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Weeks - or sometimes months - can pass between the time you make an offer on a house and the day you take possession of it. In between, things can happen that affect the home's condition - an appliance might go kaput, the owners' toddler could dump a half-gallon of grape juice on the white living-room carpet, the roof could spring a leak. That's why you put a final walkthrough contingency in your purchase agreement - so you can check for last-minute problems before the house becomes yours.
If the home has been sitting vacant, problems might go unnoticed and unrepaired, until you have the bad luck to discover them after closing.You don't want to find that a burst pipe has flooded the house or that the seller has removed appliances or fixtures that were supposed to convey with the sale. If the seller is still living in the home or has recently moved out, check to make sure no recent damage has occurred - walls and floors can get pretty banged up when the seller moves his furniture and personal property.
