Before you tokenize a property, you need six things in place: a clean title to the asset, a legal entity to hold it, a securities exemption and offering documents, compliance infrastructure, a custody and record-keeping setup, and the token technology. Miss one and the launch stalls - usually at the legal or compliance step, not the code. This checklist lays out each requirement so you can see exactly what to assemble, and in roughly what order, before spending on development.

1. A clean, well-documented asset

Start with the property itself. You need clear title, a defensible valuation, and complete documentation - ownership, liens, leases, financials. Investors and regulators will scrutinize this, and on-chain ownership invites more scrutiny, not less.

If the title is clouded or the valuation shaky, fix that first. No structure can paper over a weak underlying asset.

2. The legal entity

You need an entity - usually an SPV - to hold the property, with an operating agreement that defines how token holders share income, votes, and proceeds. This is the backbone of the whole deal, so it is drafted with securities counsel, not from a template.

3. The exemption and offering documents

You need a chosen securities exemption and the documents it requires - commonly an offering memorandum or private placement memorandum, subscription agreements, and the disclosures investors sign. These define the deal legally and protect you if questions arise later.

Depending on structure, you may also need a licensed broker-dealer involved in the sale - a question for counsel early.

4. Compliance infrastructure

You need a way to run KYC and AML checks, verify investor eligibility, and manage the approved-wallet list. This can be your own process or a provider's, but it must be in place before you sell - a security cannot be issued to unverified buyers.

Plan for the ongoing side too: reporting and resale monitoring continue for the life of the deal.

5. Custody and record-keeping

You need somewhere the asset and records are safely held. Investor assets are often held with a qualified custodian, and the cap table - who owns what - is maintained by a transfer agent or equivalent system.

This is what makes ownership provable and the deal auditable, and what reassures investors their claim is real.

6. The token technology

Finally, the token: a compliant smart contract that enforces transfer rules, independently audited, plus the wallet and distribution tooling to issue it and pay holders. This is the last piece, not the first - it sits on top of everything above.

Assemble these six, and you are ready to launch. For how owners' and investors' claims actually work underneath, see what owners actually hold.

Rough order, timeline, and who does each part

Assemble these in order, because each depends on the one before. Title and valuation come first (a title company and an appraiser), then the SPV and operating agreement (securities counsel), then the exemption and PPM (the same counsel), then compliance tooling (a KYC/AML provider), then custody and the cap table (a qualified custodian and a transfer agent - Securitize is one well-known SEC-registered option), and finally the audited token (a smart-contract developer plus an independent audit firm).

In practice the legal and compliance layers take the most calendar time - often weeks of back-and-forth - while the contract, once specified, is comparatively quick. Budget a few months end to end for a first deal, and expect the token development to be a minority of both the cost and the schedule.

The single most common mistake is inverting this order: paying for contract development before the legal structure and exemption are settled, then rebuilding when counsel changes the terms. Settle the top of the stack before you spend on the bottom.

Where to go next

• Next: what does it cost to tokenize real estate?
• The ownership basics: what owners actually hold.
• Glossary: offering memorandum.

Sources: rwa.xyz; U.S. SEC (sec.gov), as of 2026.