The walkthrough is another protection for Arizona home buyers provided in the “Residential Resale Real Estate Purchase Contract” created by the Arizona Association of Realtors.
The walkthrough is done to verify that the home is in substantially the same condition as the day the contract was accepted. It is usually done by the buyer a day or two before the close of escrow.
The walkthrough is needed because from time to time something will break in a home after the inspections have been completed. This is the buyer’s opportunity to catch any new problems that may have developed.
Perhaps more importantly, the buyer will use the walkthrough to verify whether the seller has completed any repairs the seller may have agreed (in writing) to make.
If New Damage Found or Repairs Not Completed
If during the walkthrough, you find some new damage or you find the seller has not completed any agreed upon repairs, then things can get very interesting because the home is typically scheduled to close the next day!
Your real estate agent will advise you on ways to try to resolve such problems to your satisfaction.
Call me if you have any questions about ways to solve these problems when they arise.
I want to be your Realtor!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
randi 04.24.09 at 5:36 am
this is a very good concept, it will really help contracts and their disrupts
Kat 05.16.10 at 12:09 am
I had a walkthrough of my home with my mother, Realtor and a certified home inspector, but since living in the home, I noticed issues that none of us could have found, issues that are not included on “home walkthrough checklists”, for example.
Thus, I would recommend that on a walkthrough, even if one, like myself, is moving from one home in a city to another home just over 3 miles away in the same city, asking questions pertaining to:
1. The hardness of the water and whether it is treated at the plant that treated the water at your former home. If not, it couldn’t hurt to ask the sellers to “sweeten the deal” by including a household water softener system.
2. The grains per gallon of the water at the house you’re considering buying (which if you call enough people at the city, you can eventually find), and really get down and dirty, if you will, to see whether both the outdoor and indoor faucets appear to be very rusty, with lime and calcium deposits.
3. If your home inspector doesn’t address the issue and no one else realizes it is an issue, particularly in certain areas of the Valley (including mine), ask if the home inspector can refer you to someone who knows how to use an infrared device to check the depth of the pipes from the main to your house. Or ask the sellers to pay a plumber of your choice to do such a test. Had I done so, I wouldn’t be having the issues I have with my “newer” home, which is that in late spring or early summer, I have to completely turn off the hot water heater because my cold water is scalding and my hot water is a little less hot than the cold. I think it’s because, as the plumbing company advised me, and I could see for myself, that the pipes from the main to where they enter my home is only 9 inches high, which is not code compliant. But of course I have no recourse for this nor for the block walls I share with three neighbors: The blocks aren’t just loose, but have come off!
In any case, the pipes not being deep enough, not code compliant, was not anything I experienced at my former home just 3 miles away. If only I could have picked up the house (which I know now I could have done, as the HOA in my old neighborhood disbanded) and moved it to where I live now, that would be ideal.
In any case, I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are a lot of things that can be wrong with a home but not found during a walkthrough because the issues go much deeper than an inspector or anyone would think about.