The Real Buyer's Guide · Section Twelve

The final walkthrough.

Usually the day before closing, in an empty house, and most buyers spend it admiring the rooms. It is the last moment you have any leverage at all. Use it properly.

Three questions, that’s all

This is not a second inspection and it is not a chance to renegotiate the price. You are answering three things:

• Were the repairs you agreed on actually done? Bring the list and the receipts.
• Is the house in the same condition it was when you agreed to buy it? Moving out damages things.
• Is everything that was supposed to stay still here? Appliances, fixtures, the shed.

An empty house looks better than a furnished one. That’s the trap — you are not there to like it, you are there to test it.

Turn everything on

Here is where walkthroughs fail. The house was full of the seller’s life last time you saw it; now it’s empty, clean and quiet, and it looks great. So people walk through, feel pleased, and test nothing.

Then on day three the water heater is dead, and you have no leverage at all — because you already closed.

Run every system. It takes twenty minutes and it is the entire point of being there. The checklist below is in the order I’d actually walk a house.

Bring these with you

• The repair list you agreed to, and any receipts or invoices the seller provided
• Your phone, charged, for photographs of anything wrong
• The inspection report, if repairs came out of it
• Something to test outlets with — a phone charger is fine

The walkthrough checklist

Tick as you go and write what you find. It saves on your own device, so you can start it in the driveway and finish it in the kitchen.

Saved on this device only. Nothing here is sent anywhere, and clearing your browser data clears it too.

If something is wrong

I’ll be walking it with you, so say it out loud the moment you notice — don’t sit on it and mention it in the car. We photograph it there and then, while we’re both looking at the same thing and every option is still open.

That’s the main reason I come to these. Two sets of eyes catch more, and I already know what was agreed and what it’s worth arguing about.

Depending on what it is, the usual options are:

• Delay closing until it’s fixed. Disruptive, and sometimes exactly right.
• A credit at closing so you can fix it yourself. Usually the cleanest.
• Money held back in escrow until the work is done. [VERIFY how holdbacks are handled locally and whether your lender permits one]

Which one is available depends on the size of the problem, your contract, and your lender. That’s my job — you just need to not sign until we’ve had the conversation.

What to do next

• Schedule it as late as you reasonably can before closing. The closer to the finish, the more it reflects what you’re actually getting.
• Bring the repair list and the receipts.
• Run every system, even the ones you can’t imagine failing.
• Say it out loud when you spot it. I’m there with you — we’ll photograph it and deal with it on the spot.
• Don’t sign anything until we’ve talked about whatever you found.