Checklist for new home walk-through

[sublime311]

Our walk-through is tomorrow! I'm super excited, but really nervous for some reason. I think it's because I'm afraid we'll miss something major during the walk-through. I would love to compile a list of things to look at or keep in mind as we look through our home. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

I'll start the checklist with a suggestion one of my students had today. She said that after they moved in her dad discovered that one of the tubs drained REALLY slowly. Of course, they came out and fixed the problem, but I would rather catch as much as possible before we close next week. So...

1. Fill up all tubs and sinks to check for slow drains or leaks.

[Hello Kitty]

That's really exciting :)

Did you have a home inspection? If so, I would think that the majority of serious things would have been checked out during that. We had a home inspection and on the day of our walk through, just made sure that the seller made the repairs we requested, and they didn't trash the place or something. Actually, I wasn't even there - I think it was just DH and the realtor.

If you didn't have a home inspection, I would suggest that you get one, if possible, whether it be new construction or existing. At this point in the game, I'm not quite sure of the legalities of that or how it would work in your area and with your contract, so I would bring it up with your realtor.

If you can't do that, I would check around online for 'home inspection checklist' - a quick google brought up quite a few different sources. I would check out the major things: HVAC, drainage, roof, crawl/basement, appliances... Good luck and hope you have a smooth closing!

[Sabrina]

I'll start the checklist with a suggestion one of my students had today. She said that after they moved in her dad discovered that one of the tubs drained REALLY slowly. Of course, they came out and fixed the problem, but I would rather catch as much as possible before we close next week. So...

1. Fill up all tubs and sinks to check for slow drains or leaks.

This sounds like something that your home inspector should have done. A walk-through is more of a superficial look at the property to ensure that the previous owners left it in the agreeed-upon state (e.g. they removed all their possessions and garbage) and is usually done on (or very close to) the day of closing.

[sublime311]

Thanks, ladies. Actually, this is new construction. We're looking for anything that we want the builder to fix before (or shortly after) we take possession. For example, the last time I was out to see our home, I noticed that a hole in the shower ceiling had been covered up - there is supposed to be a light in the shower - why wasn't this installed? Also, on the garage door, there is a white line along one of the seams that they missed painting. Also, all the homes have two trees in the front yard. Each of the trees has two thick, wooden poles as anchors for the trees... One of ours doesn't. We want this corrected. Things like that. I was just hoping to have more ideas of what I should look at so I don't just walk by stuff I should have checked only to find that it doesn't work or whatever later. Of course they'll come back and fix those problems as we find them, but I would rather find them today so they have a week to fix it before we move in.

Thanks, again!

[Sabrina]

Did you already have a home inspection? I think it is suggested that you have an inspection of new construction as well as previously-owned homes.

Anyway, some things I would look at (which our home inspector checked for us):

do all the doors (inside and out as well as garage and hatchway) close properly?
do all the windows open, close and lock?
do all the toilets flush?
do all the water taps (inside and out) work properly?
do the hot water taps put out hot water?
do all the light switches/fixtures work properly?
do the furnace and A/C unit work? check to make sure they are blowing hot and cold
have all seals been caulked?
do the bathroom fans vent outside the house?
is there power to the electrical outlets?
are the gutters draining water away from the house?
do all the cabinets open and close properly?
if there are any appliances in the house, test to make sure they work (turn on the dishwasher, etc)

Basically, you want to touch and try everything in the house to make sure it is in proper, working order. And, in the case of new construction, I would also want to make sure that everything is in new condition.