Take your time and work alongside your real estate agent to examine the following items carefully during your new construction walkthrough.
As soon as you drive up to your dazzling new home, pause for a smile and a little happy dance… and then let the scrutiny begin. Curb appeal comes first. Check the landscaping carefully. Are these the plants you chose? Do they show any signs of distress at this point? Be sure to turn it on and ensure that all sprinkler heads are functioning properly. For pavers and concrete, check that the entire area is level and give it a once-over for any cracks or chips.
Next, take some time to examine the exterior of the building. Is the overall paint tone even and is it adhering well? Bubbling and uneven tone could indicate a problem with moisture. Is the edging crisp and the trim completely covered? Look for proper seals at the corners and edges, and double-check for any faulty materials broken shingles, cracked tiles, and so on. Turn on all outdoor hose spigots to check for flow and pressure. Better yet, bring a garden hose along and spray around the exterior, watching for drainage issues.
Is the water flowing away from the house as it should? Are there any low spots in the yard that need to be filled in, especially around the foundation? Turn them on and test their functioning for at least five minutes. For pools, make sure that you understand the equipment and the maintenance requirements. New pools need a very specific balance of chemicals to allow the finishes to cure, so hiring a pool service professional might be a good idea at least for the first few months — check with your builder.
For example, did you pay for and thus receive floor coating? What about custom shelving or security features? The 10 issues discussed above do happen too frequently, many times because of a lack of attention to details. Having a strong understanding of these issues can help reduce the number of problems at the final inspection significantly. Are you currently dealing with any of these final walk-through issues with your Greater Rochester NY real estate transaction? Have questions about buying or selling a home?
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A geyser of water almost simultaneously gushes from the ground in the backyard, and it smells. Your agent's flushing action revealed that the sewer line had tree roots growing in it. Your agent should be able to withhold that money from the seller's proceeds. You could end up paying more for a home if you don't do a walkthrough because you'll have to absorb the cost of any repairs if you don't get the seller to reduce the home's price as compensation.
The walkthrough serves as a final check for any remaining, unresolved issues with the home. Follow this checklist to ensure you don't overlook any steps. Sometimes, sellers don't move out until the day the transaction closes , or even for a few days after closing. Buyers should do a final walkthrough in the presence of the seller in these situations because the seller knows all the quirks about the home and should be able to answer any questions the buyers might have.
A good question to ask a seller is, "What is the one improvement you've always wanted to make but never got around to implementing? This is also a good time to ask the seller for a forwarding address so you can send mail if necessary. It's smart to stay on good terms with the seller, although buyers rarely meet the sellers in some parts of the country, like California.
The final walkthrough can provide an excellent opportunity for all parties to say hello. Typically, you'll do the final walkthrough after the seller has moved out, about 24 hours prior to closing. It's designed to be a final chance for you to check that the home is delivered in the condition you expected before you sign off at the closing.
You cannot raise new issues at the final walkthrough that are not already part of the sale contract. You've already worked through the inspection and any contingencies earlier in the process. At the final walkthrough, you are simply ensuring that all expectations have been met and the home is delivered in the condition you previously agreed to.
A final walkthrough can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours, depending on the size of the home and the issues you may discover.
Remember that this is one of the biggest purchases you'll ever make, so it's important not to rush the walkthrough. You'll also want to verify that any appliances or light fixtures that were supposed to be left behind are still present in the home. Sometimes buyers get so caught up in doing their due diligence that they almost go looking for problems.
However, a final walk-through is not a redo of the home inspection. Rather than acting like a home inspector and looking for a punch list of items to repair, your main focus should be ensuring that all the home's major components are in working condition.
Now that you know what to do to make your final walk-through successful, the next step is to go over what to check during this part of the homebuying process. With that in mind, below is a list of things you should be looking for during this inspection of your new home:. After you're done your final inspection of the property, if everything seems okay, your real estate agent will likely have you sign a document known as a verification of property condition. This document is an important piece of closing paperwork, as it essentially says that you found the property to be in acceptable condition and that you're willing to buy it as is.
If, however, you noticed problems during your final inspection of the property, you're going to want to hold off on signing that piece of paperwork. Instead of having you sign and move forward toward settlement, your agent will likely get on the phone with the seller's agent to negotiate how to rectify the issue.
If the issues found during your final walk-through are not serious enough to cause you to want to delay closing, one way to remedy them is to have the seller leave money in escrow.
In this situation, what the seller is essentially doing is renegotiating their closing costs to leave you money toward fixing the problem. However, instead of being given to you directly, the money will be held by a neutral third party known as an escrow agent. That agent's job is to ensure that the appropriate party gets paid to do the work. On the other hand, if the issues found are severe enough, you may want to consider delaying settlement until the seller has a chance to fix the problem.
In that case, once the problem gets resolved, you would have a chance to perform another inspection. At that point, if you have no further objections, you should be able to go to closing.
Alternatively, if the problem is really catastrophic, you also have the option of walking away from buying the home entirely. Since, presumably, the seller did not deliver the house in the same condition as was promised when you originally put in your offer, you should be able to exit the contract with your earnest money deposit in hand.
By now, you should see that the final walk-through is a crucial part of any real estate transaction. After all, it essentially ensures that you're able to buy the same product that was promised to you when you put in your offer. Armed with the right knowledge and the tips above, you should be able to confidently move forward toward closing on your new home. Our team of analysts agrees.
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