Template T-12.3: Scope note for hiring a freelancer
From AI for Real Estate Agents (2026 Edition). Facts in, draft out, licensee signs.

Send this to any freelancer or vendor before they build an automation for you. One page. It tells them what to build, what never to build, and what you need back so you can run it without them. If they push back on the approval step or the off switch, hire someone else.

From: [your name, brokerage]  Date: [date]

What I want built. [One or two sentences. Example: "When a new lead arrives in my CRM, draft a first reply in my voice and put it in my email drafts folder for me to send."]

The automation map. Attached (T-12.1). Build to the map. If the map is wrong, tell me before you build, not after.

My platforms. CRM: [name]. Automation platform: [name, and the plan I am on]. AI assistant: [name, and whether I have an API key or a team plan]. Email: [name]. I will not add a new paid tool without agreeing to it in writing first.

Non-negotiables.

1. Every automation ends with a draft waiting for me. Nothing is sent to a client, a lead, or anyone outside my business without a human approving it each time. No "auto-send after N hours."
2. No texts or calls. If I ever want a text step, that is a separate scope with a consent record attached.
3. The AI drafting step uses my brief, pasted in exactly, including the disclosure line. You may suggest changes; you do not change it without my yes.
4. None of the fields on my "Data I never paste" list (attached, T-04.4) go into any step. If a field looks like one of them, ask.
5. Accounts, logins, and API keys stay in my name. You work in my accounts with access I can remove.
6. I can turn every automation off myself, and you will show me where the switch is before I pay the final invoice.

Three questions I need answered in writing.

- Where does my data go? (Every app the automation touches, and whether any of them store or train on my clients' information.)
- What happens when it breaks? (How I will notice, what the error looks like, and what you will charge to fix it.)
- Can I turn it off myself? (Where the switch is, and whether turning it off loses anything.)

What I need back.

[ ] The automation working against three test records I supply (a fake lead, a fake sign-in, a fake closing)
[ ] The completed automation map (T-12.1), including the cost row with real numbers from the plans we used
[ ] A ten-minute walkthrough, recorded, showing the trigger firing, the draft landing, the approval, and the off switch
[ ] A list of every account and connection you created, so I can audit access later
[ ] One page on what to do when it breaks, written for someone who is not you

Budget and timing. Fixed price: [amount]. Half on a working test, half after the walkthrough. Due: [date]. Changes to scope are agreed in writing before they are built.

Signed: [your name]  Accepted: [freelancer name, date]
