Draft Commercial Real Estate Closing Checklist

---
name: draft-commercial-real-estate-closing-checklist
task_id: real-estate/draft-commercial-real-estate-closing-checklist
description: Guides drafting of a comprehensive commercial real estate closing checklist by deriving required deliverables and conditions from the purchase and sale agreement, title materials, financing materials, environmental materials, and transaction status updates.
activates_for: [planner, solver, checker]
---

# Skill: Draft Comprehensive Closing Checklist for Commercial Real Estate Acquisition

## 1. Subject-matter triage
- Treat the assignment as a drafting task, not a summary: the output must be a usable closing checklist, not a narrative about what the documents say.
- Start by confirming the primary deliverable is the checklist file requested by name; produce that first and ensure it is complete before any ancillary notes.
- If the source set includes multiple condition layers, separate them by transaction function rather than collapsing them into one generic list.
- If the documents reflect a financed acquisition, track acquisition and financing closing conditions in parallel so one does not obscure the other.
- Enumerate recurring item types before drafting the checklist, including parties, deliverable categories, closing-day actions, and post-closing follow-up items.

## 2. Failure modes the skill is correcting
- Producing a generic real estate checklist that is not anchored to the actual closing conditions, deliverables, and open items in the source documents.
- Folding lender requirements into the buyer-seller closing list, which hides independent loan conditions and causes sequencing errors.
- Listing obligations without clear ownership, status, deadline, or closing impact, turning the checklist into a reference note instead of a control document.
- Failing to distinguish conditions precedent from items that can be completed at or after closing.
- Missing title, survey, estoppel, environmental, tax, entity authority, insurance, and recording items that typically drive closing readiness.
- Overstating certainty where the source documents show unresolved items, pending approvals, or bring-down requirements.

## 3. Legal frameworks / domain conventions that apply
- Use the purchase and sale agreement as the primary source for buyer and seller closing conditions, deliveries, and any express sequencing rules.
- Treat title commitment requirements, standard exceptions, survey issues, and endorsement requirements as separate pre-closing workstreams.
- Treat lender closing conditions as a distinct category with its own deliverables, approvals, and policy requirements.
- Include entity authority, incumbency, good-standing, and officer/certificate deliverables for both sides when the transaction documents call for them or when customary closing practice requires them.
- Include tenant estoppels, SNDAs, and related tenancy confirmations when required by the transaction documents or lender package.
- Include environmental review follow-up items when the environmental materials identify open conditions, clarifications, or additional diligence steps.
- Include tax and transfer items such as FIRPTA, withholding, recording, and transfer tax mechanics when they affect closing mechanics or funds flow.
- Include post-closing deliverables separately when the documents contemplate later delivery, recording follow-up, policy issuance, or final reconciliations.

## 4. Analytical scaffolds
- Read the source documents in this order: transaction status updates, purchase agreement, title materials, financing materials, then environmental materials.
- Build an issue inventory first, then convert it into checklist line items; do not draft directly from memory.
- For each item, capture: responsible party, deliverable or action, status, due timing, whether it is a closing condition or post-closing item, and any dependency on another item.
- Where a condition is shared across documents, list it once in the checklist but note every document that drives it.
- Separate what must happen before signing/closing, what happens on closing day, and what may be completed after closing.
- For each unresolved item, identify the current bottleneck and the next concrete step needed to move it forward.
- If the source documents are ambiguous, preserve the ambiguity in the checklist rather than inventing certainty.
- Write the checklist so a transaction team can use it to run the deal, not merely review it.

## 5. Vertical / structural / temporal relationships
- Sequence matters: some items must be satisfied before funds can move, some before documents can be recorded, and some before title policy can issue.
- If a title item, lender item, or environmental item affects the same closing milestone, reflect that dependency explicitly rather than listing it in isolation.
- If the documents show a prerequisite chain, keep the chain intact so downstream tasks are not treated as independently satisfiable.
- Distinguish closing-day deliverables that are exchanged at signing from items that must exist before signing or before release of funds.
- Distinguish recording items from execution items when the closing mechanics require recording immediately after consummation.
- If tenant or third-party deliverables are still pending, note that they often sit on the critical path because the buyer does not control the timing directly.

## 6. Output structure conventions
- Create a checklist formatted as a practical closing run sheet with a short front section identifying the transaction, source set reviewed, and overall readiness status.
- Group items by phase using conventional deal-flow labels such as pre-closing, closing day, and post-closing.
- Within each phase, organize by functional owner where helpful: buyer, seller, lender, title company, surveyor, environmental consultant, or counsel.
- Each line item should include the task, responsible party, due timing or trigger, current status, and whether it is a closing condition or post-closing item.
- Include a concise open-items summary at the front so unresolved matters are visible immediately.
- Use industry-conventional descriptions for deliverables and conditions; do not mirror the source document structure mechanically.
- Preserve transactional usefulness over commentary: the checklist should read like an execution tool.
- Ensure the file is drafted as the requested closing-checklist document and saved under the exact filename instructed.