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Well, what do YOU expect on a walk-through?
I did a walk-through with one of my clients 
today on a new construction home. Since I am NOT allowed to be present during the walk through with the builder, I scheduled a walk-through with my client today, the day before the walk-through with the builder. This is clearly provided for in the contract, so I made the appointment and my client and I met at the sales office. The builder's agent was there and sent us up to the house while he showed houses to a prospect.
When we entered the house, it was clearly not ready for walk-through. It still had not been cleaned and no power was on. We pressed on, anyway, determined to get as much done as we could. We looked closely at nicks and scratches, slight imperfections in the paint, and some other, more major problems, such as the vinyl flooring being installed crooked. We marked all problems with the standard blue painter's tape, and when we were done, found a project manager outside. He came inside and looked at some of the larger problems, and was surprised at the amount of tape on the wall. No problem, he said. It would help them get a jump start on their touch ups the next day.
After two hours of taping and talking with the manager, it was 5:30 pm, and I had to leave for other obligations. My client was not ready to leave and wanted to stick around and chat, much to my disappointment, as we have had numerous problems with this builder's agents being unprofessional and unethical, especially when I am not present. I had previously asked my client not to go out there unrepresented for her own protection, and to help reduce the opportunities for more problems.
About an hour after I left, I received a message from my client stating we were in "big trouble" for taping the house. Huh? Isn't that what is done on a walk-through? Apparently, after I left, the builder's agent showed up and said emails were flying about there being tape on the walls, and that we were told not to tape. Again, huh? I've never heard of such a thing. It certainly is not in the contract, believe me, I KNOW. What the heck is a walk-through for if you are not going to seek out items to prep for closing?
My response is this: I scheduled a walk-through for today. We taped the house. What did you expect?
__Nicole Donaghy is a Realtor and blogger in Lexington, Lake Murray, and West Columbia, SC, who loves to sell new construction but has reached her maximum level of frustration with the newest builder in town
