Well, we’ll be going to closing shortly. Considering that this is the first time we’re purchasing a house, I can always use all the advice I can get.
Specifically, we’re going to be going through the final walk-through before closing. Aside from making sure that the place is cleaned out, what else should we be looking for?
Zev Steinhardt
I assume you have had the property professionally inspected.
Before going to inspect the property sit down with your partner and read through the contract. Confirm that you both know what you are buying. Write bloody notes your memory isn’t that good.
Using your notes check that nothing has miraculously disappeared. The contract is king here - I lost a really cool backyard ornament because I didn’t pay attention, the vendor’s son took it.
Worry excessively about any problems on the inspection report. Do some risk analysis work - what would happen if??? Usually it’s meaningless but I know people who have bought properties on flood plains where once every hundred years they’ll be washed out. Could be next year.
The first place I ever bought, the previous owner took thge phone. I had a phone number but couldn’t be contacted.
Ask the previous owner if there are any tips they can give you about the place. With any luck you’ll hear the truth and know what the first repair jobs are.
Zev do you have a camera? Either 35mm or Poloroid? A Camcorder would be best. Film everything. Specifically film these:
The Water Heater, make sure you take shots of the bottom of the heater where rust can accumulate. Some people just spraypaint over it before hand.
Carpeting: Film all of the carpeting…if they have recently had them done, they will look nice for a few weeks or months…but then little black spots wil start to rise up out of them. MOLD!
The Sinks, make sure the wood under said sink is not soft, which would have meant a leak in the past.
Toilets same thing …just change the seats on them all if you are really worried.
Insulation in the attic or craw-space. Make sure it hasn’t decomposed at all…
Paint. Make sure all the paint in the place is up to par, even outside under the eves.
If I think of more I’ll post back…My wife and I have a condo in Newton MA that was not throoughly inspected and we ended up getting the bill.
We also own a home in VT where there were no problems when we moved in.
Flush all toilets, check all tubs, showers, sinks to be sure they drain properly. Raise blinds and pull back curtains to make sure windows are in one piece and raise and lower properly.
After closing, make sure you take toilet paper and paper towels, vacuum, cleaning supplies, with you. Few things are worse than sitting down for the first time in your new bathroom and discovering that you have no paper available.
Congratulations!
We got to our house and couldn’t figure out how to turn the shower nozzle on. Had to call the real estate agent.
Another thing to check is the windows - make sure everything is insulated and there’s no water damage / soft spots.
Make sure you know where the fuse box / circuit breaker is. Take a look at it to see if anything looks suspicious.
If there’s a way to get under the bathroom, look for leaks while somebody runs all the plumbing. If there is water in the crawlspace, find out why.
After the closing, bring in a good electrician. Have her put ground fault interrupt outlets in the bathrooms and where the waterbed plugs in. You’ll want an isolated ground outlet where your computer goes. Add an outlet or two in the kitchen. Want better lighting somewhere? Do it now.
I suggest you ask for the seller’s phone number at closing just in case you have any small questions you need to ask. I couldn’t get my sliding glass door open when I moved in. I called the seller and he explained the little quirk to me.
Other than that, IMO the final walk through is just to make sure they haven’t taken appliances/light fixtures/window treatments, ect that they were supposed to leave. Also, that they haven’t broken anything that was working before the inspection or added any new holes/stains to the walls or carpeting.
If its not in the contract (existing light fixtures and appliances should be listed in the standard contract, window treatments, fancy light switch covers and other goodies may or may not have been) then don’t expect it to still be there during the walk through.
Good luck and congratulations!
I’d take a glance to make sure now crazy drifters have taken up residence in the attic or crawlspace.
Other than that, just make sure nothing that was specified as staying in the contract is gone (draperies, appliances, light fixtures, etc.), nothing more than normal wear and tear (broken windows, etc.), and that the place is reasonably clean (no reason you should have to hassle with getting rid of their crap.)
Enjoy the new abode, zev!
This is critical, particularly if there has been any painting or patching going on to get the house ready. Painters are notorious for cleaning brushes and sheetrock finish tools in the sink or bathtub and not running sufficient hot water behind it to make sure it all clears the drains. When it solidifies, it’s like concrete.
I also suggest that you pay attention to the contract and be sure you get what you should get. The people I bought from took the garage door opener, even though the contract said it belonged to me.
Also, I had an inspection but soon after I moved in I learned that a couple of outlets did not work. The shower door did not close properly but I did not take the time to check. Get warranties on the newer appliances…like the ac, dishwasher, etc. Get contact numbers so you can ask them questions later if needed.
Congrats and I hope you enjoy your new home.
Take a small tv and a piece of coax cable and test the cable tv outlets in every room. We found that a few of ours weren’t even connected behind the wall plate, and a few of the others were signal poor due to improper splitting. A home inspector won’t check this, at least ours didn’t.
Bring a phone to check those outlets as well.
As others have said, check the plumbing fixtures closely. We discovered a leaky toilet that had been hidden from us by shutting off the water to it.
We also found later where the tile layers had emptied their grout buckets onto & behind bushes in the yard, as well as a window sill they apparently used to wipe their tools clean. Fucking bastards.
At closing, inspect the submitted repair bills to ensure all work was done professionally, and not done by a friend/spouse of the realtor or homeowner. Painting walls is understandable, but roof repair/electrical is not.
The advice on inspections is all good, but really is germane only before you sign all the contracts. For the final walkthrough, you’re just making sure the house is as the contracts specify. Make sure that the previous occupants haven’t left any junk behind that you’ll have to worry about disposing of (e.g. old appliances, hazardous chemicals). Make sure the movers didn’t gouge the hell out of any walls or floors in the process of moving the old furniture out. If you’re not going to be moving in immediately, make sure that the furnace is on and that there’s sufficient oil or whatever to keep the house warm and pipes from freezing.
If you specified repairs, make sure that they were done satisfactorily. (It would be worth getting the name of the people who did the work, just in case a call-back is needed.)
IANARealtor, nor have I ever bought or sold a house. But I am in an Entomology program, so I can tell you this:
When you get the report from whoever inspected for insect infestations on your property, here’s how to interpret at least some what the inspector might tell you:
If you’ve got powder post beetles in an area made up of one piece of wood or a set of contiguous pieces of wood, that might still be treatable. Push or knock on the wood to check whether or not most of the inside of the piece of wood remains. If you can break through the wood, or if if sounds like you’re hitting something hollow, or if it sounds like you’re hitting varnish, with little wood beneath, you’re going to have to exterminate and replace that area of wood. If the inspector found powder post infestations in separate pieces of wood that are far from each other, think twice about taking the house (unless most of it is brick or something, so you can be certain there’s no structural damage.) You would think that any inspector would tell you about stuff like this to start with, but not all do. I heard of a guy who closed on a gorgeous Victorian house in a lovely part of town, only to find that powderpost beetles had converted many of the wooden structures–like walls, doorways, the pillars in front–to dust. The place had to be completely remodeled, and, IIRC, reconstruction had to be done, too. The inspector’s report had listed “powderpost beetle infestation–extensive,” but hadn’t explained what that might mean to the owner.
If you’ve got termites, find out how high the nest is. If it’s really high (ask the exterminator or inspector what that means in your house’s case), you might have some serious work ahead of you. If the nest is still pretty low, termites can be handled pretty easily by an exterminator.
Carpenter ants. If the report says you have carpenter ants, you don’t just have a bug problem. You’ve got a carpentry problem. Carpenter ants work on stressed wood. Lots of carpenter ants that hang around for a while indicates wood that needs to be replaced.
Oh, right. Preview, preview. Look over draft, edit, then post. One day I will get this right. 
Even if the wood in an area infested by powderpost beetles seems pretty sound so far, you still want an exterminator to come in and do his thing. (If you can remove the wood and throw it in the freezer, or outside in freezing temperatures, for several days, that’ll work OK too.) You don’t want to let the beetles keep going.
Basement: Check to see there are no signs of dampness. Look for cracks that may have been repaired, or that need to be repaired. If the basement is ‘finished’, try to get a peek at the cement walls behind the wall covering; look for signs they are trying to hide something with new renovations.
Furnace: Try to establish which ducts heat which rooms. Look for rooms which may be unheated. In older houses especially this is common.
Also, look to see if there are cold air returns in the floors. These were often covered up by wall to wall carpets, and the heating efficiency of the entire house is compromised without them.
Showers and sinks: check water pressure. If pipes are limed up, pressure will be lousy.
Roofs: Check the garage too. Often they’ll replace a house roof, but skip the garage.
Close your eyes, hold your breath, and jump.
Oh, yes, and say, “Eeek,” before each signature! That’s important.