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June 4, 2021
Product

How To Draft Your First Offer with Jointly

By
Lindsey Hood
,
Marketing Manager

Jointly allows agents to digitally draft, review, sign, and execute offers all in one place—making it easier to manage offers than ever before. Today, we’ll walk you through how to get started drafting, e-signing, and submitting an offer with Jointly.

Create an Account

1. If you don’t yet have a Jointly account, you’ll first need to create an account

2. Enter your information. Click "Sign Up."

3. Verify your license by selecting the appropriate MLS and then entering your license number and NRDS ID. Press "Verify."

Add a Client

Note: If you're ready to submit an offer immediately, jump to the Find a Property step below.

1. Select "Add Client"

2. Choose the MLS where the property is located

3. Select which side you're representing. Because you're drafting an offer, you'll choose "Buyer."

4. Enter your client's information including name, email, and phone (optional). If you have another client that is a part of this transaction, click "Add client" and enter their information.

5. Choose how you'd like to refer to your client within Jointly. This name will be visible to you, your client, and cooperating agents.

6. Include an optional note to your buyer. This note will be included in the email they'll receive inviting them to the Jointly platform. Press "Send."

Onboard your Client

1. Once you've added your client, you'll be directed to your "Buyer Overview" page.

2. Under the "Next Steps" tab, select "Onboard Client."

3. Next, complete the "Tell Us About your Client" task. Choose how your client's name should appear on the contract. Then, select whether or not any broker or agent is related to any of the contract parties. Press "Save."

4. Complete the "Client Preferences" task. Enter your client's budget, financing type, and whether they've been preapproved. Press "Save."

5. Once you've completed those two tasks, a new task will appear: "Select Additional Documents." Here you can select any forms for you or your client to fill out. After you select the forms, press "Save."

6. If you have any forms to complete, you'll see these listed under the "Next Steps" tab. If your client needs to complete a form, it'll automatically be assigned to them once you've completed it. They'll be notified to complete the form via email.

Find a Property

1. On the main navigation bar, navigate to “Find” to access the Property Finder

2. Here you’ll be able to select your MLS and enter the property’s MLS #

Note: At this time, we only support properties that are listed on the MLS. We currently do not support off market listings.

3. Jointly will verify the property’s MLS #. Once you see the green check mark next to the MLS #, press “Search.”

property finder in the jointly offer management platform

Note: Currently, we only service the Austin and Houston metropolitan areas, but stay tuned for new metros in the future. Want to be able to use Jointly in your area? Let us know here!

4. You’ll be redirected to the property’s dedicated Offer Portal

What is the Offer Portal? The Offer Portal is a dedicated listing page that allows buyer’s agents to start drafting an offer directly on Jointly. While similar to an MLS listing page, the content on the Offer Portal is a distilled version of the MLS and can be customized by the listing agent to include additional information on their seller’s preferences, offer remarks, and relevant property documents.

On the property’s Offer Portal, you’ll see three tabs: Information, Remarks, and Documents. Here’s a quick overview of each of the tabs:

  • Information: The data you see here is populated based on the MLS and any information provided by the listing agent. If the listing agent has claimed the property on Jointly, you may see information under the Seller’s Preferences section.

Note: The preferred terms shown in the Seller’s Preferences section are only recommendations provided by the listing agent. All terms are negotiable unless otherwise stated.

  • Remarks: By default, the Remarks tab includes the remarks as shown in the MLS. However, the listing agent may have included additional notes.
  • Documents: The Documents tab will include any relevant property documents uploaded by the listing agent. This may include documents like the Property Survey or the Seller’s Disclosure Notice.

Note: You will need to sign in or create an account in order to view any documents included on the Documents tab.

Start Your Offer

Next, you’ll start drafting your offer.

1. Click the “Start Offer” button.

2. Next, you can choose to draft this offer for an existing client or you can add a new client.

add clients in the jointly offer management platform

3. If you want to draft the offer for an existing client, you can select a client from the list shown and skip ahead to step 6.

4. To add a new client, select “Add a new client.”

5. Enter your client's information including name, email, and phone (optional). If you have another client that is a part of this transaction, click "Add client" and enter their information.

6. Choose how you'd like to refer to your client within Jointly. This name will be visible to you, your client, and cooperating agents.

Note: This name is how your client’s deal will be referred to within Jointly. This name will be visible to you, your client, and cooperating agents. We suggest using your client’s last name(s). For example, “The Smiths,” “Smith,” or “Smith / Wilson.”

7. Confirm the property type. Jointly will automatically recognize the property type so you’ll just need to confirm.

8. Next, Jointly will automatically gather the contract forms needed to complete the offer and pre-fill the forms with data provided by you, the MLS, and the listing agent (if applicable). Don’t worry, you can overwrite the pre-populated data at any time while drafting the offer.

9. You'll then be redirected to your Offer page. Here you’ll see the offer forms that need to be completed.

contract forms in the jointly offer management platform

Draft Your Offer

1. To get started drafting your offer, start by selecting the first form listed under Offer Details

Note: The forms that appear in this section will differ depending on the property type and other information about the property like the year it was built or if the property is in an HOA.

2. For an offer on a single-family home, you’ll select the “One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale)” form from the list.

For “One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale), ” you’ll see six sections to complete:

  • Other Parties: designate your preferred escrow officer and title company (this may be auto-populated if already provided by the listing agent), and note if the buyer will be consulting an attorney.

Pro Tip: Do you always use the same escrow officer for your transactions? You can set your preferred escrow agent in your Jointly user profile so all your contracts going forward will automatically populate your preferred escrow agent. On the left navigation menu, go to “Profile” > “Manage Profile” > “Contract Preferences” > “Preferred Title & Escrow Information.”

  • Property: includes the property’s legal description. State whether the buyer received the Seller’s Disclosure Notice, if they accept the property as-is, if there are any exclusions, if the seller is able to provide an existing survey, and if there are any leases on the property.

Note: The property’s legal description automatically populates from the MLS. However, in some cases, you may need to update this information (i.e. for a condo conversion).

  • Financial Terms: provide the offer price, down payment, financed amount and how it will be financed, earnest money (defaulted to 1% of the purchase price), option fee, who will pay for the title policy, any home warranty contribution from the seller, and if the seller will pay any buyer closing costs. This section will also include information about the buyer’s agent commission.
  • Dates & Deadlines: designate how long the option period will be, the closing date, and if the buyer will receive possession upon closing.
  • Special Provisions: add any special provisions you might want to include.
  • Brokerage Information: include your brokerage’s name, license number, and address, as well as supervisor information and if you belong to a team.

Note: Any changes you make to the default brokerage information provided by TREC and the MLS will be saved in your Jointly profile and used on future transactions.

Some of the information in these sections may be pre-populated based on information in the MLS or information provided by the listing agent. For instance, the preferred title company and property address. Other fields may include a default value. You can easily overwrite these fields if you’d like to make changes.

Note: You can also preview the PDF document at any time by clicking “Preview” at the top of the page.

3. After completing these sections, press “Save.”

Note: Depending on how you completed the contract, you may see additional forms appear under your Offer Details. For instance, if you noted that your buyer will be using third party financing, the Third Party Financing Addendum will automatically appear in your list of forms to complete.

To add a form or document:

1. If you’d like to add a form that wasn't automatically included, click “Add a form.” 

2. A new window will appear where you can choose to add a promulgated form from our forms library (i.e. Non-Realty Items Addendum), an attachment (i.e. a personal letter from the buyer), or a custom addenda (i.e. a MUD disclosure).

To remove a form or document:

1. To remove a form from the Offer Details, click into the form.

2. In the center panel above the form name, select the minus icon.

3. Press “Ok” to confirm you’d like to remove the form.

Note: You cannot remove the purchase contract form. This form is required to draft and submit an offer.

Review Your Offer

1. Once you’ve completed all the required forms listed under your Offer Details, you’ll be prompted to complete the “Ready for Review” task.

2. Select “Ready for Review.”

review your offer in the jointly offer management platform

3. If you’re ready to finalize the offer terms, press “Save.”

finalize your offer in the jointly offer management platform

4. Next, you’ll have a chance to review the PDF version of each form you completed.

Note: If you want to change a term, press “Edit” in the bottom right corner. This will reopen your offer draft so you can make changes.

5. Once you've finished reviewing the documents, you'll be prompted to send the offer to your client for signature.

Send the Offer for Signature

1. Select "Confirm and Send."

2. Here you can add an optional note to your client. This will be included in the email your client receives with the link to sign their offer.

3. Next, choose whether you'd like the offer sent directly to the listing agent after your client signs or if you'd like it returned to your for a final review.

sending the offer to your client in the jointly offer management platform


4. Press “Send.” Your client will receive an email with a link to their offer where they’ll be prompted to set a signature and e-sign their offer documents using Jointly.

5. You’ll receive a confirmation that the offer has been sent for signature. Press, “Dismiss.”

6. Once the offer is sent, you'll have the option to save the offer terms as a template for future offers. If you select "Yes," you'll have the opportunity to review the terms and save them to your profile. You can always update your contract preferences in your profile settings.

7. Next, you’ll be directed to your offer To-Do tab. Here you’ll see a list of to-dos for you and your client. The number inside each circle indicates how many tasks still need to be completed.

offer to-do items in the jointly offer management platform

8. You can see exactly what your client needs to do by selecting your client’s name. In this case, you’ll see each client has one to-do to sign the offer.

buyer sign offer to-do in the jointly offer management platform

Submit Your Offer

1. Once your client has finished signing the offer, you’ll be notified via email and text that the offer is ready to be submitted to the listing agent. If you chose to send the offer directly to the listing agent after your client signs, the status of your offer will show as “Delivered to Listing Agent” along with the date it was sent and you can skip the steps below.

Note: You can change your notification preferences in your Jointly user profile. On the left navigation bar, navigate to “Profile” > “Manage Profile” > “Notifications.” From there, you can choose to receive email notifications, text notifications, or both.

2. When you click on the link to the offer, you’ll be redirected to the Offer page where you can see:

  • To-Do: A list of to-dos for you and your clients related to this specific offer.
  • Info: A high-level overview of the offer’s key terms. Your client can also see the offer broken down this way in their Info tab.
  • Contract: View the contract documents with extracted offer terms or in PDF format. You can also download the PDF documents from this tab.

3. When you log in to Jointly, you’ll see that you have one new to-do.

buyer's agent final review of offer in the jointly offer management platform


4. Click on your name under the To-Do tab.

5. You’ll be prompted to complete a final review of the offer before submitting it to the listing agent.

6. Select the “Final Review” task.

7. Review each offer document and press “Mark as Done.”

Note: If you want to change a term, press “Edit” in the bottom right corner. This will reopen your offer draft so you can make changes. If you make changes after your client has already signed, you will need to resend the offer with updated terms for signature.

8. Next, a new “Submit Offer” task will appear and you’ll be prompted to submit the offer. 

9. You have the option of including a note to the listing agent. This message will be included in the email they receive with the offer.

submitting the offer to the listing agent in the jointly offer management platform

10. Press “Submit.”

11. You’ll see a confirmation that your offer has been submitted. To return to your To-Do tab, click “Dismiss.” To view your Offers tab, click “View Offers Tab.”

12. The status of your offer will now show as “Delivered to Listing Agent” along with the date it was sent.

Track Your Offer

After you’ve submitted your offer to the listing agent, here’s a rundown of what you can expect to happen.

What to expect when you submit your first offer

If the listing agent has a Jointly account:

If the listing agent has a Jointly account, they’ll receive an email and text notification letting them know they’ve received a new offer on their listing. The message will include a link to view your offer along with your note, if you chose to include one.

When they click on the offer link, they’ll be directed to review a PDF version of the offer.

listing agent with a Jointly account reviewing the offer in the jointly offer management platform


Once they’ve finished reviewing the offer and marked it as done, you’ll see an updated offer status of “Listing Agent Reviewed.” 

After the listing agent reviews the offer, they’ll be prompted to present the offer to the seller. Once the seller reviews the offer, you’ll see the offer status update to “Presented.”As your offer progresses, the offer status will update accordingly. You’ll also notice that the listing agent to-dos will now appear in your To-Do tab which will allow you to see the listing agent’s tasks.

listing agent presenting the offer to the seller listing agent with a Jointly account reviewing the offer in the jointly offer management platform


As your offer progresses, the offer status will update accordingly. You’ll also notice that the listing agent to-dos will now appear in your To-Do tab which will allow you to see the listing agent’s tasks.

If the listing agent does not have a Jointly account:

If the listing agent doesn’t have a Jointly account, they’ll receive an email and text notification letting them know they’ve received a new offer on their listing. The message will include a link to view your offer along with your note, if you chose to include one.

When they click on the offer link, they’ll be directed to an Offer Summary page of your offer. The Offer Summary page includes a high-level overview of key offer terms, the PDF versions of contract forms, and the ability to present and respond to the offer.

listing agent new offer summary page in the jointly offer management platform


To view this page, the listing agent does not need a Jointly account. However, the listing agent will need to create a Jointly account in order to respond to the offer through the platform.

When the listing agent views the Offer Summary page for your offer, you’ll see an updated offer status of “Listing Agent Reviewed” on your Offers tab. 

If the listing agent presents the offer to their client, you’ll see the offer status update to “Presented” once the seller views the offer.

Pro Tip: Let listing agents know that if they create a Jointly account, their client can sign the offer directly on Jointly. No need for them to upload the contract to another tool or drag and drop signature fields.

And that’s it! Getting ready to submit an offer? Sign up to start drafting offers with Jointly. While we’re in beta, the Jointly offer management platform is available for agents to use free of charge. Currently, Jointly is only available for use in the greater Austin area.

Have a question about drafting offers that we didn’t answer? Let us know by reaching out to us at support@jointly.com.

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