Questions to Ask the Seller at Closing
For a buyer who will be in the same room as the seller on closing day, or at the final walkthrough just before it. That is often the only time the two of you meet, so these questions to ask the seller at closing open with the essentials (house quirks, keys and codes, shutoffs, utility accounts, what stays) and go on to how the systems run, the house's oddities, upkeep, its history and the neighborhood.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Essentials
Is there anything about this house that only you would know?
Why ask it
Ask it open and then wait. This is where you get the breaker that trips when two things run at once, the door that has to be lifted to lock, the window that leaks only in a north wind. If you get one question in before the pens come out, make it this one.
Can we go through every key, remote and code together before we leave today?
Why ask it
Count them on the table: house doors, deadbolts, mailbox, shed, gate, garage remotes, keypad and alarm codes, the padlock on a storage unit. When the keys actually change hands depends on how possession works where you are, so check that with your agent. The counting is easiest now, while the person who knows which key fits what is sitting opposite you.
Where are the main water shutoff, the gas shutoff and the electrical panel?
Why ask it
An inspector will have found all three, which is not the same as you having been shown them. Get an exact spot for each, and find out whether the breakers are labeled and whether any label is wrong. The night a pipe lets go is a bad time to be searching the basement by phone light.
Which utility accounts are in your name, and what date are you closing them?
Why ask it
You are matching dates so that nothing lapses between their last day and your first. How a handover works differs by provider: some just switch the name, others close the account and want a new application, a deposit or a visit. Take the provider names from the seller, then call each one yourself and ask.
Can we confirm what is staying and what is going?
Why ask it
The arguments are over things one side assumed: a television mount, curtain rods, the shed, the dining room light. Go through them against the contract's list while you can both look at the same page. Bring up anything they plan to leave as a kindness too, a workbench or a spare fridge, so you can say no to what you would only have to haul away.
Has anything broken, leaked or stopped working since the inspection?
Why ask it
Weeks can pass between the inspection and the signing, with a move-out in the middle. A direct question is often all it takes to hear about the dishwasher that quit last Tuesday or the gouge the movers left on the stairs. If something serious comes up, stop and let your agent or attorney deal with it before anyone signs.
Are the repairs we agreed on after the inspection finished, and do you have the receipts?
Why ask it
Bring the list and check items off against invoices, not assurances. An invoice names the company and the date, so you know who to call if the same fault comes back. What happens about anything unfinished is your agent's or attorney's conversation to have before you sign, not one to settle across the table.
Do you have the manuals, warranties and installation receipts for the appliances and systems?
Why ask it
Some warranties on a furnace, a water heater or a roof can pass to a new owner, sometimes only with proof of the installation date or a transfer registered by a deadline. The terms are the manufacturer's, so collect the paperwork today and read each one afterwards. It is often all in one kitchen drawer that the seller would be glad not to pack.
Which smart devices are staying, and can you take them off your account today?
Why ask it
A doorbell camera, thermostat, smart lock or garage opener usually stays tied to whoever set it up, and some can only be released from that person's login. Done together it is five minutes on their phone. Left for later, it can mean a factory reset or a support call, and until then the previous owner can still see your front step.
What is the best way to reach you for the next few months?
Why ask it
Something always turns up: a stray tax letter, a remote found in a coat pocket, a sprinkler timer nobody can program. A number and an email swapped while everyone is on good terms settles most of it, and giving yours makes it a fair trade. Keep later messages short and rare, since answering is a favor by then.
Systems
Who last serviced the heating, the cooling and the water heater, and when?
Why ask it
A company that has already been inside this furnace has its history on file, which is worth having on the first cold night. The dates matter as much as the names: 'serviced regularly' in a listing and a sticker on the unit from four years ago are not the same thing.
What year were the roof, the windows and the big appliances last replaced?
Why ask it
A listing says 'newer roof' where the seller can give you the year. Write each date beside the item, because together they tell you which replacement to save for first. An insurer may also want the roof's age when you take out a policy.
What size is the furnace filter, and how often did you change it?
Why ask it
It saves a trip to the store with the old filter under your arm. It is also a quiet test: an owner who knows the size and the interval without looking has probably kept up with the rest of the house, and a blank look is a reason to book a service visit early.
Is any equipment leased or still being paid off: solar panels, a propane tank, a water heater?
Why ask it
Rented or financed equipment comes with an agreement that somebody has to transfer, pay off or end, and it should already be dealt with in the contract. So this is a check, not a discovery. If the answer surprises you, it goes to your agent or attorney before you sign anything.
How often does the sump pump run, and where does it empty?
Why ask it
A pump that kicks in with every heavy rain is doing a job you need to understand, including whether it has a battery backup for a power outage. 'It has never come on' sounds reassuring and may only mean nobody has tested it, so find out when the float was last lifted.
Is there a radon fan, a dehumidifier or anything else that has to stay switched on?
Why ask it
Some equipment hums in a corner for years and only matters once a new owner unplugs it to free an outlet. Ask what each one is for, what its normal reading or setting is, and where it drains.
If there is a well or septic system, when was it last tested or pumped?
Why ask it
Get the company, the date and the exact spot, because a tank lid can sit under a foot of lawn with nothing to mark it. The next pump-out is counted from the last one, not from the day you move in. Testing rules for private wells vary, so the local health department is the place to learn what applies to yours.
What does the water softener or filter need, and when was it last topped up?
Why ask it
Softener salt, filter cartridges and UV bulbs run out quietly, and the first sign is the taste or the spots on the glasses. Find out which salt or cartridge they bought, and photograph the label on the unit so you can order the same one.
How do you shut the sprinklers down before the first frost?
Why ask it
Lines that hold water through a freeze can split, and the shutdown is different on every installation. You want the controller, the shutoff valve, a zone map if one exists, and the name of whoever blew the lines out each fall. Where it never freezes hard, swap this for the watering schedule and any local restrictions.
Did you use the fireplace or wood stove, and when was the chimney last swept?
Why ask it
'Every winter, swept last year' and 'decorative since we moved in' are very different answers. If they never lit it, treat it as untested and have a sweep look at it before your first fire. Have them say where the damper handle is, which is not obvious on an older fireplace.
Who is the internet provider here, and where does the line come into the house?
Why ask it
Service can differ from one street to the next, so the seller's experience tells you more than a coverage map. Where the modem sat, and which room never got a decent signal, may decide where your desk goes.
Quirks
Which rooms run hot or cold, and what did you do about it?
Why ask it
The seller has had years to find the workaround: a half-closed damper, a fan on the landing, a space heater in the back bedroom. Knowing it also tells you whether the odd vent setting you find next week is a mistake or a fix.
Which switches or outlets do something I would not guess?
Why ask it
The switch that seems to do nothing often runs an outlet behind the sofa, an attic fan or a light outside. Two minutes with the person who knows saves months of flipping it and looking around the room.
Do any of the appliances you are leaving have a trick to them?
Why ask it
An oven that runs hot, a dishwasher door that needs a second push, a dryer that only starts on one setting. None of it is in the manual, and all of it looks like a fault to someone who was not told. Their answer also tells you which appliance they would have replaced first.
What noises does this house make that I can ignore?
Why ask it
Every house has a few: pipes that knock when the washer shuts off, a furnace that bangs once as it lights, a stair that cracks in cold weather. Hearing the list in advance spares you a few walks around the house with a flashlight at two in the morning. A noise the seller cannot explain is one to mention at the first service visit.
Where are the attic hatch, the crawl space door and the sewer cleanout?
Why ask it
You will not need any of them until a plumber or an electrician asks, with the clock already running on the bill. Hatches hide inside closets and cleanouts under mulch, so get a landmark, not a general direction: the back bedroom closet ceiling, a step to the left of the hose spigot.
What do you wish someone had told you the week you moved in?
Why ask it
It turns the seller back into a new arrival, and people remember that week well: the storm drain that needed clearing, the neighbor who expected a hello, the room that took two years to get right. Expect one practical answer and one fond one, and write down both.
Upkeep
Are any service contracts still running: pest control, lawn care, alarm monitoring, fuel delivery?
Why ask it
Agreements like these are often annual, sometimes prepaid, and may renew on the seller's card. Sort them into three piles: transfers to you, gets canceled, already ended. Check whether a visit is booked as well, so a technician or an oil truck does not turn up next Tuesday expecting to be let in.
Which plumber, electrician or handyman would you call again, and who would you not?
Why ask it
A recommendation from someone with nothing to sell you is hard to come by when you are new in town. The second half matters as much. A person who is leaving has no reason to be polite about the roofer who never came back.
What do you do every spring and fall that this house needs?
Why ask it
Gutters, outdoor faucets, storm windows, a drain that has to be cleared before the leaves come down. The routine lives in the owner's head, and one missed step is how a first winter gets expensive. Ask for it in calendar order.
What do the gas, electric and water bills come to in the worst months?
Why ask it
A January or August figure is more use than an average, because that is the bill that startles you. Their household may not be the size of yours, so treat the number as a range, and ask whether a budget plan was smoothing it.
Which paint is where, and did you leave any of it?
Why ask it
Color codes and leftover cans save you from repainting a whole wall to patch a scuff. If none was left, the brand and color names will do, along with whether the ceilings and trim were done in something different.
Are there spare tiles, flooring, shingles or window screens anywhere, and where?
Why ask it
Half a box of matching tile is worth nothing to the seller and a great deal to you when one cracks, since a discontinued pattern may be impossible to match later. Raise it before the last load leaves. Spares live in attics, garage rafters and under the stairs, which is exactly where a thorough mover clears out.
Do the floors, counters or any other finish need particular care?
Why ask it
Oiled wood, unsealed stone and some older tile react badly to ordinary cleaners. One sentence from the person who kept them looking this way beats finding out with a spray bottle. Ask when each was last sealed or refinished.
What is planted in the yard, and is there anything I should not dig up or cut back?
Why ask it
Bulbs, perennials and a dormant fig all look like bare ground in the wrong season. Gardeners tend to love being asked, and you may come away with pruning dates and the route of a buried drip line as well.
Which pests show up here, and what has kept them down?
Why ask it
Ants in the kitchen each spring or mice in the garage when it turns cold are ordinary, and the seller knows what worked. An answer that involves a treatment contract or past termite work is different: get the dates and the paperwork.
Is there anything you meant to fix and never got around to?
Why ask it
Asked kindly, this gets you the owner's own to-do list, which is mostly small things: a sticky sash, a gutter that overflows at one corner. Keep it a favor, not a cross-examination, and if something large comes out, take it to your agent quietly instead of arguing it at the table.
If you were staying, what would you spend money on next?
Why ask it
You are asking for the big jobs the owner saw coming: the roof they expected to redo in a few years, the deck boards, the windows on the weather side. Their sense of what is wearing out makes a decent first draft of your savings plan. It is an opinion, not a quote, so get a contractor's view before you budget around it.
History
How long have you lived here, and what do you know about the house from before your time?
Why ask it
Long-time owners can tell you when the addition went on and who built it. Someone who was here two years may know very little, and that is your cue to lean on the paperwork and not on memory.
Has water ever come in anywhere: the basement, the roof, around a window?
Why ask it
Where a written disclosure is required this should already be on it, but a form has a checkbox and a conversation has a story. Listen for where, how often and what was done about it. If the story and the paperwork do not match, that is one for your agent or attorney, not for the table.
Which work did you do yourselves, and which jobs had a permit?
Why ask it
Owner-done work can be excellent or alarming, and either way you want to know which walls it is behind. Permit rules differ from town to town, so if an answer worries you, ask the local building department how open or missing permits are handled there.
Have you made any insurance claims on the house?
Why ask it
In some countries insurers share a record of past claims on an address, and it can affect what the next owner is quoted. Whether that applies to you is a question for your own insurer. From the seller you want the story: what happened, when, and who repaired it.
Is anything buried, capped or covered over: an oil tank, an old well, a cistern, a boarded-up fireplace?
Why ask it
Older properties collect things that were abandoned and never removed, and most are harmless once you know where they are. An underground fuel tank is the one to raise with your agent before you sign, because the rules and the cost of dealing with one vary a great deal by place.
Has the main drain ever backed up, and has anyone run a camera down it?
Why ask it
The line is underground, so tree roots and old pipe are trouble a general inspection may not have looked at. A seller who had it cleared every couple of years is telling you the interval. Ask who did the work and whether they kept the video.
Have any trees come down, and are there any you kept an eye on?
Why ask it
A stump or a gap in the hedge has a history, and so does the big limb over the driveway. The seller knows which tree sheds branches in a storm and whether an arborist ever looked at it, which tells you where your first outdoor money should go.
What will you miss most about living here?
Why ask it
A generous question with a practical side: you hear where the afternoon light is best, which room the household ended up living in, what the porch is like in June. People who are sorry to leave a house enjoy being asked. Skip it if you know the sale follows a divorce or a death.
Neighborhood
What day is trash and recycling collected, and are there rules about bins?
Why ask it
Trivial until your first week, when the bins are still at the curb on Thursday with a notice stuck to them. Find out where they are kept, whether the town or a private hauler supplies them, and whether they stay with the house.
Have you set up mail forwarding, and what should I do with anything of yours that still arrives?
Why ask it
Forwarding is the seller's to arrange, and stray letters and packages tend to keep coming anyway. Agree on the rule now: a text and a monthly envelope, or straight back to the sender. It is also the moment to learn where couriers leave things at this address, since drivers keep their habits when the name on the door changes.
Who lives on each side, and who should I introduce myself to first?
Why ask it
Names make the first wave over the fence much easier. Sellers usually know who has been there longest, who takes in packages for half the street and who notices a strange car, and that last person is good to have on your side.
Is there anything ongoing with a neighbor I should know about?
Why ask it
A running disagreement about a tree, a fence line, noise or a shared driveway comes with the address, whoever started it. What a seller must put in writing about neighbors varies by place, so a calm question may be the only way you hear of it. Anything that sounds like a legal dispute goes to your agent or attorney before you sign.
Do you have a survey, and are there any boundary or access agreements with neighbors?
Why ask it
Listen for handshake arrangements: a shared driveway, a fence built a foot inside the line, a neighbor who has always parked on a corner of the lot. They may not appear in any document you were given, and they tend to surface when a new owner changes something. If one comes up, ask your attorney or title company where it leaves you.
If there is a homeowners association, who do I contact and what date are the dues paid through?
Why ask it
Take the manager's name and number, the current dues and how the owner portal gets handed over. Then ask what has come up at recent meetings. A special assessment that is being discussed but has not been voted on is unlikely to show in today's paperwork.
What are the parking rules on this street: permits, sweeping days, snow routes?
Why ask it
The rule that gets a newcomer ticketed is often on a sign half a block away. Ask where a guest can leave a car overnight, and whether the moving truck needs a permit or just a word with the neighbors.
What is this street like at times I have not seen it: school pickup, a heavy rain, a Saturday night?
Why ask it
You saw the house at showing times, which is rarely when a street is at its worst. The seller knows the afternoon pickup line, the corner that floods in a downpour and the bar that empties at midnight. None of it changes today's deal, only how you plan around it.
Which local places would you send a new neighbor to first?
Why ask it
The hardware store that still cuts keys, the pizza that delivers late, the vet, the shortcut to the highway. It is a friendly question to finish on, and the answers save you a year of trial and error.
How to ask the seller at closing
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Do you ask the seller questions at closing?
Yes, if the seller is in the room, and it is a normal thing to do. Many sellers are glad to pass on what they know about a house they have looked after. Whether you meet at all depends on where you are: in some places both sides sign at one table, in others each signs separately at a title or escrow office, and some signings are done remotely or by mail. Ask your agent a week ahead how it is done locally and whether the seller plans to attend. If they will be there, the practical questions on this page are welcome. Anything that touches the price, the contract or a promised repair belongs with your agent or attorney before the signing, not across the table during it.
What to bring to the table
- 1The repair list you agreed on after the inspection, so you can check items off against receipts and not memory.
- 2A copy of the contract's inclusions and exclusions list for the conversation about what stays.
- 3A written list of the keys, remotes and codes you expect, so the count is done at the table and not from memory later.
- 4Your phone, to photograph the labels on the furnace, the water heater and any appliance still under warranty.
- 5A notepad. The answer to the question about house quirks tends to come as a fast list you will not remember by evening.
Getting a long list into a short meeting
- Take the Essentials and the four or five others that fit this house. A signing leaves a few spare minutes, not an hour.
- Skip what the house does not have. No well, no sprinklers and no association means a much shorter list.
- Send the rest ahead through the agents as a one-page questionnaire, and ask for it back by the walkthrough.
- Ask at the house if you can. Questions about shutoffs, switches and hatches get better answers when the seller can point.
- Have one person ask while the other writes, or record the answers if the seller is happy for you to.
- Treat what you hear as local knowledge, not as a promise. If an answer does not match the written disclosures or the contract, ask your agent or attorney how those work where you are.
Things to settle in the first week
- Consider rekeying or changing the exterior locks however many keys you were handed. Copies may exist that nobody is tracking.
- Confirm with each utility that the account moved on the date you were told.
- Check every smart device, doorbell and thermostat for a previous owner still listed as an administrator, and remove them.
- Cancel or transfer the service contracts you decided not to keep, before the next automatic renewal.
- Find the water shutoff and the panel yourself, label the breakers, and check what each one actually turns off.
If the seller is not at the table
Many closings happen separately, or entirely by mail, so the two parties never meet. In that case ask your agent to send the questions that matter for this house in writing before closing, and to ask for written answers. A short questionnaire returned by email is worth more than a promise to call. The final walkthrough then becomes the one in-person chance to confirm keys, codes and what is staying.