Final walk-through advice (how much, new home, buying)

[Nyce_1]

Hi everyone,

We have our final walk-through tomorrow morning on our first home (new construction) and I'm scrounging for last minute advice. We've been so incredibly busy with work, new job, kid & school, and life, that we forgot to hire an inspector to walk with us. Fortunately, we have a really good realtor that will be with us to help with questions and items we may forget/overlook. Are there any points I should remember to inspect or questions to ask? Luckily, I live very close (across the main street) so I've visit the home daily to review all new additions and changes, so I already have a good idea of what to review/inspect.

One thing already noticed is one of our sprinkler heads is not working, thus causing one of our trees to die/almost die. They also just put down our grass 2 days ago, so I'm keeping an eye on how much it's getting watered and if the grass will burn out. I've also spoken to quite a few of the neighbors on the block and they've all had great things to say about the builder the quality of home they received, which sorta lead me to forget about hiring an inspector. Now, it's the day before, and i'm kind of getting anxious and kicking myself for overlooking this huge step in our home buying process.

If any of you have any last minute items to add to my list to investigate, please do not hesitate to respond to my post. We'll appreciate all replies.

Have a good night.

[HWTechGuy]

Best advice I can give is take your time. My settlement time was in-flux because the seller didn't like the original time. So the title company squeezed us in at another time. Consequently the walk-through got changed as well. I ended up being rushed. Not that it mattered, as I bought the place as-is. But the seller left alot of junk here and had I noticed it all, I would have said something about it.

[The Villages Guy]

The best piece of advice I can think of is to not go in looking at how nice everything is and be thinking of how much you will be enjoying the home. Go in with a purpose to find what is wrong and what you would be upset to have to fix later yourself. Seriously! You can easily overlook things that need fixin', once you get into the happy zone with excitement about your new home. There is time for that later......after they hand you the keys.

Stay focused and be a critical inspector.

[Nyce_1]

Thanks for both replies. I'm the better half when it comes to removing emotions from decisions, and that that is the exact mode I'll be in. I took off work to not feel rushed and have the freedom to take our time.

We have the walk-through tomorrow and the closing next week friday, so I'm also thinking about hiring an inspector next week, before closing, if we need that peace of mind after tomorrow.

Thanks again for the replies

[Pragmaticus]

Originally Posted by Nyce_1

Hi everyone,

We have our final walk-through tomorrow morning on our first home (new construction) and I'm scrounging for last minute advice. We've been so incredibly busy with work, new job, kid & school, and life, that we forgot to hire an inspector to walk with us. Fortunately, we have a really good realtor that will be with us to help with questions and items we may forget/overlook. Are there any points I should remember to inspect or questions to ask? Luckily, I live very close (across the main street) so I've visit the home daily to review all new additions and changes, so I already have a good idea of what to review/inspect.

One thing already noticed is one of our sprinkler heads is not working, thus causing one of our trees to die/almost die. They also just put down our grass 2 days ago, so I'm keeping an eye on how much it's getting watered and if the grass will burn out. I've also spoken to quite a few of the neighbors on the block and they've all had great things to say about the builder the quality of home they received, which sorta lead me to forget about hiring an inspector. Now, it's the day before, and i'm kind of getting anxious and kicking myself for overlooking this huge step in our home buying process.

If any of you have any last minute items to add to my list to investigate, please do not hesitate to respond to my post. We'll appreciate all replies.

Have a good night.

Realtor and inspector are two different things. You better hire an inspector and do the inspection before closing, IMO.

[Irishiis49]

When we built our home my husband and I both tried to keep on top of the builder before closing...we had our punch list and went over everything...however there will be things that you can't tell until you move in and live in the home day after day...we had a toilet that kept backing-up which we only discovered by using it...but our builder was reputable and fixed it asap!If the builder is still building homes in your area for the most part they will do whatever they can to keep you happy!Maybe if we had hired an inspector he could have caught the plumbing issue...I don't really know...just know that about a week after living in the home we had little issues...cabinet doors,sqeaky doors,cracked moulding etc..but they all got fixed!Good luck it is a stressful...but fun time!!!

[Nyce_1]

Thanks everyone. Fully aware that our realtor isn't an inspector but he still brought up a lot of discussion points during the walk through. We found a few small items that'll be addressed before closing. Our site manager, who also did the walk through and is in charge of warranty issues, was very honest and up front with everything. We also get to do a post walk through 2 weeks after close to bring up any issues found after living in the home.

All in all, it was a good experience and wasn't as bad/nerve wrecking as I expected. Doing a post walk through and full inspection in a few months before warranty expiration will be sufficient for our peace of mind.

[bentlebee]

Originally Posted by Nyce_1

Thanks everyone. Fully aware that our realtor isn't an inspector but he still brought up a lot of discussion points during the walk through. We found a few small items that'll be addressed before closing. Our site manager, who also did the walk through and is in charge of warranty issues, was very honest and up front with everything. We also get to do a post walk through 2 weeks after close to bring up any issues found after living in the home.

All in all, it was a good experience and wasn't as bad/nerve wrecking as I expected. Doing a post walk through and full inspection in a few months before warranty expiration will be sufficient for our peace of mind.

Keep in mind that some items are not warranted after closing....

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by PriusH8r

The best piece of advice I can think of is to not go in looking at how nice everything is and be thinking of how much you will be enjoying the home. Go in with a purpose to find what is wrong and what you would be upset to have to fix later yourself. Seriously! You can easily overlook things that need fixin', once you get into the happy zone with excitement about your new home. There is time for that later......after they hand you the keys.

Stay focused and be a critical inspector.

GREAT advice. _