Real estate runs on referrals, and referrals run on memory. A past client recommends the agent who remembered the dog's name, asked how the new job was going, and knew they'd wanted to redo the kitchen before anyone else did.
The details come out in the car between showings, at the kitchen island of an open house, on a call about the inspection. The CRM gets the phone number and the transaction dates. The rest has to come from you: the person behind the account.
The details worth keeping
Not everything a client says needs to be remembered. These are the ones that come back:
- Why they're moving. A new job across town, a longer commute they're tired of, a house that no longer fits how they live.
- What they want in a home, in their words. "A home office with a door." "Walk to the train." "A yard for Biscuit."
- What they disliked. The busy street, the dark kitchen, the HOA. These save you from showing the same mistake twice.
- Who referred them, so you can thank that person.
- The small personal things they offered: the dog's name, the team they follow, the trip they took after closing.
- Their plans for the house. The fence, the paint, the basement they wanted to finish. A good reason to call in a year.
- The closing date. A home anniversary is the easiest reason to stay in touch.
Write it down before you start the car
Memory of a conversation fades fast, and the next showing overwrites the last one. The habit that works is short and immediate: after each showing or meeting, before you drive off, capture:
- What they reacted to, good and bad.
- What changed: budget, timing, must-haves.
- What you promised: the disclosures for Elm Street, comps for the Maple listing, a call back on Tuesday.
- Anything personal they told you.
Two sentences is enough. A note you take in the driveway is worth more than a full one you mean to write tonight.
Recognition notes at open houses
Open houses bring a stream of people you've never met, and some of them come back three weeks later as buyers. A short note on how to recognize each visitor helps you place them, and helps you follow up with the right person.
Keep recognition notes to what you saw and what they said:
- What they wore or carried: the green raincoat, the bike helmet.
- The context: came at 2 with a friend, asked about the basement, stayed to look at the yard twice.
- What they're looking for: three bedrooms near the train, room for a workshop, moving in the spring.
Staying in touch after closing
The transaction ends at closing. The relationship that brings referrals starts there.
- Note the closing date and their plans for the house on the day you hand over the keys.
- Check in with something specific. "Did the fence go up?" lands better than "Just checking in!"
- Pass along what helps. The contractor who did the basement next door, the tax deadline for the homestead exemption, the new coffee place on their street.
Where Requaint fits
Requaint™ is an app for iPhone that keeps your own memory of people next to your CRM, not instead of it. Your CRM or brokerage system stays the place for contact details, documents and transactions. Requaint keeps the person behind the account.
After a showing, tap the mic and talk for ten seconds: "The Morgans loved the light in the Elm Street kitchen, hated the busy road. Need a yard for Biscuit, the dog. Referred by Dana. Promised comps by Friday." Or type a line. Requaint drafts a card for each person: the name, who referred them, where you met, how to recognize them and what you talked about. You check it and save.
- Search what you remember. "Biscuit", "green raincoat" or "Elm Street" brings the right people back, even if the name never stuck.
- Open houses stay together. If the open house is in your calendar, each note keeps it. Open it later and see everyone you met there.
- Promises become a list. "Comps by Friday" turns into a follow-up you can tick off.
- Before the next meeting. When a meeting on your calendar has people you've noted on the invite, Home shows it under Coming up, with how to recognize each of them, the last time you met and what's still open.
Requaint keeps your own memory of people. It isn't the client file or a record your firm has to keep. Your notes are stored on your iPhone, not on our servers. To make a card, your words go to ElevenLabs (speech to text) and Anthropic (Claude): while you record, the audio streams straight from your iPhone to ElevenLabs; a second pass of the recording and everything for Anthropic go through our relay, which stores none of it. The details are in the privacy policy.