What Should You Check at the Final Walk-Through on a Salt Lake County Home?

At the final walk-through on a Salt Lake County home, you are checking three things: the home is in the same condition it was in when your offer was accepted, the repairs the seller agreed to are done, and everything the contract says stays with the house is still there. Think of it as a confirmation visit. The inspection already happened. You are making sure you get the home you agreed to buy.

Charisse Walker is a real estate agent with Chalker Properties Group in Salt Lake and Davis County, Utah, and a licensed mortgage lender. She walks through homes with buyers in Salt Lake City, Murray, Sandy and the rest of Salt Lake County in the last day or two before closing, and the same short list catches most problems.

A November or December closing adds a few winter checks, because some systems in a Salt Lake County home cannot be tested the way they could in July. Those are covered below.

Most walk-throughs happen within a day or two before you sign closing documents. The standard Utah purchase contract, the REPC, gives buyers the right to walk through the home before settlement. Read your own contract and any addenda for the exact terms, because they can change the timing.

Try to schedule it after the sellers have moved out. A house full of boxes and furniture hides scuffed floors, holes in walls and outlets that do not work. If the sellers are moving the same day, ask your agent to push the walk-through later in the afternoon.

If the sellers are staying in the home after closing under an occupancy agreement, plan for two visits. Do one before you sign, and a second when they hand over the keys.

Bring your purchase contract, the repair addendum and any receipts the seller sent over. Then go room by room.

1. Agreed repairs. Look at each item on the repair addendum. If the contract required a licensed contractor, ask for the invoice that shows who did the work.
2. Plumbing. Run every faucet on hot and cold. Flush each toilet. Open the cabinet under each sink and look for drips or fresh water stains.
3. Heat. Turn the thermostat up and feel for warm air at a few registers. In a Salt Lake County winter, the furnace is the system you will rely on the first night.
4. Hot water. Run the faucet farthest from the water heater until it gets hot.
5. Electrical. Flip the light switches and plug a phone charger into a few outlets in each room. Test the garage door opener and every remote.
6. Appliances that stay. Check the range, oven, dishwasher and microwave. If the refrigerator, washer or dryer were included in your contract, make sure they are the same ones and they run.
7. Fixtures and included items. Window coverings, light fixtures, a shed, a mounted TV bracket. If your contract lists it, it should still be there.
8. Walls, floors and doors. Moving day damage shows up here. Look for gouges in flooring, holes from wall mounts and doors that no longer close.
9. Keys and codes. House keys, garage remotes, the mailbox key, alarm codes and any appliance manuals or warranty papers.
10. Belongings and debris. Most contracts expect the seller to leave the home reasonably clean and empty of their things unless you agreed otherwise. Leftover paint cans, old tires or a garage full of boxes are worth a conversation before you sign.

Take photos as you go. If something needs fixing, a dated photo makes the conversation with the seller's agent shorter.

Cold weather limits what you can test, so a winter walk-through leans more on paperwork and careful looking.

• Sprinklers. Most systems along the Wasatch Front are blown out by late fall, so you cannot run them. Ask when the system was winterized, who did it, and whether the seller knows of any broken heads or valves. You may not know for sure until spring.
• Air conditioning or swamp cooler. Many air conditioners should not be run when it is cold outside, and evaporative coolers on older homes are usually drained and covered for winter. Confirm the cooler was winterized and look back at what your home inspector said about the cooling system.
• Snow and ice. Snow can hide the roof, the yard and window wells. Look into the window wells for debris and check whether the covers are in place. Watch for ice building up where gutters drip onto walkways.
• Vacant homes. If the sellers moved out weeks ago, check that the heat was left on. A cold snap in an empty house with the furnace off can freeze pipes. Look at ceilings and under sinks for new stains.
• Fireplace. If the home has a gas fireplace, make sure it lights.

None of this is a reason to avoid a winter purchase. It means you go in with a slightly different list.

Most walk-through problems are small and get solved with one phone call between the agents. A missing garage remote or a pile of trash in the side yard usually gets handled the same day.

Bigger problems have a few common outcomes:

• The seller fixes it before closing. This can push the signing back a day or two.
• The seller gives a credit. The amount is negotiated and written into the closing paperwork. Your lender has to approve any credit, so tell them early.
• Money is held back at closing. Sometimes the title company holds part of the seller's proceeds until a repair is done. Whether this is allowed depends on your lender and the title company, so ask before you count on it.

Do not sign and hope it gets sorted out later. Once the sale closes, you have far less room to ask for anything. If a repair the seller agreed to is not done, your agent should raise it before you sign, in writing.

Charisse Walker is a real estate agent with Chalker Properties Group in Salt Lake and Davis County, Utah, and a licensed mortgage lender. When she represents a buyer, she brings the repair addendum to the walk-through and checks it line by line with them. You can read more about the signing appointment itself in what happens at closing in Utah.

• Skipping it. Buyers who had a clean inspection sometimes decide the walk-through is not worth the trip. Moving day is when most damage happens, and that comes after the inspection.
• Rushing it. Ten minutes in the driveway on the way to the title office is not enough time to run water and test the heat.
• Forgetting the paperwork. Without the repair addendum and the list of included items, it is hard to tell what was promised.
• Reopening old issues. If you saw the cracked tile during the inspection and did not ask for it then, the walk-through is the wrong time to bring it up.
• Not checking the heat in winter. A furnace that will not start in November is the problem you most want to find before you own the house.

Plan your cash to close as well, so the walk-through is the only thing on your mind that day. Our guide to closing costs for home buyers in Utah covers what to budget.

Here is a typical example, not a specific client.

A buyer is closing on a 1950s rambler in Murray the week before Thanksgiving. The inspection turned up a leaking drain under the bathroom sink and a kitchen outlet that needed replacing. The seller agreed to fix both.

At the walk-through, the buyer and agent find the new outlet working and a plumber's invoice on the counter. The cabinet under the bathroom sink is dry. The furnace kicks on and warm air comes out of every register they check.

Two things come up. There are two old tires and a shelf of paint cans in the garage, and nobody knows when the sprinklers were blown out. The buyer's agent calls the seller's agent from the driveway. The seller hauls away the tires and paint that afternoon and texts a photo of the receipt from the October sprinkler blowout.

The whole visit takes about forty minutes, and the buyer signs the next morning without any open questions.

Do I need my agent at the final walk-through?

It is not required, but it helps. Your agent knows what the contract and repair addendum say and can call the seller's agent on the spot if something is off.

How long does a final walk-through take?

Plan for 30 to 60 minutes for most homes. A larger home or a long repair list takes longer.

Can I bring my home inspector back?

Yes, usually at your own cost. It can be worth it if the seller completed a major repair, such as work on the roof, furnace or electrical panel.

What if the sellers have not moved out yet?

Talk with your agent before you sign. You may need a second walk-through, or a written agreement on when the home will be empty and what condition it will be in.

Can I cancel the purchase at the walk-through?

The walk-through is not a general way out of the contract. Your rights depend on your contract. If the home's condition has changed in a serious way, talk with your agent and, if needed, a real estate attorney before closing.

Charisse Walker is a real estate agent with Chalker Properties Group in Salt Lake and Davis County, Utah, and a licensed mortgage lender. She uses the F.E.N.D. system with every buyer: Fight, Educate, Negotiate, Drive Solutions. On the last day before closing, that means walking the home with you, checking every promised repair against the paperwork, and getting problems handled before you sign.

If you are starting your search, the home buying guide lays out every step, and our process page shows how we work from first call to keys.

Ready to talk about your Salt Lake County purchase? Contact Charisse and she will walk you through the plan, including the final walk-through.