I am not a real estate broker but I have been around this business long enough to know, the last thing you do prior to a closing is the Walk-Through. This typically takes place the day before or the morning of the Closing. To ensure that the home is presentable, broom clean and that no damage has been done to the home by the movers. In most cases this can take anywhere to 15 minutes to an Hour, depending upon how detailed you want to be. When spending this amount of money, take all the time you need!!
We have all heard stories of the new home not being “broom clean”, food left behind in the refrigerator or even a stack of firewood that was not removed. With emotions running at high alert during the final stages of the buying process, the last thing the buyer wants or expects is to find problems during the Walk-Through. To a new homeowner, they do expect everything to be perfect, even if the home is 50 plus years old.
Well…today a new one. On this “Royal” day, a very good and thorough Agent did the walk-through with his clients and proceeded to flush all the toilets one by one. Yes, you guessed it. In the process, the main sewer pipe in the basement let go. YUP, it let go and it let go of everything inside. With emotions already running high, you can imagine what the buyers were thinking and their reaction to the events that just took place.
Many years ago an agent told me the Walk-Through should almost be like a mini home inspection. Turn on everything in the home…crank up the heat, run the water, dishwasher, and…flush all the toilets! Luckily all will end well. The selling agent has informed the buyers that this will be resolved today which is a huge relief for everyone involved in the transaction. So the moral of the story, don’t let this “Royal” flush cause problems for your next closing. Make a checklist of to do’s for your next walk-through.
Do you have a standard check list of things you do
when performing a Walk-Through?
Please share your stories with us ….the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
The Mortgage Markets 