What to Expect During Your First Homeowner Walk-through

Congratulations! You’ve bought your new home, and it’s yours to enjoy for years or decades to come. The only thing left before the formalities is the homeowner walk-through when you’re shown what you own, what appliances are yours, and what other essentials come included with the house. This is an exciting and crucial final step, so let’s cover what you can look forward to.

What to Expect Today

The purpose of this final walk-through meeting is to ensure that both you and your builder agree on the home being in Move-In-Ready condition and that you, the homeowner, clearly understand the features, benefits, maintenance responsibilities, and warranties that come included with your home. This step is hopefully the start of a long and happy life in your Brown Haven Home, so you want to ensure that you pay attention.

For starters, you will receive a Warranty Guide that covers the essentials of what you need to know about coverage for your home and the appliances included in it. This is something you should go through with your builder to make sure that everything listed is included with the home you’re purchasing.

Your builder will take you through the whole house, room by room, and make sure that you can see how everything has been installed and finished to move-in perfection for your sake.

It’s in their best interest to avoid any future misunderstandings on your home’s condition during transfer, so they’ll be thorough and assume that you are paying attention to the details. Your builder will also expect you to ask as many questions as you like, without being shy or nervous about taking up too much of their time.

What to Keep in Mind

You’re making a new and major investment in your life, so it’s a good idea to come prepared for this meeting. This means covering the essentials thoroughly, down to the last dotted i and crossed t.

Before arriving at your meeting, make sure to have everything you think you need. These items might include:

• Your final home buyer’s contract with your builder
• A notepad for any ideas, questions, or observations that come to mind during your walk-through
• An inspection summary for any repairs or final touches and inspections
• Your phone, especially if it includes a high-quality camera, for photos of anything notable

You should absolutely make sure that every single item listed in your final warranty documents is present and accounted for in the house itself. Don’t be shy about going through your home, room by room, to make sure that nothing is missing or out of place.

Also keep your eyes open to make sure that the walls, ceilings, and all hidden corners of the house are in good repair and soundly finished for the hand-over to you.

Observing the Little Details

Be sure to pay attention to little details too. This means flushing all the toilets, running the showerheads, opening doors and windows, and making sure that the floors don’t squeak. If possible, have the builder run the home’s heating or AC systems briefly just to demonstrate that they do indeed work.

All of these details are very important if you want to avoid near future hassles. Your warranty might cover you for any unexpected repairs or replacements, but the more you can verify during the final walk-through, the better.

Brown Haven Homes takes the quality of our modern, elegant homes extremely seriously. We want you to know exactly what you're receiving and be fully satisfied with it from day one. Your new home should look like, feel like, and include everything you expected from it, so don't be in the least bit shy about asking about anything.