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What would you expect to be included?
The post below about buyers asking for curtains and a playhouse got me thinking: what do you expect to be included with the house? Or, what did you ask for when you bought yours? Did you get it?
For me, I would expect most, if not all of the kitchen appliances to be included. Here it is pretty standard for the oven, fridge, and dishwasher to be included. (usually both range and oven if they are separated). Sometimes washer/dryer are included, but that would not be a dealbreaker for me.
I would expect any sheds or outbuildings to be included, but not playsets or anything like that.
I would expect light fixtures to stay if the are attached to the wall or ceiling. I remember my mom wanted to take one of those when they sold, and she specifically noted that it would be going, so it seems that is pretty standard here too.
In one house we are considering, the basement rec room has a large freestanding gas fireplace. We are planning to ask for that to be included with the house.
*This is not legal advice*
Re: What would you expect to be included?
When we sold, we had to note everything that was included. Typically this was kitchen appliances, window treatments, etc. We specifically listed the 2nd fridge (basement) and deep freeze were not included. We also specified that the pool table and a few things in the gameroom were to transfer with the sale.
However, our buyers were a little crazy and asked to keep the basketball goal (that was mounted to a deck and we didn't plan to take) as well as my flower boxes that were on the deck.... Uh ok they came from lowes and were like $10 and they wanted a microwave (one that sat on the countertop) as well as our speaker system (not attached to the walls). I think we gave in on everything but the speaker system. Too immaterial to fight over.
I'm not sure that I would expect anything to be included that is not a standard item (window shades, kitchen appliances, etc.)
We will probably leave the countertop microwave with our house, but only because the houses that we are looking at have microhoods and we wont need 2.
Appliances, shades, and any out buildings is what i'd go in wanting/expecting.
For the house we bought, they left their playgym/ thing in the backyard. But I think it was specifically designed for that space, and they were moving to a house w/ a huge yard - so why take it?
They also left all their curtains (not just shades). I was actually really thankful for that, especially in our bedroom and the living room. The LR curtains matched our furniture, so it was perfect!
Oh, the one additional thing we asked for were all the paint cans. They had painted rooms a lot of different colors and in case we kept the colors (and we kept a lot), we wanted to be able to do touch-ups, etc.
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
I usually review the list of inclusions/exclusions in the trend listing and I respect the rights of sellers to take their stuff with them. If they haven't specified in the listing, then I assume everything is negotiable.
H likes to factor appliances in when pricing a house, but not in any reasonable way. If the main ones - fridge and washer/dryer - are not included, he wants to offer $5K less since that is what it would cost for us to buy them. He doesn't really get that used appliances are not worth that much however, he conceded to me on that in the end.
We were more likely to want things excluded and for the house we're under contract for they are leaving the fridge which is fine with us, but we wanted them to take their washer and dryer because they're old and I get freaked out by the fact that someone else had their dirty undies in there. So, our inclusions are the fridge and the shed in the back yard.
H HATES playsets in the back yard, so we would never accept one as an inclusion.
I expect that light fixtures and window treatments stay unless specifically mentioned. I also expect outbuildings to be included.
Uh...what? That's ridiculous! It sounds like you didn't get the house which is probably a good thing. The seller sounds bsc.
Ummm what? LOL! So what was she going to do, dismantle the patio brick by brick and uproot each tree? Or cut the trees down for firewood? She sounds like a nutter.
Yeah after all that we just didn't even really want it anymore, and figured it was for the best that we didn't win the bid. Of course now that its been a year and we are STILL house hunting, I do sometimes wish we had gotten the house.
I don't know how she planned to do it. She owned the house next door and was going to be moving there, so I guess she figured she wouldn't have to move it too far? She also wanted the buyer to build a fence between the two houses before closing as part of the contract.
Wow deanbean. "I want all this stuff, but you can get the house if you buy it all back....". Yeah, right.
seriously- would you have wanted to live next door to her??
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
Yeah she was pretty crazycakes and I'm glad we don't live next door to her. Not to mention that this would have been mortgage fraud and I want no part of that. (Short sale so the seller cannot make any profit from the sale of the home.) Just wish we could buy a house already and move on with life!
Whenever we decide to sell (not anytime soon) the only things we would want to take appliance wise would be our chest freezer and washer/dryer. If we decided that we really wanted ceiling fans then we would replace them with what was originally there but it is all stuff that is easily replaceable in a new house.
It's a dog's life!
You'd regret it if you had.
Kitchen appliances (range, over the range microwave, fridge, dishwasher), light fixtures, built-ins, blinds, bathroom mirrors attached to wall, shed, basketball hoop anchored in the ground. Washers and dryers aren't a standard thing to ask for here.
The house was vacant when we purchased so we didn't ask for anything. If there had been a swingset, we would have asked for it.
The only item we asked to keep when we sold were my son's bedroom curtains. Everything else stayed with the house.
Our seller wanted to take along a Tiffany-style hanging light in the dining room and we just requested that she put something back in it's place. The light she put there is fug but oh well. We're definitely going to get something else to replace it that's more our taste. DH and I think it looks like a boob.
Does this vary by state? Here in TX (at least in my part of the state), our realtor told us the washer/dryer and fridge are not included with the house. Just range, dishwasher, and over-the-range microwaves (but not freestanding, counter microwaves). All curtains, ceiling fans, fixtures, etc are part of the house. We'll eventually replace all the curtains and ceiling fans that were in the house when we bought them, though. The ones that were in the bedroom seriously looked exactly like burlap bag material. NMS at all!
We didn't ask for anything in particular. The seller offered to sell us his fridge and w/d, but they were old and not in good shape, so we declined.
Have you seen my monkey?
We just sold our house in TX, same conditions you listed.
40/112
We had to ask for all of the appliances to be included as well as closet orgnaziers and window treatments.
We saw a cute play house outside (built by hand and secured to the ground) and we expected that we'd get it with the house. They took them. That's okay.
No idea if we're keeping the swing set- it's kind of falling apart though.
For the house we are buying we will get the stove, fridge, and built-in microwave & DW. It has been so long now since we signed the contract that I can't remember what we decided about the W/D? I think we asked for it since we have gas and the new house is electric. The buyers of our house did not ask for our washer dryer so we are taking them with us. (The master in the new house has hook up too so we think we can re-use it)
We also asked for all the original single pane, wood sashes which are stored in the attic, a loose clawfoot tub in the basement, and all odds and ends of exterior and interior wood trim.
We excluded two stained glass windows that aren't original to our house and are hung strictly as artwork. Also one rose bush from my g-ma. We are leaving for them the fridge & stove, the porch swing, and the queen box spring in our bedroom. (because we found out the hard way a queen boxspring won't fit up our stairs.) They asked for our paint, and the random screens/storms in our basement. I'm also going to leave them the shower curtain in our upstairs tub since I had to hem it to fit there...they are on their own when it comes to hemming new shower curtain liners!
Curtains do not convey in Portland. The drapery hardware (brackets & rods) yes, but not the curtains.
While we have not yet sold, we have been given a few offers and I am always surprised by their request for us to include the jet bathtub in our full bath. Do people really remove such things before they move? Is it really necessary to call that one out?
And we have have offers asking for the playset, and another that didn't. For us it isn't a deal breaker. It would probably be a pain to move anyway and we can get a new one if we want after we move.
The one we bought was a foreclosure so we didn't ask for anything bc everything with the house was as is.
With some we looked at we were going to ask for all the kitchen appliances, Washer and Dryer (these weren't deal breakers), and any sheds or out buildings.
This is very regional. It's always interesting to me what the norms are in different areas.
In my area, it's common for all kitchen appliances to convey (oven, dishwasher, built-in microwave, and fridge), but not the washer dryer.
I don't know if there's a default on window treatments, but I think they convey. When we bought our house they seller specifically asked to keep the curtains in her bedroom and her son's bedroom. I don't think she had curtains in any other rooms of the house -- there definitely weren't any in the house when we bought it (which was fine with us).
I would like to take our curtains with us when we move, now that I think of it. They're all very standard sized, silk curtains. And they weren't cheap. But I wouldn't lose a contract over it.
I just looked at houses today, and I would prefer that people take their playsets with them. I have no way of knowing if they were put together properly and are safe. One of the houses I looked at today had a nasty swingset in the backyard -- I'd probably ask that they take that with them.