FINAL WALK-THROUGH CHECKLIST

We strongly recommend that you or your representatives personally conduct a final walk-through check-over (visual and functional review) of your prospective home, even after it's been professionally-inspected, and just prior to sitting at the "closing table." Why?

• Regardless of the level of thoroughness achieved by your professional home inspector, the possibility exists that certain home areas could not be fully-inspected at the time of your original home inspection. Usually, this was due to visual restrictions created by the presence of stored home owner goods at the time of your original inspection. On the day-of (or the day before) your scheduled closing, you should walk-through the property and observe any and all areas which may have been visually-restricted and not specifically observed by your inspector during your original inspection.
• When folks move-out of a home, many personal goods, furniture and appliances are cleaned prior to packing/moving. Unfortunately, most of the "dirt" produced during these processes tends to end-up in sink and tub drains and traps. A final walk-through gives you the opportunity to operate your plumbing fixtures and drains and identify any issues.
• Sometimes, the activity level experienced during the pack-up and move-out process can create unintended damages (wall, ceiling, floor, stairway handrail, doors, storm doors and windows come to-mind). Better that you know about these before signing-off on your new home.
• While rare, some home sellers have been known to swap-out appliances with inferior or less-expensive models, usually in the kitchen or laundry. A pre-closing walk-through inspection allows you to verify that the appliances that are supposed to be in the home, are in the home.
• Your pre-closing walk-through inspection enables you to verify that all "permanent fixtures" are still in-place. On occasion, unscrupulous home owners have been known to remove items which you may have assumed are supposed to stay with the home. Typical examples include garage space heaters and lighting fixtures.

The bottom line...it's your major investment. Doing your best to protect it is your responsibility, and a matter of simple common sense. Feel free to download and print-off our "Pre-Closing Checklist", and best of luck to you!

Pre-Closing Checklist (Adobe/.pdf)     Pre-Closing Checklist (MS Word 2003)

If you have any questions about your prospective new home, or if you wish to schedule Chicagoland's most thorough professional home inspection, contact Stem to Stern Inspection Services.

LOCAL: (815) 521-1215

E-MAIL: inspect4me@sbcglobal.net