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You’ve negotiated the contract, you’ve done the inspection, you’ve sent the mortgage company all the papers they have asked for – and then some more! The appraisal is done, the utility companies have been called, the boxes are packed and most likely already loaded on a truck! What’s next?
The Final Walk-Through
Before you close on a real estate purchase, you will need to do a final walk-through of the home. This is your opportunity to make sure that all of the terms of your contract have been met and that the home is in the same condition as when you agreed to purchase it.
In advance of the walk-through, review your purchase contract to remind yourself of the items that are to be left in the house and any other details. Here are some of the things you should look for:
• Be sure that any items that were to remain in the house are still there and are in good working condition. This includes appliances, light fixtures, curtains, screens and/or storm windows, and garage door remotes.
• Check to see that any repairs that were required of the seller were completed or that there is a written timeframe for when they will be done.
• Look for any damage that may have occurred to floors or walls during the seller’s move. With the house empty, check to see if there is any water damage that was covered by rugs, furniture or artwork.
• Turn on all major systems, such as air conditioning, heat and plumbing, to make sure they are still in working order.
Taking a few extra minutes and bringing your “eagle eyes” to the walk-through will go a long way toward protecting your new investment.
Time for the final walk-through before closing on your new home
Something to consider is when to do the walk-through; I will often have buyers – whether mine or someone else’s – ask if they can do the walk-through the day before or the weekend before closing. Remember that the walk through is an opportunity to make sure that the property is as you expect it, NOT a time for you to choose paint colors, take measurements or move in some stuff. What happens if you do the walk-through on Monday morning when you plan to close on Tuesday afternoon and there is a storm on Monday night. You don’t go back to the house until after you close… you get there and a tree has fallen across the driveway… or the basement is full of water… Don’t you want to find that out BEFORE you own the house? Do the walk-through on the way to your attorney’s office.
Basking Ridge Real Estate Market Update
Two properties have gone under contract this week and it’s only Tuesday! There’s been one new listing – and there haven’t been any closings … yet! Market absorption is 6.9 months.
Hoping to get to a final walk through one of these days soon? I can help you find your next home in Basking Ridge.
I have never recommended pre-listing inspections to my sellers. Every buyer has a different tolerance level for inspection issues. Some panic over broken window seals and loose garage door springs and others gloss over back draft issues on hot water heaters. A seller could end up fixing issues that a buyer may not have cared about or not catching something that a buyer’s inspection would catch.
But – I’ve had several deals this year that are making me re-think that advice. You can have two home inspections on the same house and end up with two only slightly overlapping reports. I think that if you can catch those items that are most likely to come up again and again and fix them before the buyer inspects… you’re in good shape. The one item that I’ve written about before is MOLD – this has come up for me no fewer than four times this year. A pre-inspection would have caught that and the mold could have been eliminated (and the source remediated) before the house was shown.
When reviewing a buyer’s home inspection report with my seller’s I use the following rule of thumb: if it’s an issue that any buyer will want fixed, you may as well do it now. Because if you don’t do it for this buyer, you will have to do it for the next buyer. And with the market the way it is, the next buyer might be paying less to begin with.
Items such as radon, mold, compromised electrical systems, chimneys filled with creosote or showing blatent cracking. Cracked toilets, reverse polarity outlets, broken window seals, leaky faucets.
It’s not easy being a seller in today’s market! If you want some advice – thinking of selling and you want to get ready – I can help you understand the value of your home in today’s market and we can talk through potential home inspection pitfalls.
Cool, crisp air has returned to Basking Ridge and the leaves are showing their brilliant hues. That can only mean fall is here, and with it some key maintenance tasks all homeowners should
tackle in order to prevent structural damage, save energy and keep their home’s systems
running properly. By completing these tasks now, you will allow plenty of time to sit back and enjoy all the fun fall festivities:
- Spend some time outdoors picking up around your property. Put away gardening tools, summer toys, patio furniture and pool supplies. To help prevent water damage, you should also check regularly that your gutters are clear of falling leaves.
- Inside, remove your screens and install storm windows which will help keep heat in on cold days. Change your air filters too, to reduce allergens.
- Have your heating unit serviced, and drain your hot water heater to improve the efficiency of these systems. The first really cold day is not the day you want to find out that your furnace no longer works.
- Prevent a chimney fire by arranging for the chimney to be cleaned and checked for cracks and leaks.
An added benefit to being proactive and tackling seasonal tasks is that you might avoid – or lessen – any inspection issues when it comes time to sell the house! If you are considering a move and curious about the value of your home in today’s real estate market, take a minute to request a Basking Ridge value analysis. I can also provide a market snapshot for your neighborhood – visit Basking Ridge Real Estate and complete the MLS Market Snapshot box on the right hand side of the page.
Have fun Trick or Treating tomorrow – stay safe!
Two of my clients sent me testimonials for my website – here’s what they had to say:
From Kathy and Mike Mitchell of 20 Old Coach Road in Basking Ridge: ”Jennifer sold our house in Basking Ridge in 2010. She was energetic, confident and at all times cooperative and hard working. She provided very realistic advice on pricing backed up by market data and her own market analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of our particular property. Jennifer gave us valuable guidance during the negotiation period, suggesting different approaches and advising on what was and what was not realistic. Living abroad at the time, we trusted her to take care of far more than in a normal buyer-realtor relationship, and our complete confidence in her proved to be totally justified. Overall, she did a marvelous job and we would highly recommend Jennifer for any buyer/seller looking for an excellent real estate agent.”
And from Charlie and Sep Thieringer of 50 Church Street in Liberty Corner: “We put our home up for sale during a real estate market that can at best be described as “bleak’ and relied on Jennifer’s expertise to guide us through the process. She and her team at Weichert provided a reality check between our high expectations and what was realistic in today’s housing climate. She never over promised and was extremely helpful every step of the way. Jen can probably qualify as an amateur photographer as she took some really great pictures that added the kind of homey touch that we wanted people to feel when searching via the internet. We were very satisfied with the number of visitors that came to our Sunday open house tours. Jen was terrific at following up with every potential lead and provided pragmatic guidance as to when it was time to review our asking price relative to what was happening in the housing market. We are pleased to recommend Jennifer to anyone that is looking for a true professional that has your best interests at heart.”
How great to hear all those wonderful comments. I’m happy to talk with you too, if you are considering putting your Basking Ridge house on the market (I cover other areas too!). Start by checking your home’s value, then give me a call and we can talk.
The inspection part of any real estate transaction can be very stressful. It is hard enough for many sellers to have people traipsing through their homes, then (especially in today’s market), negotiating a price which is probably lower than they wanted and finally, having a home inpsector examine every nook and cranny and producing what is most often a very lengthy report. There are several inspection issue which as a seller you really need to remediate – regardless of cost, because if you don’t do it for this buyer, you will have to do it for the next buyer. Structural issues and hazardous situations fall into this category.
So does Mold. I have run up against this three times in recent months. Mold sneaks up on you, all three of my clients who had mold had no idea that it was in their home. In two of the homes it was in the attic, in the third it was in the basement. I have become very close with Dan from NJ Mold! He has told me that every house in NJ should have a dehumidifier in it – period, end of discussion. If you don’t have one, go get one! They make them bucketless now! You can have it drain right into the slop sink or the sump pump pit (but NOT in your sewer drain – that’s against the rules!).
If you have a question about a home inspection issue, feel free to contact me directly and I will see what I can do!
Yup, the topic has come up yet again. And again. I am mentoring a new agent in the office - she wrote her first contract not too long ago. During attorney review, her buyer asked that the seller remove the decommissioned underground storage tank. ALL buyers ask for this to be done – it’s a no-brainer. But, because of the nature of this particular negotiation, and the perceived discount that this seller gave this buyer, both parties dug their feet in and the deal fell apart. The seller was still getting used to the idea of selling their home for less than they had anticipated and wasn’t prepared to spend additional money to get the house sold. The second scenario has a happier ending – a potential buyer for one of my listings presented an offer for one of my listings and offered to let the seller leave the tank in the ground as long as they could get insurance. I had already prepped my seller client that they would probably have to pull the tank, so when we found a buyer that wasn’t concerned about it, we were thrilled. Then along came the attorney… and the calls to the insurance companies… and while you can get insurance, it is not without stipulations. After lots of discussions and a good night’s sleep, my seller clients agreed to have the tank removed. I’ve written about this before and I updated it this morning on my Bernardsville blog. Follow the links for more information about this popular topic.
If you are considering a move into or out of Basking Ridge, please allow me to send you listing notifications of properties as they come on the market. Also feel free to review closed sales in Basking Ridge.
My new article is up at Basking Ridge Patch – check it out! I think it’s a great time to have your house on the market – buyers are buying, really!! No need to wait for the snow to melt. All the factors are in place making it a great time to buy which can only be good for sellers! Interest rates are low, the government is funding tax credits and right now, in Basking Ridge, inventory isn’t too high. If you are planning a move, now might be the time to do it! Contact me and we can review your needs.
I love Thursday afternoons – it’s the little things that make me happy and one of them is reading the Bernardsville News every week! This week there was an article announcing free radon kits available to all residents serviced by the Bernards Township Health Department (Chester, Mendham, Long Hill, Bernardsville and Peapack-Gladstone). This is great information and I couldn’t wait to share it with my blog-friends. However, there are two fundamental crazy things about this particular article. The kits are not free, they cost $10.00 and they are only available until the end of January, which means you need to get your kit before 4:00 TOMORROW….. go figure. Anywho – here’s the information:
January is National Radon Action Month and the Bernards township health department is offering home radon kits during the month January. If you are interested in having your home tested, visit the health department at 262 South Finley Avenue between 9:00 and 4:00 – through tomorrow.
Bernards Township Public service announcement over.
What is radon? Radon is a colorless, odorless, tasteless radioactive gas that comes from the decay of naturally occuring urnanium in the soil. It is actually quite common in our area and most buyers test for it during the inspection period of the transaction. A seller has an obligation to remediate of the results are 4.0 picocuries or greater. It is actually very easy to remediate. A pipe is installed in the basement – under the foundation – and snaked above the roofline. A fan creates a vaccuum that pulls the radon out and disperses it into the air where it is diluted to a point where it is no longer harmful. For a 3200 square foot house it typically costs about $1100.
If you are considering a move into or out of Basking Ridge, please contact me for a buyer consultation or a market analysis of your current Basking Ridge home. Visit my site to search Basking Ridge Real homes for sale – whether you are looking for a condo, a single family home or a luxury property. I’m happy to help!
Originally published on 11/5/09. Post repeated due to the following correction….
I have clients who are in attorney review for a purchase of a bank owned property. The bank has not provided a disclosure form but the property had been listed with my firm in the past so I dug out the old disclosure form. We discovered that an oil tank had been properly decommissioned with permits back in 1997. My client had read my post and panic set in! Of course, we are going to ask that the bank remove the tank, but we aren’t convinced that they will do so. We started researching, starting with an insurance agent. The answer from the Weichert insurance rep follows (with minor edits for anonymity): “Since the tank was properly decommissioned with inspection and permits through the town, the risk of any potential future contamination or liability exposure for your buyers is extremely slim. They will be eligible for a standard homeowners insurance policy.”
Original post follows – still with accuracy!
“My oil tank is underground and it has insurance; why do I need to remove it?” , ”I am negotiating a contract on a home with an underground tank, what do I need to know about it?”, “There is a decomissioned tank in the back yard, all the permits are on file at the township office.”, “Can we ask the seller to pay for the soil test?”, “We haven’t had any problems with our tank, we are not going to take it out of the ground.”
When I first started in real estate, the only thing I needed to know when selling a home with an oil tank was the number of a reputable inspection company. We held our breath during the tank inspection and exhaled when the soil reports came back clean. Then, during a transaction on West Oak Street in Basking Ridge, we were days away from closing and my client (a first time home buyer) called me in tears: “I just got a call from my homewoners insurance company, they have a new policy against insuring homes with underground storage tanks”. That was the beginning of the end!!
While there is no law against the transfer of property with an underground oil tank, it is increasingly difficult to do so. Especially in a buyers’ market! Even properly decommissioned tanks run the risk of having leaked at some point in time. The clean up of contaminated soil is the responsibility of the homeowner – regardless of when the leak occured. In other words, if you buy a house with an underground tank and a year later you pull the tank to convert to natural gas and there is a leak, then YOU are responsible for the clean up. There will be no going back to the prior owner for help with the clean up and there will be nobody to blame! So, as a buyer, it is in your best interest to include a clause in the contract stipulating that the tank be removed. It also makes sense, if the seller claims that there never was a tank, for a buyer to sweep the property to ensure that there aren’t any tanks hiding under ground! As a seller, the impetus for pulling the tank prior to listing the property or at the very least prior to contract/closing is the fact that buyers know that it is in their best interest to include a clause in the contract stipulating that the tank be removed. Removing it before listing the house eliminates the issue completely. In today’s market that is the best thing to do! Eliminate any issues or potential issues before opening the door to any buyer who has the upper had to begin with.
If you are a homeowner with an underground tank, it may not be necessary to remove it – contact your insurance company for more information. I just did my homeowner’s policy renewal. I do not have a tank, but if I did, as of January, 1, 2009 I would have had to purchase an endorsement to cover us in the event of a leak. AND this renewal year is the only time that my company is offering this endorsement; once it is applied it can be renewed, but once withdrawn, it cannot be reapplied.
Bottom line: if you have a tank, take it out or make sure you are properly insured!
The cleanup process can be long, costly and complicated, even with a small fuel leak. Your insurance policy and municipal, state and federal regulations will dictate how the cleanup must proceed and the combination of these rules can uniquely affect individual properties.
There is funding available from the state for removal costs as well as for costs associated with clean up. For more information on NJDEP funding, go to www.nj.gov/dep/srp/finance/ustfund/, or call 609-777-0101. Another resourceful website is www.NJEDA.com (under the “Applications” tab, click on “Underground Storage Tank Funding Programs”.
If you have any questions about the information in this post, or if you are considering a move into or out of Basking Ridge, contact me here or call 908-432-0318 as I’m sure I can help!
I fielded a question today about whether open houses work and if they should be held weekly. I absolutely believe in open houses! They capture buyers who wouldn’t otherwise see your home – either buyers not yet working with a Realtor, or buyers who have their agents looking for something so specific that they may not recommend your property. A person might walk through your home and call their sister or their best friend to tell them about it. You never know where your buyer may come from, so I think it is important to use every tool possible to get the word out about your house and all it has to offer!
It is very hard to predict how the foot traffic will be - I’ve hosted open houses with only directional signs and internet advertising and have had ten parties through – I’ve hosted open houses with signs and internet advertising and nobody came. We blame the weather for good traffic (it’s a nice day, people are out!) and for low traffic (it’s a nice day, people are enjoying it doing other things!). Rain and snow are detractors for all but the serious shopper – and you DO want those serious buyers to walk through, right? So why not have an open house on a grey day?
Bottom line – open houses never hurt, and while they aren’t a silver bullet, they are a great tool! 
Weichert, Realtors reported today that this past weekend was a busy one for consumers excited about the extension and expansion of the homebuyer tax credit. The number of people attending Weichert Open Houses was up 13% compared to the same weekend in 2008. In addition, the average number of attendees at each Weichert Open House was 32% greater than last year! This was the 10th straight week where average attendance was better than the prior year!
If you are thinking of putting your Basking Ridge home on the market, let me know, I’m happy to provide a no-obligation market analysis for you. Just starting your search for your next home? Click here for information on houses for sale in Basking Ridge.