a concrete filter.
- Property type. Single-family home, townhouse, condo, or multi-unit.
- Size requirements. Minimum bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, and lot size.
- Features and style. Garage, basement, updated kitchen, specific architectural style, accessibility features, outdoor space.
- Deal-breakers. Anything you will not accept — homes on busy roads, properties in flood zones, fixer-uppers needing major renovation.
Keep this honest rather than aspirational. If you list four bedrooms and a half-acre lot but your budget supports a two-bedroom condo, your agent wastes time pulling listings you can’t afford.
One limit worth knowing: your agent cannot work from criteria tied to who lives in a neighborhood. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, or disability.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S.C. 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing A brokerage cannot steer you toward or away from areas based on the demographics of the people there. Describe the property you want, not the neighbors.
Timeline and Motivation Fields
Most forms include open-ended questions that are easy to rush past and genuinely useful when answered. “How soon do you want to purchase?” tells your agent whether you’re browsing for next year or need to close in 60 days for a job relocation. “Reason for buying” shapes priorities. An investor looking for rental income needs a very different property than a growing family looking for a long-term home.
Answer any question about your current lease carefully. An agent who knows your lease expires in three months can calibrate the offer timeline so you aren’t paying rent and a mortgage at once. Some forms also ask whether you’re working with another agent or have been pre-approved by more than one lender, which helps the brokerage avoid conflicts and duplicated effort.
The Buyer Representation Agreement Is a Separate Document
Completing the intake form doesn’t by itself authorize your agent to show you homes listed on an MLS. For that, you’ll also sign a written buyer representation agreement, a requirement that took effect on August 17, 2024, as part of the National Association of Realtors settlement.1National Association of Realtors. What the NAR Settlement Means for Home Buyers and Sellers You can negotiate the length of the agreement, the services included, and the compensation amount, so treat it as a negotiation rather than a formality.4National Association of Realtors. Consumer Guide to Written Buyer Agreements
The two documents do different things. The intake form tells your agent what you’re looking for. The representation agreement defines the business relationship: what the agent does for you, what they get paid, and how long the arrangement lasts. Most brokerages handle both at the same initial meeting.
Submitting the Completed Form
Your intake form holds your legal name, financial details, and enough personal information to make identity theft a real concern. Send it through whatever secure channel your brokerage offers — an encrypted client portal, a document-signing platform, or in person at the office. Don’t send it as an unencrypted email attachment.
Electronic signatures are legally valid under the federal ESIGN Act, which provides that a signature or contract cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is in electronic form.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S.C. 7001 – General Rule of Validity If your brokerage uses a platform like DocuSign or DotLoop, clicking “I agree” after reviewing the completed form satisfies the signature requirement. What matters legally is that you intended to sign, you consented to transact electronically, and the platform retains an accurate copy of the record.
Leave off anything the form doesn’t actually ask for. Most intake forms do not request a full Social Security number, because the brokerage doesn’t need it at this stage; your lender will collect it separately during the loan application. If a field asks for information that feels unnecessary for a property search, ask your agent why before filling it in. A good brokerage will have a clear answer.
Once the form is in, the brokerage sets up a client profile and your agent begins filtering MLS listings against your criteria. Expect initial property suggestions within a few days, or sooner if your timeline is tight and inventory in your target area is moving.