What happens during a walk through?

Refresh my memory: what happens during a walk through? What should I be absolutely sure to test? (Besides the obvious showers, toilets, heat, ac, sinks). What's allowed to be less than stellar?

Re: What happens during a walk through?

You will basically just walk through the house to make sure everything is in working order and nothing has gone horribly wrong. Turn on all faucets, flush all toilets, start the dishwasher, washer, dryer, stove, etc to make sure everything works as expected. Make sure there isn't a huge roof leak now. Turn on A/C if it's summer, or make sure the heat is coming on in winter. You can have a provision in your contract about the A/C working if you couldn't test it in the winter, for example. Normal wear and tear on the house is normal (ie: nails in the wall).

What happens during a walk through?

Make sure the dryer produces heat!! On our walkthrough, the dryer turned on....

When we went to use it it didn't actually dry anything! So we had to just suck it up and get a new one right after buying the house

What happens during a walk through?

Turn on the sprinklers, if it is in season. Open and close windows to make sure they work. Check to make sure if you had specific things in your contract, like leave dining room light, that it's still there.

Re: What happens during a walk through?

Run water for a few mins and watch for leaks. Look behind toilets and inside cabinets. We had so many minor leaks we didn't notice due to excitement. Not costly to fix but a hassle as we are not too handy and bought wrong part first time.

Check that all lights turn on. Stove and oven turn on. Make sure dryer gets hot. Run dishwasher.

Set and trip alarm.

Check locks - especially like on a sliding door. Check window locks.

Good thing to ask if you have a nice rapport with owners, either walk thru or at closing:
Garage code
Alarm code
Companies they use for services - lawn, cleaning, snow shovelers, handyman, etc. especially if you are from a different area.
Ask for appliance Manuel's, warranty info, etc
We exchanged contact info and it has been really handy with some random questions that have come up we had a nice smooth process and sellers were very nice and helpful.
Also if you don't know, ask about utility companies and when they are canceling so you can start with no delay.

Re: What happens during a walk through?

Re: What happens during a walk through?

Garage code - It doesn't matter what the previous owner's garage code was. Who knows who else had it? They should leave you the manual and you should change the code ASAP.

Alarm code - If previous owners had an alarm, it will be turned off when you take ownership since they will have canceled their contract. When you sign up for your own alarm contract, you'll set your own code.

Re: What happens during a walk through?

out of curiosity, suppose something didn't work. like an outlet was broken or dishwasher didn't work, what would happen. I doubt as a buyer you'd not go through with the closing for such a small problem. I guess you could have the seller agree to fix it, but usually the walk through is on the day of or the day before the closing so how would that even work?

I'm just curious. I have to admit I didn't check all of these things on our final walk through.

Re: What happens during a walk through?

Re: What happens during a walk through?

Re: What happens during a walk through?

In most cases, you are not going to delay a closing for a seller to fix something. Walk through a are usually right before closing, so there's no time.

If it's a minor issue, the attorneys will typically work out a credit at the closing table. If it's something major -- for example, I had a walk through with a buyer last fall during which we saw evidence of an active roof leak -- the attorneys will usually an agreement where the seller will leave money in escrow and agree to repair post-closing.

Obviously, you want to let your attorney know if any problems that arise in the walk through right away. If the listing agent and/or seller isn't there to see the issue (they really should be, but aren't always), contact them ASAP and try to document any visible issues with photos (take a picture of a leak, a broken window, damaged wall).


One additional walk through tip - if the house has oil heat, take a picture of the gauge on the oil tank. The seller should arrange for a final reading but it's good to double check how much oil has been left (since you, as the buyer, will be paying for it),