As your closing date approaches, the final walkthrough gives you and your real estate agent an opportunity to see firsthand how the seller has addressed the requests that you've made. You might not have been in the house after you made your offer, which means that this block of time is the first and best chance to see whether the home is ready for closing. Generally, buyers will present sellers with a short list of things they want done before the deal is closed. This list could include things such as cleaning and small or medium renovations. Take a home buying checklist of these requests and be ready to break down each one into one of these categories.

Done To Your Specifications

Ideally, you'll see that most of your requests have been completed to your specifications. Consult your checklist to note each of the requests that you made concerning a given issue. For example, if you weren't satisfied with the condition of the attic in the home, you might have asked that personal possessions that were stored in this space were removed, that any damaged roof vents were fixed, and that extra insulation was added. Go through each of these points with your agent to ensure that you're happy with how the area now looks.

Partly Done

Sometimes, you'll find that a seller has done some of what you've asked, but not completed the task. For example, if the seller's yard was littered with dog droppings, you might have asked for him or her to pick up the waste and dispose of it. Perhaps you'll see that the droppings have all been collected, but that they're now sitting in a garbage bag in the corner of the yard. This isn't something that you'd likely want to deal with, so you'll want to mark off this request as only partially done.

Not Done

Unfortunately, buyers can sometimes encounter issues that the seller has not addressed. This is part of the reason that the final walkthrough is valuable. In such a scenario, the seller may have completely disregarded a specific request, or may have worked on it — but not done the job correctly or to your specifications. It's vitally important to assess how many of your requests fall into this category. If there are just a couple small ones, you might be able to overlook them. Otherwise, they may threaten the real estate deal.