Your offer has been accepted... So, now what? Part VI (Final Walk Through)

Just prior to settlement you should plan to do a "final walk through" at your soon-to-be new property.  Why? To play it safe!  You want to make sure that it's in the same shape (or better, depending on your inspection negotiations) it was at the time of your offer.  And, if you've negotiated for repairs or replacement items, this is your chance to see that that the work was done properly and all items are in good working order. Last reason... stuff happens.  Vacant houses can spring leaks, burst a pipe, or god forbid, catch on fire (this has happened a couple of times in my office!). 

What happens if something is wrong?  Take some pictures.  Have your agent call the selling agent.  Consult your settlement attorney.  In the end, most of these things can be ironed out, but it will take some determination and patience, and it'll likely fray a few nerves.  As my mother used to say (an old time agent) "there's nothing that can't be fixed by a big ol' check".  Amen to that.  The problem is, checks aren't allowed as often as they once were.  Especially now that a lot of home loans are through the FHA.

Now, for the first 8 or 9 years of my career an FHA loan crossed my path exactly one time.  Now they are everywhere.  For properties being purchased with FHA loans, the walk through should happen  3-5 days prior to settlement if at all possible.  Why?  If things go wrong on the walk through, you really have to get them repaired prior to settlement, or check with your lender to see if they will allow you to escrow money for the repair.  I recently closed on a  1-bedroom condo in Chevy Chase, DC where the owner was unable to get a window repaired prior to settlement.  Now, the bank was going to allow us to escrow some money toward the repair, but the repair had to happen within 7-days of closing (this was our problem in the first place)!   However, this was only allowable because the window was a panel window (didn't open or close).  If the window were not operational, we wouldn't have been allowed to escrow anything.  In the end, we simply had the seller credit the buyer money toward closing costs. The bottom line is... FHA loans can be quirky.  Allow some time to resolve issues ahead of time, if at all possible.  

On more than one occasion my buyers have included their home inspector on the final walk through.  Why?  Because they had no way of knowing whether the repairs requested had been properly attended to.  In a couple of instances, certain items had to be re-addressed, and it was money well spent.

Part I of "Your offer has been accepted... So, now what?"  tackles home inspections and how they might play out in your home purchase scenario. 

• Part II discusses financing and what to expect.  
• Part III deals with settlement attorneys, and
• Part IV covers title insurance.
• Part V takes a closer look at home warranties.

Coming soon... Be on the lookout for "Your offer has been accepted... So, now what? Part VII" which will discuss Condo documents.