Final walk-through inspection is a smart move before closing

Q: My husband and I took possession of our new home in Salt Lake City. The seller left her clothes in the closets, a chock-full fridge, and a huge mess in the kitchen. When she came back to pick up her belongings, she threw all her food out in our trash can.

In taking another look at our contract, we confirmed the seller checked that the water softener was to be included with the home, and that she would be taking her washer and dryer. As it turns out, there never was a water softener — a contract mistake, our agent said — and the seller left her old gas dryer hooked up in the basement.

What should we do? A: Sellers should leave a house in very clean, if not pristine, condition. There are plenty of good reasons for that, but mostly you want the buyer to love living in your house from the start.

Your experience is a good reason why every buyer should inspect a home right before closing. This process is called a final walk-through, and it happens in almost every home purchase.

Samuel usually tells his purchasers that they must stop by to ensure the “home is still standing.” While that sounds extreme, if you’re making the single biggest purchase of your life, you need to know exactly what you’re getting before you hand over the full purchase amount.

That’s your moment of leverage, and had you done this, you wouldn’t be in the situation you are in now.

As to the contract, if an item was checked to stay but didn’t exist, it’s unlikely you have a claim. A bigger issue would be if a water softener existed and was taken by the seller.

Overall, we think you’re pretty lucky. The seller could have just never come back. You might get luckier still if you ask her to have the dryer removed and she does at her own expense.