Final Walk-Through - The Value of Your Contract
A walk-through is an important step in a real estate
transaction. To get the most out of it, make sure you understand
the terms of the purchase contract.
Check Things the Contract Specifies
When you signed the contact to purchase your new home, certain
elements and characteristics were specified. If the home does
not match those elements on the walk-through, the contract will
give you leveraging position. Consider the following:
If there's a hole in the wallboard caused by the leg of a table
going through it when the seller was moving out, the house is
not in substantially the same condition as when you wrote the
contract and the wallboard was intact.
If you fill up that lovely, large Jacuzzi tub and the jets won't
work, there is a problem with the working systems of the home.
If you start the dishwasher, and it leaks before the cycle is
finished, that appliance is not in normal working order. If all
the surface burners on the stove won't light (if gas) or heat to
red hot (if electric), ditto. If the heat or air conditioning
won't come on, we have another problem with the working systems.
Allow yourself enough time to really pay attention and check on
things. Usually an hour to an hour and a half is enough. Don't
have a chip on your shoulder. Do be a good business person and
systematically check.
If your contract calls for something you can't easily judge and
it requires a third party to do it (such as the HVAC service
mentioned above), you can request a copy of a paid bill at
settlement. This is usually sufficient indication that the work
has been done, and you know whom to call if there is a problem.
What If You Find a Problem?
Settlement may, or may not, be delayed if a problem is
discovered. If it's small and something you can easily fix, you
may just want to ignore it. If it is something expensive and
extensive, you probably don't want to ignore it. Many approaches
are possible, but my inclination would be to go to the
settlement table anyway and request that enough money be set
aside in an escrow account held by a third party (not the buyer
or the seller) to fix the problem. I'd pad the amount a little
to be sure there's enough. Those funds could then be used to
complete the needed work and then the balance released to the
seller.
If the seller is not willing to accept the idea of funds in
escrow, I'd request a delay of settlement until the work has
been completed. The terms of such a delay need to be spelled out
in an addendum to your contract.
Setting out to use walk-through to change the terms of a
contract is not fair. However, if a walk-through shows that the
terms of your contract have not been met, you need to figure out
how to get things back on track and are behaving appropriately
when you do so.
Most walk-throughs go smoothly. Let's hope yours is one of the
smooth ones.