How Many Days Before my Real Estate Closing Should I Do My Final Walk Through?

 

Well, usually you CAN schedule it as early as you like. But there are issues with this. Let's discuss the things a Final Walkthrough is supposed to take care of, and see how an early Walk through addresses them.

 

Final Walk Through Objectives for a Real Estate Closing

In most cases, the P & S (or governing contract) has language that states that the home must be delivered in the condition it was when purchased - minus wear and tear, which hopefully in your closing period was minimal - and minus all the personal belongings of the seller and tenants. We are looking then, for the following:

 

1) Has the property been vacated? Is everyone gone?

2) Has the property been emptied? Is everything gone that is supposed to be gone?

3) Have things been taken that were promised? If the Fridge was included, and it's gone, that's a problem.

4) Is anything broken that wasn't broken before? Appliances, windows, and other items should get a cursory check. We also check for leaks that suddenly showed up, and damage from snow and other storms.

5) Were Home Inspection conditions Fixed? We'll collect receipts at closing, but these items should be inspected as much as possible. Sometimes that's not possible, but we try.

6) Is the property clean? It probably won't be so clean you can eat off the kitchen floor, but "broom clean" is the agreed upon standard.

 

The problems when going early for the Final Walkthough

As you can see, checking early means that we may not be able to check off items 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 although most items in 5 should be done. Most sellers, you see, move out the day before closing, in order to minimize the number of days they are living out of a suitcase. So they are still living there the day before, usually with lots of boxes that obscure your view of things that might be broken. In real estate, there's no "neutral zone". The house is either the Sellers (and they enjoy full use of it) or the buyers (who is generally entitled to full use of it the moment it goes on record). To complicate matters further, since they haven't moved their stuff out you are just guessing as to what they are going to take. So guess what? Even if you go early, you will likely have to go back and do the check all over again just before close.

 

Of course, you may be lucky, and the sellers may move out early. Some leave weeks before or are gone before the property is purchased. This greatly increases final walkthrough flexibility, although it is a good idea to do a check just before closing anyway, to check to make sure #4 is OK. Houses can - and have - been damaged literally hours before closing, so the closer you can check to close, the safer you will be.

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About Matt Heisler

Matt Heisler is a real-estate professional and owner of this website. He has been selling homes in MA for buyers and sellers for over 20 years. He is an expert in foreclosure purchases, short-sale purchases, short-sale sales, buy and hold investing, fix and flip investing, and of course traditional residential home sales. He is happy to take questions as they pertain to real estate on Title V, Radon, Termites, Sump Pumps, Roofs, Foundations, Wells, Septic Systems, Cash-Flow, Staging, and a host of other housing issues. As a Vanderbilt University alumnus, he is proud to serve his local community.

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*All information is posted in good faith and is assumed to be reliable, but may rely on third party information sources.