The Final Walk Through
February 6, 2019 Written by DigitalRealtyX
You are just days away from owning your new home. Everything is done and all that’s left is the final walk through. You would not believe how many buyers don’t want to be bothered with a final walk through, but it’s so important. This is your last chance before the close of escrow to examine the home and arrange for any corrections. The purpose of the final walk through is to ensure that the condition of the home is essentially the same as when you wrote the offer.
A final walk through is normally done a day or so before the close of escrow. The buyer and their agent will go to the home and literally walk through the home. While there might have been repairs made during the escrow period, the purpose of the final walk through is not to approve these repairs or verify they were done correctly.
The seller is responsible for handling the repairs according to the terms, and even if everything looks proper during the walk through a buyer is not a home inspector and is not responsible for knowing this. If a problem occurs later as the result of the work done by the sellers, they remain responsible. The walk through is really to see if there are any new damages.
New damages could result from the sellers moving out of the home, or perhaps stagers removing furniture. Occasionally you might see a leak in the roof due to a recent rain that was not visible before. These are the types of things you want to watch for. Your agent will guide you in this process.
During the Final Walk-Through
- Bring your home inspection and check on repaired items
- Confirm that everything included in your contract are still there
- Check for new damages since inspection such as wall damage from moving or removed artwork/TVs
- Perform a visual inspection, check plumbing, electricity, appliances, water heater, roof and the photos on the listing.
- Check yard areas and garage for any new signs of trouble, or missing plants
The final walk through is just one more protection for the buyer. In most states, the purchase contract does not allow the buyer to use the walk through as a contingency, but if issues are uncovered which the seller is unable or unwilling to correct, then it is one last chance for the buyer to cancel before owning a problem they were not expecting.