Days or hours before you finally close a deal to sell your house, you need to facilitate a final walk-through. You should always remember that this is not a final home inspection. A final walk-through may not require the presence of a home inspector. But for sure, the professional could make the event a stunning success.
The main goal of a final walk-through is always to make the home sale succeed. It is assumed that before this stage, the home is already prepared. Necessary and required repairs should already have been completed and maintenance should already be set. Thus, it is important that long before the final walk-through, you should have already completed a home inspection and abided recommended repairs and maintenance.
There are things that are always checked by homebuyers every final walk-through. As investors, they would logically aim to make sure their investment would be a good and sound one. As always, no one would want to buy a defective and damaged house. Expect the homebuyers to turn on and then off light fixtures; test appliances; run water in faucets and check under sinks for possible leaks.
They would also look at garage door openers; flush toilets; look at ceilings, floors, and walls; close and open all doors; test air conditioning and heating system; close and open all windows; run exhaust fans, and look for any debris. That is why you should always make sure that all fixtures and appliances found in the house are all operational and in good condition. The home inspector could definitely help make it all possible.
During walk-through, you should always make sure the home is very presentable. This may not be directly covered by the inspector, but you could always put your personal touch for the aesthetics. Again, make the house presentable, but also free from defects and safety issues.
It is important that you make the house vacant long before the final walk-through. Prospective homebuyers would always assume that the house is not occupied so that the deal could always be closed anytime. Nine out of 10 times, homes that are successfully sold during final walk-through sessions are vacant. However, there could be problems to expect when a home has been vacant for a long duration. There might be the presence of unwanted insects and termites. The cleanliness could also be questionable, though this aspect you could always make caretakers do the necessary action.
If in any case, the house is still occupied during a final walk-through, the seller should always make sure he is around to tour the prospective buyer in and out of the home. The homebuyer could always have pop-up questions when inspecting the house, and it is important that the owner or seller is there to answer every query so as not to build up suspicions and doubts in the mind of the buyer. Doing so is also like a conventional case of marketing. You could do a little persuasive sales talk to make sure the deal closes.
Where is the home inspector figuring in walk-through sessions? He might not be around. But his services could be very crucial in helping the seller identify defects and finally run important repairs. No defective home could ever be sold at a competitive price these days.
