Dear Kathe,
As we prepare to close on our home, can you give us a road map of how we need to present the home to the buyer for closing?
Its important that when you vacate the home, you leave it as the buyer saw it, minus your personality, of course. A quick checklist would include:
Leave nothing behind that isn’t attached, unless it is specifically included in the agreement of sale. This includes paint, old building supplies, gardening supplies and garage/basement appliances. If you don’t have written permission to leave it, it needs to be removed prior to the buyers’ walk through.
Leave everything that is attached. If you forgot to exclude in the agreement of sale something that is attached, it stays. This would include the obvious, such as the toilets and lighting fixtures, and the less obvious, such as mirrors anchored to walls (those on hooks can go unless specifically included) and other decorative objects that are actually screwed or bolted to the wall. Draperies can go (unless specifically included), but their rods stay. If you are unsure, check with your real estate agent.
Your home must be free of debris and “broom swept clean” which means that while it doesn’t need to be disinfected from top to bottom, it cant have any dirt or debris that could be removed with a broom. To be courteous, you should also leave the lawn freshly mown and the yard reasonably tidy (and free of 1’ weeds!)
Your property must remain in the condition it was in at the time the buyer saw the home. If something breaks between the time of the inspection and the time you close, it is your responsibility to repair it.
Finally, be mindful that the disclosure does ask you if there are any conditions that would materially affect value, and also asks you whether there are any defects in floor coverings. If, when you are removing area rugs, you find that the floors below are badly worn (or perhaps you have plywood infill under an area rug) and you failed to disclose this, the buyer may view this as a failure to disclose and expect a last minute check from you to pay for the repair. If you had a large piece of furniture in a room and did not paint behind it, and when you remove it the room is suddenly two different colors, you should repaint the room or be prepared for a buyer request for a check for the cost to repaint as this might also be viewed by the buyer as a failure to disclose a material condition.
Before you leave take a quick look at your home and ask yourself if the home presents in a condition that, were you buying, you would be happy to be closing on. If the answer is yes without reservation, you are probably ready to close!