13 Final Walkthrough Tips and Hacks — So You Stay Sane and Don’t Miss a Thing

1. Schedule the final walkthrough as close to closing as possible

The final walkthrough is a buyer’s last chance to check on the house to confirm it’s in the condition they expect and agreed to legally. So you want to complete it as close to the last minute as possible.

“Any time there’s significant repairs, we’re going to do them five days prior to closing, but we’re always going to do a final walkthrough the night before or the day of to make sure a tree or something hasn’t fallen on the house,” says Glennda Baker, a top-performing Smyrna, Georgia agent who has two decades of real estate experience.

“We had a listing and did the walkthrough, and the agent left the door to the ice maker open, and the ice maker flooded the hardwood floors,” she recalls.

“So we always want to just double-check and make sure that everything is exactly as you expect it to be, as close to closing as possible.”

2. Confirm if the agreed-upon repairs were actually completed

Ask for receipts, permits, and any inspection reports so you can verify that the work was done by the right professionals. Compare what you see in the home against the repair addendum to make sure nothing was skipped or changed from what was promised.

Pay close attention to signs of rushed or incomplete work, like mismatched materials, poor finishes, or areas that look newly patched but not fully fixed. It’s also smart to take photos or videos during the walkthrough so you have proof of the home’s condition at that stage.

If something wasn’t completed properly, bring it up right away with your agent so it can be addressed before closing, whether through repairs, credits, or a delay if needed.

3. Open all the cabinets… and the appliances, too

Don’t assume cabinets and appliances will be empty. Sellers sometimes leave things behind, whether intentionally or by accident. Open all of these, and check under the sink, too.

“We open every cabinet and every appliance,” explains Amanda Jones, a San Francisco-based agent who has worked with 65% more single-family homes than the average agent in the area.  “People leave things all the time in the dishwasher. Like full sets of dishes, silver trays… I’ve found so many things.”

4. Collect all the remote controls in one place

Remote controls seem easy to overlook… until you move in and can’t figure out how to use something important, like the bedroom ceiling fan, without one.

Jones asks sellers to place all of the remote controls together in the kitchen. “That way, we can see all of the keys and everything that’s included with the property,” she says. “A lot of times, the mover packs the remote, and it’s really hard to get stuff back.”

The same goes for small but critical objects such as keys and other devices. “At a recent walkthrough that was really entertaining, the sellers had small children, and the cabinets were magnetized. So to open up the cabinets, you have to use a little device to demagnetize them, and the movers packed the device. That was a pain,” she remembers.

She also cites mailbox keys as frequently taken by mistake, causing “a lot of frustration” when the buyer can’t collect their mail. So consider asking sellers to collect these objects together in one place for you to check during the final walkthrough, too. This way, if the sellers do have a key or a demagnetizing device that they forgot to leave behind, you can ask to withhold some money at closing and replace those items.

5. Check the HVAC, no matter the season

If it’s hot outside, you might not think to check whether the furnace works. And if it’s cold out, you might not think to check the air conditioning. But definitely do confirm all HVAC systems are good to go in your final walkthrough.

“There are transactions during the cold months when inspectors cannot inspect the AC system,” explains Laura McKenna, a top-selling agent based in the Concord, Massachusetts area. “Therefore, the walkthrough is a good time to test the AC to be sure that it functions.”

Carl Young, a top-selling agent based in the Knoxville, Tennessee, region who works with 75% more single-family homes than other agents in his area, agrees. “When you go to your final walkthrough, turn to the HVAC, heat and cold, and make sure it works properly,” he says. “It could have broken [since the inspection], and nobody said anything, and you’re about to accept a property that has a broken HVAC.”

6. Bring painter’s tape, stickers, or Post-Its to flag areas of concern

You want to keep the final walkthrough process as orderly as possible so you don’t get lost in your work.

• Consider bringing some small dot or star stickers to stick next to outlets and light switches you’ve tested.
• Bring a pen and sticky notes so you can mark any dents in the wall, mold, or the like.
• Use tape or sticky notes so you can do the same thing with toilets and sinks.

The idea here is to get a visual representation at a glance of what you’ve already done and what you still need to do.

In one final walkthrough on a new construction, “literally, we took tape and taped every area that needed to be addressed,” explains Janet Anderson, an agent who works with 86% more single-family homes than the average agent in her area of Tracy, California.

7. Request a cheat sheet

The final walkthrough will be much easier and more effective if you can work from a seller’s master list of any inside intel, rather than having to guess.

“We encourage the listing agent to give us a kind of cheat sheet on how the house works, because what happens is, you walk in, and you press the dining room dimmer button, and it doesn’t come on,” Baker says. “Well, if the homeowner has told you, ‘Hey, you’ve got to turn the dining room dimmer button all the way to the right and then push it so it comes on…’

“If the seller is the one who creates that, it takes a lot of anxiety out of the buyer’s mind.”

8. Print photos of the home’s condition

Baker brings along actual printed photos of everything she intends to double-check in the final walkthrough. She explains she learned the approach from working with film crews that rent out properties for shoots.

“I’ve learned that they take a picture of everything that they move and touch, and then that way they can put it back exactly,” she says.

Photos also provide important and irrefutable reference points. “We can go back and reference: Well, there was a rug here; that’s why the floor is discolored,” she says. “We have all of the pictures printed because inevitably, the buyer will say, ‘I don’t remember that being there.’”

Another example from her personal experience: “We had a buyer [who] bought a house with a beautiful mirror in the dining room. We didn’t really think too much about it until they removed it, and the holes that the anchors left were insane.

“Sure enough, we pulled out the picture, and we were able to get the seller to fix it because obviously, the house was materially different: It had ruined the wall. But if you don’t have anything to compare it to, you don’t know what you’re looking for.”

So why go through the trouble to actually print the pictures? “I understand, you can pull [photos] up digitally,” she notes. “But you can’t hold it up in your hands and look at it side-by-side, and at a large enough scale. So that’s why we print everything.”

9. Bring a specialist for backup

If you want to make sure major repairs were actually done right, it may be worth bringing in a specialist who knows what to look for. They can catch details you might miss.

“Get the professional [who] recommended repairs back out there during the final walkthrough to inspect the repairs,” Young advises. That might mean a plumber, an electrician, or the general contractor who’s known for tiling expertise in the area, depending on the repair requested.

10. Use a phone charger or nightlight to test outlets

You’re here to inspect the property, so come prepared: Bring along something small and portable you can use to test the outlets, such as a nightlight (first choice) or phone charger (backup option).

“I’ve used a phone charger in the past,” says Katie Padgett, an agent on Young’s team. “It’s usually what I’ve had on hand, and we test that in different outlets. A phone charger is definitely a good go-to to plug in and test it out.”

Don’t forget to check all the outdoor outlets, too.

That said, a night light shows you instantly which outlets are working and can be a more efficient choice… if you remember to bring it with you.

11. Make sure the power is turned on in advance

You can’t check outlets if the utilities are off. So Young’s pro tip is to explicitly confirm they will be on during the day of your walkthrough. “A lot of agents don’t really communicate well when it comes to utility swap,” he says. “So at a final walkthrough, you can walk into a house that already has the electric and gas shut off, and you can’t really do anything at that point.

“What we do to get ahead of that is actually communicate with the listing agent to make sure that they’re going to leave the utilities on. It sounds kind of simple, but you’re in trouble if you want to do a walkthrough, but the utilities have been shut off.”

12. Don’t forget to look up

Sure, you want to check the floors and walls. But also make sure to look at doorway corners and crown molding throughout the house to check for damage. Also, check the blinds on windows to make sure they open and close properly.

13. Check any extra spaces

When a buyer agrees to buy a home, they might also be agreeing on a dedicated parking space, storage unit, or other related space. So definitely make sure to check those, too.

“If the buyer is buying in an HOA, we want to make sure on the final walkthrough that we look at the parking spot again, that we take a look at all the areas that go with the property to make sure that they’re cleared,” Jones says.

“It’s pretty common — sellers get overwhelmed, and they sometimes leave stuff, and they don’t mean to.”

What happens if you find a problem during the final walkthrough?

If you find a problem during your final walkthrough, the goal is to stay calm, document everything, and figure out the right fix before closing.

Walk through with confidence before closing day

The final walkthrough is your last chance to make sure everything looks right before the home officially becomes yours. Ask questions, check the details, and don’t ignore anything that feels off. Even small issues can turn into bigger headaches after closing. If you stay organized and keep these tips in mind, the walkthrough should feel a lot less stressful, and you can head into closing with confidence that your new home is ready for move-in day.

Buying a home comes with plenty of moving parts, but you don’t have to figure it all out on your own. Use HomeLight’s Agent Match tool to connect with an experienced real estate agent who can help guide you through the final walkthrough and every step leading up to the keys.

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