Overview
If you have been invited to a RealNex Vault deal room as a participant (buyer, lender, attorney, advisor, or investor), this article is for you.
Participants sit at access levels L0 through L4 and see the documents the deal admin has made available at your stage. Use this article to sign in, sign the NDA if required, and find your way around the deal room.
What you can do as a participant:
- View documents the admin has published at or below your access level.
- Download documents where the admin has allowed downloads.
- Submit questions to the deal team via the Q&A tab.
- See the deal room overview, milestones, and folder structure at your access level.
Prerequisites
- An invitation email from a RealNex Vault deal room admin, or a share link from the deal team.
- An email address. The first time you enter a RealNex Vault deal room, you create a free RealNex account using your invitation email.
- A modern browser (Chrome, Edge, Safari, or Firefox). RealNex Vault works in any browser, any device, including iPad.
Create your account from the invitation
Step 1: Open the invitation email or share link
Find the email from RealNex Vault in your inbox or open the share link the deal team sent you. The email or share link identifies the deal room by name and includes the property address.
Step 2: Click Open Deal Room
Click the Open Deal Room button (or the share link). RealNex Vault routes you to the RealNex sign-in page.
Step 3: Create your participant account
If this is your first time in a RealNex Vault deal room, the page prompts you to create your account. Use the email address the invitation was sent to. Set a password. Click Create Account.
- Have an existing RealNex account? Use that same one to log in to RealNex Vault!
Note: Participants do not pay for a RealNex Vault account. Account creation is free. The deal team's subscription covers your access.
Step 4: Sign the NDA if required
If the deal room requires NDA acceptance, the NDA wall appears before any document is visible. Read the NDA. Then complete the acceptance step the deal admin set:
- Acknowledgement Only: click to acknowledge.
- Require Digital Signature: submit an official e-signature that gets saved; the signed copy is emailed to you for your records.
RealNex Vault records your acceptance, timestamps it, and emails the deal admin a copy of your signed NDA. You only sign the NDA once per deal room.
Wait for access if Request Access is on
Some deal rooms require admin approval before you can view documents. If the room you were invited to is set to Request Access, after you sign the NDA you will see a confirmation that your request is pending. The deal admin reviews and approves. You will receive a second email when you are approved.
If the deal room does not require approval to access it, you go straight into the deal room after signing the NDA.
Get oriented inside the deal room
After sign-in (and NDA, if required), the deal room navigation surfaces five tabs for participants: Overview, Documents, Q&A, Calendar, and Notifications. Click through to explore and find your way around.
Step 5: The Overview tab
RealNex Vault drops you on the deal room Overview tab. The Overview tab shows the deal room name, property address, key dates, and a brief description if the admin provided one.
Step 6: The Documents tab
Click the Documents tab to see the folder tree at your access level. You see only the folders and documents the admin has published at or below your tier (L0 through L4). Click any document to open it in the inline viewer.
Step 7: View or download a document
Inside the document viewer:
- Page through the document using the page controls.
- Download if the admin has enabled downloads. Downloaded documents carry the watermark.
Note: If enabled, every document you open carries a watermark with your name, email, and the deal room name across every page. The watermark persists when downloaded. This is normal and expected.
Step 8: Ask the deal team a question via Q&A
Click the Q&A tab to send the deal team a question. Q&A is the deal room's message channel and works like a structured message board:
- Click Ask Question. Type your question, pick a category if appropriate, and attach a document if it helps.
- Your question is visible to the broker team only, never to other participants.
- The broker team is notified when you post.
- You are notified when your question is answered.
Step 9: Check key dates on the Calendar tab
Click the Calendar tab to see deal room milestones and key dates the broker team has set.
Step 10: See updates on the Notifications tab
Click the Notifications tab to see updates on the deal room: new documents published at your access level, answers to questions you have posted, and any access changes.
Advancing to the next stage
As you engage with the deal, the admin may move you from one stage to the next. The five stages map to five participant access tiers:
- Marketing (L0): NDA wall and marketing content (the teaser).
- Due Diligence Round 1 (L1): first-round due diligence package.
- Due Diligence Round 2 (L2): second-round due diligence package.
- Short-List (L3): short-list-stage documents.
- Finalist (L4): final-round materials including purchase agreement and closing documents.
When the admin advances you, the documents at your new tier appear automatically the next time you sign in. You do not need to do anything. If a document was visible to you and is no longer, the admin may have removed it from your tier or unpublished it.
Additional Options
Working from an iPad or phone
RealNex Vault works in any browser, any device, including iPad. Open the deal room URL on your device and sign in. The interface adapts to your screen. iPad is a comfortable environment to access documents from when you’re away from a computer.
Multiple deal rooms
If you participate in more than one RealNex Vault deal room, your account holds them all. After signing in, your dashboard shows every active deal room you have access to. Click any room to enter.
Tips and Best Practices
- Open the invitation email on the device you plan to read on. The link routes you cleanly to account creation, NDA, and the deal room in one flow on whichever device you prefer (laptop, iPad, or phone).
- Use one email per deal. Sign in with the same email the invitation was sent to. The address is bound to your participant account and the deal team's audit record.
- Use the Q&A tab, not email. Q&A puts your question in the deal room with the broker team, creates a single record they can audit, and notifies you when you have an answer.