What happens at a “walk through”?
The walk through is the last thing that the buyer does before closing. The buyers, plus the agents, walk through the empty house to check that it is in the same condition as inspection day -- except that the seller has moved out. I advise clients to do it immediately before closing. This gives the seller the most time to move out properly.
What can go wrong?
Planning: Sellers often underestimate the time and energy required to get everything out of the house. Then, as the deadline arrives, they get sloppy. The result is that the seller leaves a mess behind. Commonly it’s something like a pile of debris left in the basement, or some piece of furniture falls down the stairs and makes a hole in the plaster.
Here are some unusual ones:
1. A seller who was a landscaper had some plants that she was fond of. She was entitled to dig them up. But, she was in such a hurry that she left the yard looking like a crazed raccoon had attacked it. We brought pictures to closing. She came back and made it nice for the buyers.
2. A seller who coached a hockey team left the team equipment in a window seat. Although it was heavy, we hauled it to closing.
3. A seller who was cleaning up put his wallet in the kitchen cabinet. We found it on walk through and brought it to closing (the listing agent was not at walk through.)
Sometimes the problem involves the way the house was working. Here are a few examples:
1. Easy: Old-style washing machine spigots often drip. A homeowner just doesn’t know it until they disconnect the machines.
2. Hard: Once, I went to a walk through where there was a washing machine in the kitchen. The kitchen sink had no water at walk through. We found out why: if we turned on the sink, the laundry hook up ran (they had no shut-off and were on the line with the sink.)
3. Easy: Sometimes drip-leaks start under sinks or downspouts fall off outside.
4. Hard: sometimes a gutter tears off the house or a tree comes down shortly before closing.
5. Only once have I seen heating that failed at walk through. It was a condo that had just gotten a new boiler. It was on warrantee. The company that installed it fixed it that afternoon.
What is the remedy for a problem at walk through? Whether it is easy or hard, there is usually a solution that money can buy. Frequently, the attorneys write out a quick agreement to hold some of the seller’s money to pay for correcting whatever the problem is. Sometimes the seller than fixes it and gets the funds released. Sometimes the buyer fixes it and gives the seller the bill and any remaining money. It depends on what it is and who it is.
Did you go through a walk through from Heck? What did you find in your so-called “broom clean” house?
