Kicking & Screaming

The last thing I had to do before getting my keys was conduct the final walkthrough.  It's generally a formality.  The idea is to check and make sure that the property is still in the same condition as when you agreed to buy it: you can check and make sure that the owner didn't tear out the stove, or knock a hole in the closet, or whatever.

In my case, because the loan was funding on the 9th, I had to do the walkthrough before then, even though the tenant wouldn't be moved out yet.  This isn't ideal, but is better than the alternative of finding out too late about something bad which had happened.  We eventually scheduled it for the Tuesday after Labor Day.

I showed up at 9AM to find Matt in an animated conversation with the tenant.  Apparently, the listing agent or someone had failed to notify her about the walkthrough, and she was kind of freaking out.  She didn't want to let us in, because she was in the middle of moving, and had so many boxes out that you couldn't even walk around.

Matt and I huddled; he said he'd contact Regina, who would get in touch with the listing agent and work it out.  We were running short on time, and while the walkthrough shouldn't be a big deal, I still wanted to check on the property.

Before heading in to work, I swung by Provident's Millbrae branch.  It's tiny, but pleasant.  The teller gave me another wire form, which I filled out with Kathy's instructions.  Her information didn't completely line up with all of the boxes on the form, so I filled it out the best I could, repeating some information in multiple places.  I felt just a little nervous - after all, I was moving a LOT of money, and hated the idea of it disappearing into someone else's bank account by mistake.

Later in the day, I got an email from Kathy, who said that the sellers had indicated while signing that they would be doing a 1031 tax exchange.  I was already very familiar with this - several properties I'd been interested in earlier on had been 1031-ing properties, so I had already done all my research on what that meant - but it was still amusing and pretty unsurprising that they hadn't mentioned it before now.  I signed the form, sent it back, and asked Kathy if she could check on my fund deposit.  She confirmed that the monies (I love that word!) had arrived safe and sound, and I breathed a deep sigh of relief.

The walkthrough got squared away, and we rescheduled for the next day at 11:30AM.  The tenant was present, and this time was all smiles and friendly.  The condo was almost exactly the same as before, just very obviously in the middle of moving; I did see some scratched paint in the bathroom, but it didn't seem worth making a fuss over.  The tenant talked a bit about how nice the unit was, how she wanted me to like it, and asked if I wouldn't mind holding on to a package that she would be receiving in a few weeks.

We walked out, I signed the walkthrough form, and Matt and I shook hands.  He mentioned that it hadn't taken too long for me to find what I wanted.  I agreed, and pointed out that Redfin really shines in that regard - their awesome website had done a lot to help me narrow down what I was interested in, and combined with my own side research (walking tours of neighborhoods, demographic research, etc.), I had an excellent idea of what I wanted before I even started touring.  All in all, a pleasant experience, bumps in the road notwithstanding.