Buyer preparedness checklist

What to gather before each part of the buying process — grouped by who's going to ask for it.

The full buying process touches several parties — your buyer's agent, one or more lenders, an inspector, an insurance agent, and a closing professional or attorney. Each one needs a different stack of paperwork, and the work goes faster when the documents are gathered ahead of the request. The checklist below covers what most US residential transactions require. Some items only apply in specific situations (self-employment, gift funds, VA loans, prior bankruptcy) — those are tagged.