Real Estate Client Onboarding: From Manual to Automated in 3 Weeks

Close deals faster by automating the admin: create client folders, send welcome packets, and set up checklists in 30 seconds.

You just signed a new listing. Congratulations! Now you spend the next 90 minutes creating a Dropbox folder, finding the "Welcome Packet" PDF, emailing the client, and setting up a transaction checklist.

Top producers don't do admin. They push a button.

One Button

When you add a new listing to your sheet, one button creates the folder structure, copies your checklist, and emails the client their welcome packet.

The Code: Property Folder Generator

1. Setup

Sheet: "Listings" (Col A: Address, B: Client Name, C: Client Email)
Drive: Create a "Master Template" folder with your standard subfolders. Get its ID.

2. The Script

// CONFIGURATION
const PARENT_FOLDER_ID = "YOUR_CLIENTS_FOLDER_ID";
const TEMPLATE_CHECKLIST_ID = "YOUR_CHECKLIST_DOC_ID";
 
function createListingSetup() {
  const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName('Listings');
  const row = sheet.getLastRow();
  const address = sheet.getRange(row, 1).getValue();
  const clientName = sheet.getRange(row, 2).getValue();
  const clientEmail = sheet.getRange(row, 3).getValue();
  const status = sheet.getRange(row, 4).getValue();
 
  if (status === "SETUP_COMPLETE") return; // Prevent duplicates
 
  // 1. Create Folder
  const parent = DriveApp.getFolderById(PARENT_FOLDER_ID);
  const newFolder = parent.createFolder(`${address} - ${clientName}`);
  
  // 2. Create Subfolders
  newFolder.createFolder("01 Contracts");
  newFolder.createFolder("02 Photos");
  newFolder.createFolder("03 Inspection Reports");
  
  // 3. Copy Checklist
  const templateFile = DriveApp.getFileById(TEMPLATE_CHECKLIST_ID);
  templateFile.makeCopy(`Checklist - ${address}`, newFolder);
  
  // 4. Email Client
  MailApp.sendEmail({
    to: clientEmail,
    subject: `Welcome Aboard! Next Steps for ${address}`,
    body: `Hi ${clientName},\n\nWe are excited to list your home! Attached is your welcome guide.`
    // attachments: [DriveApp.getFileById("WELCOME_PDF_ID")]
  });
  
  // 5. Update Status
  sheet.getRange(row, 4).setValue("SETUP_COMPLETE");
}

3. Run It

Instead of a trigger, you can add a Custom Menu to run this on demand.

function onOpen() {
  SpreadsheetApp.getUi()
    .createMenu('Automation')
    .addItem('Setup New Listing', 'createListingSetup')
    .addToUi();
}

The Result

You save 45 minutes per listing. On 20 deals a year, that’s 15 hours saved-enough time to close another $500k deal.