How should I prepare for a buyer-side closing?

Congrats!!!

A couple days before the closing you will need to contact the listing agent and set up the final walk-through.

Typically, the best time to do this is right before the closing. So if the closing is at 10am, set it up for 9:30am and then drive over to the title company.

At the final walk-through you make sure the seller has cleaned out the property and everything looks good. Flush some toilets, open and close a few windows, etc. Here are some examples of situations I’ve run into:

• The seller took the refrigerator and replaced it with a low quality one. At the closing table, the seller had to give the buyer a credit of $5000.

• The seller left the property SUPER dirty and had to credit the buyer $250 to clean it up.

• The seller took an expensive light fixture. The closing was delayed until the next day after the seller reinstalled the fixture and my clients had a second walkthrough.

CAUTION!

I once told a client that I would do the final walk-through for them as they were out of town.  I thought everything looked great. Two days later my clients moved in and there was a huge stain on the carpet. They blamed me and I ended up having to buy them a new carpet for $900!

The moral of the story is don’t do a final walk-through without your client present and make sure to have a keen eye for anything that looks odd. This is the last opportunity to negotiate at the closing table.