The Final Walk-Through Inspection

All home buyers should plan to make a final walk - through inspection of their new homes prior to closing in order to make sure the condition of the property is the same as it was on the day you signed your purchase contract. You should take an early walk through to check repairs agreed to by the seller, but this early inspection does not replace your final walk-through on closing day. Your home inspector can re-inspect these repairs for you.

Always do your final walk – through after the sellers have moved, but prior to closing. At this point you are not inspecting for repairs– you simply want to make sure that the home is in the same condition it was when you signed the contract to purchase it. Check to make sure that the appliances that were in the house are the same or better than the ones that were there when the offer was made. That old refrigerator in the garage may be moved to the kitchen and the new refrigerator is taken.

. A few things to check for:
· Have items been damaged during the move? Inspect floors for rips or gouges. Look at the walls, especially around door frames that large furniture and appliances might have been moved through.
· Most offers to purchase include wording that states all major systems in the home must be in working order at the time of closing, so it is fine to do a quick test of appliances and other items such as the furnace and air conditioning. Those items should have been checked during the home inspection, but there is always a chance that they have quit working since that date.
· Make sure that all items that the seller agreed to leave are still there.
· Make sure all items the sellers agreed to remove have been removed.
If the condition of the home has changed since your offer to purchase it, you are in a better position to get the problems handled when you bring them to everyone’s attention before the deed changes hands.

If necessary, repair or replacement funds can be negotiated, deposited into an escrow account, then drawn on to bring the home back to the shape it was in on your contract date.
An alternative is to negotiate a flat amount to be paid to you at closing. Or, if damage is excessive, you might prefer to delay closing until repairs are made.
The final walk- through is not the time to do a home inspection. It’s simply an opportunity to make sure that the home being conveyed to you is the home you agreed to buy.