Just bought a house? GREAT! Remember to do a final walkthrough before closing day. Why? Let me tell you.
What is a final walkthrough?
A final walkthrough is a walkthrough that you do on a property that you’re purchasing. Typically, the walkthrough happens the day before closing, when the funds exchange hands and the property legally moves from the sellers to the buyers and it becomes the buyers property.
Why do a walkthrough?
Basically, you want to go through the property, and make sure the property is being delivered to you as you bought it. That is to say, everything that’s supposed to be there is there, everything that’s supposed to be gone is gone, and the property wasn’t damaged in the course of them moving out. 99% of the time, everything is good. The property’s been cleaned up (there are provisions in an offer to legally make sure that happens).
A walkthrough gives you the opportunity to go through and test appliances, flip switches, flush toilets and run taps to make sure it is as it should be.
What happens if there’s an issue?
In the event that, for some reason, something is damaged or broken, or if there’s garbage left behind, the walkthrough gives you the chance to actually go and speak with the buyer’s lawyer to get everything sorted out.
For example, you could go to the lawyer and say “There’s been garbage left at the property, we think it would cost $500 to have it cleaned up, we’ll hold that money back at the time of closing”. Once the garbage has been cleaned up, and if it didn’t cost you $500, you can send the remainder of that money back to the sellers. By withholding that money, you ensure that everything is delivered to you as expected.
If you don’t do a final walkthrough, and you show up after closing and there’s garbage left at the property, there’s essentially no recourse. Over a few hundred dollars, you’re not going to pursue legal action because it will end up costing you more.
To sum it up
The final walkthrough is to not only catch little things like garbage, but if there were a large issue, you would want to be able to go to your lawyer to get it worked out before closing.
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