Preparations For the Final Walkthrough

A final walk-through is neither a home inspection nor a time to start negotiating with the seller to do home repairs nor is it a contingency. A final walk-through is an inspection done anytime from a few hours to five days before the closing date. Its main purpose is to make sure that the home is in the condition you agreed to purchase and that repairs if any were made and nothing has gone wrong with it since the last time you checked it out. Make it a point to do a pre-settlement walk-through of the home, review all its condition, and confirm that the home systems are operating properly.

For an occupied house, make it a point that the belongings of the seller are removed before the final walkthrough to be able to have an excellent opportunity to check out all the surfaces and systems. It is a good idea to do the final walkthrough in the presence of the seller since he or she knows all the details of the home and could answer your questions.

A vacant house is easier to inspect than an occupied one. You could check out carefully the seals and bearings of the mechanical systems and detect possible leaks. Sellers usually move out of the home before closing. It is more necessary to do a final walkthrough on a vacant home since problems could arise when it sits vacant for a period of time.

If the seller or the agent has made a declaration concerning the age of any item, repair, condition, warranty and service contract, those statements should be put in writing. You should make a request to the seller to provide you with all the instruction books, warranties, operator's manuals and other pertinent documents related to the different appliances and systems within the home. Keep in mind that this document will be extremely useful to you later on. Make sure that the utilities are turned on prior to doing a final walkthrough inspection. If the utilities were off during your inspection, contact your home inspector to make certain that the steps or checks that you should perform to satisfy yourself that any uninspected systems are working well before the settlement or the closing.

Often, most buyers are pressed for time as the day gets closer to closing, which means that buyers could be tempted to forgo the final walkthrough process. Keep in mind that it is not a good idea to forgo a final walkthrough inspection when purchasing a home.

The following is a checklist of the items you should check out during your final walkthrough:

1. Turn on and off each light fixture in the home.
2. Run the water and look under sinks to check out leaks.
3. Test all the home appliances.
4. Check the garage door openers and ensure they are in good working order.
5. Open and close all the doors.
6. Flush toilets in bathrooms.
7. Inspect the walls, ceilings and floors.
8. Test the heating and the air conditioning systems.
9. Run the garbage disposal and the exhaust fans.
10. Open and close all the windows.
11. Make certain that all debris is removed from the home.

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