Real Estate Sales Pipeline Template
From first enquiry to completed sale, with financing status treated as a stage gate rather than an afterthought.
The stages
Each stage states what is true about a deal sitting in it, and the one testable thing that has to happen before it moves. If the exit criterion is not met, the deal does not advance, whatever the rep believes.
New Enquiry
5% probability0 to 2 daysA portal lead, referral or walk-in has arrived. Response time here matters more than anything else you do all week.
You have spoken to the person by phone or voice message, and they have stated a price expectation and a timeframe to buy or sell inside the next twelve months.
Qualified and Appointment Set
15% probability2 to 7 daysThe lead is real, the budget is plausible, and you have a reason to meet in person.
A viewing or valuation appointment is booked in the calendar with a confirmed date, time and address, and the client has confirmed attendance within 24 hours of the slot.
Viewing or Valuation Completed
25% probability1 to 7 daysYou have been on site. For sellers this is the valuation, for buyers this is the first serious viewing.
The property has been viewed or valued in person, and the client has stated a price expectation that is recorded on the deal and sits within 10% of your valuation.
Agreement Signed
40% probability3 to 14 daysYou have the mandate. On the listing side this is the agency agreement, on the buyer side it is the buyer representation.
A signed agreement is on file with commission percentage, exclusivity status and the term length recorded.
Offer Submitted
55% probability3 to 21 daysA written offer is in play and negotiation has started. Verbal interest does not belong in this stage.
A written offer has been submitted with proof of funds or a mortgage agreement in principle attached to the record.
Offer Accepted
70% probability3 to 10 daysPrice is agreed and the transaction moves from selling to project management. This is where deals go quiet and die.
Memorandum of sale issued, deposit or holding fee paid, and both sides have instructed their solicitor or conveyancer with contact details on the record.
Due Diligence and Financing
85% probability21 to 75 daysSurvey, searches, valuation and formal mortgage approval. Most fall-throughs happen here and most of them were predictable.
The survey is complete, formal mortgage approval is issued (not just the agreement in principle), and every contract condition has been resolved or waived in writing.
Completed
100% probabilitySame dayFunds have moved and keys have changed hands. Commission is earned and the referral clock starts.
Completion confirmed, funds transferred, commission invoice raised, and the client added to your past-client nurture list with a twelve month check-in scheduled.
Fields worth tracking
Stages tell you where a deal is. These fields tell you whether it is any good. Add them as custom fields on the pipeline, and make the ones that gate a stage required.
Cash, agreement in principle, or formally approved. This one field predicts fall-through risk better than any other, and it should gate movement into Offer Submitted.
Lets you see which segments you actually convert in, rather than assuming. Most agents discover their win rate in one band is double the others.
Your pipeline value should be your commission, not the property price. Storing both means the forecast is real money and the reporting still shows transaction volume.
Portal, referral, sign board, social. Portal leads are expensive and convert badly compared with referrals, and you cannot rebalance the spend without the data.
Drives urgency and sequencing. A buyer with a lease ending in six weeks behaves completely differently from one who is casually looking, and they should not receive the same follow-up.
Automations worth building
A pipeline that only stores data is a spreadsheet with a nicer view. These are the three workflows that make this pipeline maintain itself.
The moment a portal or website lead lands, fire an automatic WhatsApp or SMS from the assigned agent, create a call task due immediately, and escalate to a second agent if the call task is untouched after fifteen minutes. Speed to first contact is the highest-leverage automation in this industry.
After a viewing is marked complete, run a sequence at 24 hours (feedback request), day 3 (similar properties) and day 7 (price conversation). Cancel it automatically if an offer is submitted.
Flag any deal in Due Diligence and Financing where nothing has been logged for fourteen days, or where formal mortgage approval is still missing at day 30. Chase the solicitor before the buyer gets nervous, not after.
Common mistakes with this pipeline
Viewings are the most expensive part of an agent week. Running them for people with no mortgage in principle is how agents end up busy and unpaid. Make proof of funds a hard requirement before Offer Submitted, and ideally before the second viewing.
Between offer accepted and completion, a meaningful share of transactions collapse on survey, financing or chain issues. If your pipeline weights Offer Accepted anywhere near Completed, your monthly commission forecast is fiction and your cash planning is worse.
A listing that has been on the market for six months at an unrealistic price is not pipeline, it is a price conversation you have been avoiding. Set a time-in-stage alert and force the review.