A checklist works best when it is in your hand. These are ours, one for each part of the job, ready to download and print. They follow the same order the steps come in, and each one leaves room for your own notes.
Printable Checklists
San Clemente Printable Checklists: Buy, Sell and Move
Three printable San Clemente checklists (PDF): buying a home, selling a home and moving, in the order you do the steps.
Download the checklists
Each checklist is a one- or two-page PDF that prints cleanly. The same lists appear below, so you can read them here first.
- San Clemente Home Buyer Checklist (PDF) — From pre-approval to your first month: what to do, in order.
- San Clemente Home Seller Checklist (PDF) — From the first market report to the last box: what to do, in order.
- Moving to San Clemente: A Checklist (PDF) — Practical steps for a move, from three to six months out to your first 30 days.
San Clemente Home Buyer Checklist
From pre-approval to your first month: what to do, in order. Download the PDF.
Before you shop
- Get a pre-approval letter from a lender.
- Set a monthly budget that includes property tax, homeowners insurance and any association dues.
- List what you cannot live without and what you would trade.
- Look up typical values and recent price changes in the areas you like.
Touring homes
- See each home on a weekday and on a weekend if you can.
- Ask how old the roof, water heater, heating and cooling and windows are.
- Ask about HOA dues, special taxes and any planned assessments.
- Look for signs of water damage, cracks or uneven floors and ask about them.
- Confirm what stays with the home.
- Ask whether the address is in the coastal zone, and whether any coastal permit could apply to your plans.
Making an offer
- Compare sold homes nearby before you decide what to offer.
- Agree with your agent on the deposit, contingencies and timeline.
- Attach your pre-approval letter and proof of funds to the offer.
Under contract
- Deliver your earnest money deposit to escrow on time.
- Book the home inspection and the pest inspection right away.
- Go through the disclosures and the title report with your agent.
- Get homeowners insurance quotes before your contingencies end.
- Answer lender requests fast, and do not open new credit or make big purchases.
Closing and after
- Walk the home before signing and check the repairs.
- Sign at escrow, including the ownership report for the county assessor.
- On day one, re-key the locks, arrange utilities and check smoke alarms.
- File for the homeowners’ exemption, and set money aside for the supplemental property tax bill.
San Clemente Home Seller Checklist
From the first market report to the last box: what to do, in order. Download the PDF.
Before you list
- Ask for a personal market report and talk through pricing.
- Plan your timeline, including your next home.
- Gather the permit history, HOA documents, warranties and repair receipts.
- Choose the repairs worth doing before you list.
- Clear the clutter, deep-clean and book the photographer.
Listing and showings
- Complete the seller disclosures carefully and completely.
- Plan showing times and put away valuables and medications.
- Weigh price, contingencies, timing and rent-back terms together.
- Have the coastal-zone status of the address ready if a buyer asks about future plans.
Under contract
- Meet the contract deadlines for escrow and disclosures.
- Expect an inspection and decide how you will respond to repair requests.
- If the appraisal falls short of the price, talk through options with your agent.
- Ask escrow for an estimate of what you will net.
Closing and moving
- Schedule the move, close out utilities and file a change of address.
- Leave keys, remotes and manuals, and clean the home.
- Keep the closing statement for your tax records and ask a CPA how the sale is treated.
- If you are buying next, ask the assessor whether you qualify to carry your property tax base to the new home.
Moving to San Clemente: A Checklist
Practical steps for a move, from three to six months out to your first 30 days. Download the PDF.
Three to six months out
- Talk with a lender and get pre-approved so your budget is real.
- Add up the whole monthly cost, not only the loan payment: tax, insurance, HOA dues and special taxes.
- Coming from another state: Talk to a CPA about California income tax before you arrive, particularly if your current state has none.
- Coming from another country: Gather the financial documents a U.S. lender will ask for, and ask early how funds from abroad are documented.
- If you are selling; Coming from elsewhere in California: Find out what your current home would net, and decide whether the sale has to close before you buy.
- If you are selling; Coming from elsewhere in California: Ask the assessor about Proposition 19 before you list, if you are 55 or older, severely disabled or a disaster victim.
- If you are renting: Decide how much rent is comfortable and when you will revisit buying; the rent-versus-buy tool shows both sides.
- Visit at different times of day and in different seasons, and test the commute at rush hour.
- Coming from another state: Check for air conditioning: it is not universal in older coastal homes.
One to three months out
- Set aside cash for closing costs (the closing cost tool gives a starting estimate) in addition to your down payment.
- Request written quotes from a few movers, try the moving cost planner and confirm what their insurance covers.
- If you are selling: Request the property’s permit history and collect the HOA paperwork before you list.
- If you are selling: Ask for a personal market report, then plan repairs, staging and photos.
- Explore nearby shops, parks and services and note the ones you will use every week; the local guide is a start.
Once you are under contract
- Read the seller’s disclosure package closely, including the Transfer Disclosure Statement and the hazard report, and list your questions for your agent.
- For a home in an association, get the rules, budget, reserve study and meeting minutes and read them within your contingency period.
- Collect an insurance quote for the address before you remove your contingencies.
- At signing, one of the forms is a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report for the assessor.
- Order a home inspection and a termite (wood-destroying pest) report soon after the contract is signed; both are customary here.
- Ask about smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms and water-heater bracing, which California requires to be in place at a sale.
Move week
- Arrange mail forwarding and send your new address to your bank, employer, insurers and subscription services.
- Do the final walk-through just before closing and check that the agreed repairs are complete.
- Measure doorways and rooms for large furniture, and check parking and loading rules with your association or building.
- Pack an essentials box you open first: chargers, medications, documents, sheets and basic tools.
Your first 30 days
- Keep some cash aside for the supplemental property tax bill California sends after a purchase.
- Coming from another state: Put a DMV visit on your calendar; new California residents are generally expected to license drivers and register vehicles quickly.
- Update your voter registration to your new address.
- Coming from another country: Open a U.S. bank account and ask a lender how to start building a U.S. credit history.
- If you are renting: Read the lease for notice, deposit and renewal terms, and keep a copy.
- Re-key the locks, test the alarms and learn where the shut-offs and the panel are.
- Schedule electric, gas, water, trash and internet before you move in, and ask the seller for a year of utility bills.
- Choose a doctor, dentist and vet and have records and prescriptions sent over.
- Coming from elsewhere in California: Look up pet licensing and the local waste, recycling and street-sweeping rules.
How to use them
- Print, or keep on your phone. The checkboxes work on paper; on a phone, the PDF opens in your reader.
- Skip what does not apply. Not every item fits every home or every move.
- Ask for the personal version. Rudy can add the dates, the addresses and the local details for your own plan.
Common questions
Are the checklists free?
Yes. Print as many copies as you like.
Are they legal or tax advice?
No. They are general orientation from a real estate agent. Your lender, an attorney and a tax professional advise on those questions.
How current are they?
They are redrawn when the wording changes, and each PDF shows the month it was prepared.
Keep exploring
- The guide — The whole process, step by step.
- Closing cost estimator — Estimate the cash to close.
- Moving cost planner — Estimate the cost of the move.
- San Clemente Housing Terms, Explained — The terms in plain English.
Talk to a lender. Rates, loan programs and approvals come from lenders, not from websites or real estate agents. Talk to your own mortgage broker, or use our preferred lender, Rodrigo Ballon with CrossCountry Mortgage, at 858-735-0255. You are always free to choose any lender you like, and you can verify any lender’s license at nmlsconsumeraccess.org.
General information for orientation, not legal, tax, financial or appraisal advice. Details change; confirm anything that matters with the official source, your lender and your agent.