Home Buying in Portland: The Final Walk-through

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You’ve made an offer on your dream home in Portland, and it was accepted. You put your down payment in escrow, waited, and closing is just a few days away. Now for the final step – we highly recommend – for any home purchase: the walk-through.

What is the final walk-through?

It’s a chance for you, your real estate agent, and possibly even the seller or their agent to get together at the home and make sure everything is as you agreed on in your contract. Surprisingly, this is not a requirement in the Oregon real estate market and the buyers do not necessarily have a right to a final walk through, they must ask the sellers for permission (the sellers will typically agree). Many Portland buyer’s agents do not perform a final walk-through with their clients!
It’s not an inspection — but there may have been a list of items that you, the buyer, asked the sellers to repair or perform before you close on the home based on what came up in the home inspection.
If so, the final walk-through is a chance for you to check out the work and make sure it’s been done to your satisfaction.
Also, the seller is supposed to keep the home in the same condition from the time they accepted your offer until the day of closing. The walk through is necessary to find out if the sellers have maintained the condition, kept it the same, until closing.

What to bring to the final walkthrough.

  • Time. It could take an hour or more to get through your checklist.
  • A copy of the home sale contract, which should include information about what items come with the home and what repairs should have been made by the seller before closing.
  • A copy of the home inspector’s report.
  • If the home has grounds that you will also be walking, be sure to wear appropriate shoes.
  • Camera (cell phone is fine) to document anything unexpected.
  • Most important, your real estate agent! Not only do they want to be there to make sure that their end of the work is covered, they also will come in handy to help you go through the check list.
  • Your personal checklist and a notepad.

Your Final Walkthrough Checklist

Just as the pilot of a single-engine Cessna has a different takeoff checklist than a fighter pilot or a commercial aircraft pilot, your new home will have a different final walk-through procedure than anyone else’s. Here are some items to consider.

From the curb to the front door:

  • Is there anything left on the curb? Has the trash been picked up? (If not, it’s a good time to learn the pick-up days for your new neighborhood.) Generally the contract will specify that the seller must remove all trash and unwanted personal property prior to close.
  • How does the front yard look? Has the grass been cut since the offer was made?

Going inside:

  • Turn on the furnace or central air (with permission only), so that you can verify that it is working before you leave.
  • Check for keys, along with any garage door openers, manuals for appliances, etc.
  • If there were any repairs that you and the seller agreed to as part of the sales contract, check that they were performed.
  • Look for any damage or changes to the interior that you didn’t see before. They may have been noted by the home inspector, or they may be new.
  • Open and shut all the windows to ensure that locks and latches work. Be careful. This is not your house – yet. Ditto for doors. Tedious, yes, but the worst-case scenario is that your belongings are not secure after you move in! Your real estate agent comes in handy here to help with the legwork.
  • Check for general cleanliness. Typically there is no requirement for the seller to professionally clean, but it is a nice courtesy.
  • On older homes, it’s not a bad idea to test all the lights to ensure that everything is working properly.

Room-by-room:

  • Bathroom: Test all faucets, toilets and drains. In Portland’s moist climate, mold can spring up in a matter of days, so it’s important that you do a close visual inspection. Check in cupboards, on the ceiling and walls, on pipes, and inside any vents or ducts. If you smell mold, it could be an indication that it’s growing somewhere you can’t see, so make a note of it.
  • Kitchen: Again, check faucets, drains. Mold can also grow in the places mentioned above. Look in cupboards for any left behind items (paint, hazardous chemicals, and other items that cost money to dispose of tend to be left behind by sellers).
  • Laundry room, garage or storage area: Same idea. Were the washer and dryer supposed to be left behind? Some seller mistakes are truly that, and they should get all of the items that they are entitled to in the contract.

Backyard:

We in Portland relish our long growing season and may have put a lot of time and money into our gardens and outdoor spaces. Here, the line between what a seller should leave and what they can take is a little blurry. It’s helpful if everything is spelled out in the contract beforehand. If the seller took all of the plants and shrubs with them, and that wasn’t part of the agreement, speak up! Ditto for ponds, patio fixtures (built-in grills, benches, etc.), paving stones and bricks.

What to do if you find problems in the final walk-through

This is why it’s important that your final walk-through is scheduled before the closing date, not on! That way you have time to communicate with the seller and make any final adjustments or get credited for work that wasn’t performed. Keep in mind, the seller typically has until the closing date to take care of their responsibilities, so if you are a few days early, they may simply not be done yet.
Talk to your Portland real estate agent about anything that doesn’t seem right to you. Usually a solution can be created that satisfies both you and the seller.

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When my wife and I decided to sell our home we started to search for agents who work for less than the 6% standard commission. Slightly skeptical, I decided to call Stephen for a consultation. Stephen came very prepared with comp sales, marketing techniques, and several other items pertaining to the sale I never would have considered. We sold in six days.

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