Greedy house sellers

[Strawberryshortcake40]

I'm selling my house at the mo. Am leaving things like curtain poles, curtains etc because a)they were bought to match the interior b)they won't necessarily fit elsewhere and c) I can't frankly be arsed to take them down and make good the holes and repaint areas in every room.

Stupidly I thought this was pretty much the civilised thing to do. However the house I'm buying, they are offering to sell me the poles/curtains in the house. Lounge windows (small cottage windows) - £350 a pair.... I have no recollection of what they were like but I don't remember them being hand embroidered in gold thread or anything to justify that cost! How can they even think that's okay? I declined obviously....

AIBU to think that you either leave such items or offer them for sale at a reasonable second hand price?

(Oh and on the vague off chance the vendors are reading this, I think taking out a few years old integrated appliance or offering it at £500 isnt polite either. (I can buy a new one for not much more!)

[Hauntedlobster]

The guy I bought my flat from left sodden, mouldy curtains his dog liked to pee on. I posted about it at the time to be told I should be grateful he’d left them

Even better, the carpet under the bed was thread worn, you could see the floorboards in places but he took the blinds and when my solicitor wrote to him claimed there had never been any (they were on the photos and fittings list). Healso tried to sell me the fire but it was listed too.

A walk in condition flat which needed scrubbed 5 x over with vinegar and baking soda to get the smell out the walls and floors not envy

[babyturtles]

I'd tell them in light of their not including what the hell ever, you're going to pull out.

Let them fucking panic.

(yes, it's a dick move.)

[coddiwomple]

Would you really pull out?
If you have paid for your mortgage offer, your survey, started searchers, and incur legal costs already, is it really worth it?

It really depends on your area and your local market. Where I am, when a buyer threatened to pull out, I told him he was welcome to do so, and I would be free to put the property back on the market for a higher price.
Around here, it is a dangerous game to play.

[babyturtles]

OP said they've been rushing it through for them because the sellers want a quick sale.

[PeachyCandle]

We had the seller wanting money for the ‘custom made’ blinds she’d ‘paid an absolute fortune’ for which were in the bedroom. She went on and on about them both times when we viewed the house, I was expecting something very fancy...they’re just unremarkable grey blinds. We said we weren’t bothered and that she could take them - lo and behold they were there when we moved in.

[thenewaveragebear1983]

When we bought our house, it had no curtains at all, only blinds, and no curtain rails. It cost well over £500 to put them in and buy decent curtains, (and that was only b&q, nothing made to measure) , plus hours of drilling, cutting curtain poles, hemming and fitting. I'd say if they fit the house and you weigh up the difference in buying them and fitting them, it might be worth just having them. The agents particulars mean nothing in the way of a contract, it's all to do with the solicitors fittings and fixtures list.

[undertheradarplease]

I've noticed that all these posts are about cheeky sellers.

My mum moved house recently (downsized considerably post divorce from my dad) and her buyers were a pair of real grabby little buggers.

Mum left all fixtures and fittings as part of the sale, including gorgeous wooden blinds downstairs and didn't ask for a penny. She did, however, fail to mention that she had misplaced the garage key - back garden access, not main door and no access from house to garage iyswim.

The cheeky madam who bought the house was straight on the phone to the solicitor, demanding £2000 from my mother to replace the key

I felt so sorry for my poor mother. £2000 for a locksmith is absolutely outrageous without mentioning they got £20000 off the asking price.

Needless to say, they were told where to go...

[Thistledew]

My MIL sold her last house with the cat included as a fitting! (It's ok, she knew the purchasers and the cat was happier than she would have been moving to MIL's new house)

When we sell I will probably make it clear that some of the plants in the garden are optional extras that have to be paid for. I have a collection of unusual plants that are not easy to get hold of. If the purchaser would like them and will appreciate them then I would be happy to sell for price less than I paid for them. I wouldn't just want to leave them for someone to put them straight in a skip.

[MadameJosephine]

When I bought my last house it had a massive bay window and the particulars listed curtains as included. When I viewed there were lovely floor length thick cream curtains up at that window but on the day I moved in they had been replaced with s pair of hideous psychedelic 60’s curtains that didn’t reach the windowsill or meet in the middle! Later that day the vendor knocked on the door with the cream curtains offering to sell them to me but I —told her to piss off— declined

[MadameJosephine]

Oops strike through fail

[LapdanceShoeshine]

Oh the plant thing reminds me of my former neighbours.

He was a landscape gardener who committed suicide . She subsequently sold, leaving their small front garden which he’d planted. There was a lovely red miniature ace, & she said to let her know if they ever decided to dig it all up.

They didn’t. I thought that was awful.

[C0untDucku1a]

When i sold my first home, i left all my lovely laura ashley curtains as they were made to measure those windows. I also left my matching laura ashley cushions in the living room as they matched those particular curtains which i wasnt having in my mow husband’s not at all girly house. His was a typical single Bloke house. Not a throw, cushion or ornament that wasnt a character in starwars in sight.

When we moved into our marital home the curtains and poles had been removed.

[MissConductUS]

In the US it's assumed that all appliances stay with the house (even the movable one like the fridge) unless they are specifically excluded in the advert and the contract. I have a Miele washing machine that I took with me from the last house we sold and there was no fuss about it because everyone who looked at the house knew it was not included.

[PrimalLass]

I wouldn't leave my curtains. I think that's odd and potentially very wasteful.

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

If I’d known what an awkward bastard our buyer was I’d have taken every fixture and fitting I could, including the bloody light bulbs! We left the washing machine as well as, although it worked, we wanted a better one so thought we may as well include it in the sale.

I’d only take curtains if they’d fit the new windows.

[Alicetherabbit]

Further house I bought they dug up half the garden and took with them, called me a few months later asking about prized dahlias and got upset when they found out I'd got rid of them. Rang several years later asking for the cooker....

[PinkSparklyPussyCat]

We dug up a plant from my Mum’s garden before the house went on the market.

[cashmerecardigans]

Our house is on the market at the moment. I’ll leave poles and integrated appliances but will take some of my curtains and a couple of very precious light fittings. I honestly think as long as I’m clear in the fixtures paperwork it’s fine but I’d hate to leave someone expecting things that aren’t there so will make sure they know what to expect

[Regressionconfession]

This is rented accommodation but the tenants before us must have bought their own toilet seat and offered to sell it to us!!

If I remember correctly it was one of those transparent ones with barbed wire inside.

They left a wicker bed too. Can you imagine the creaking and rustling!

[Nyx1]

I think it's about fitted or not fitted

so I can understand people taking curtains and lightshades, but unscrewing poles and light fittings - no way.

Both times I've bought, I've found curtain rails in place and people have left lightbulbs in thank goodness - I've heard about those being missing too.

but I do think it's fair enough to take curtains with you.

[RachelRosie]

We had the opposite problem... our seller walked out with 2 bags. Left everything! Even her passport and family photos. She was reluctant to sell but was in her 80's and no longer needed a 3 bed house so family encouraged her to move. Half expected her to still be here when we had the keys. She left her used coffee cup on the side and the TV guide open on the right day. She left us a note saying there was some food left in the fridge (they was spaghetti and a calendar!) all very odd!

[BackforGood]

The only exception to this was back in the day when stamp duty was payable on the whole sale price so it made sense to pay just under the level and agree a separate price for extras.

This is exactly the point. It is what everybody did 'back in the day' as you say. what you are forgetting is that many people won't have moved house in recent years and their only experience is the way it used to be done. It's not greedy or selfish, it's just how it was always done until very recently.

at people taking carpets! Carpets?! They won't even fit the new house!

Why won't they ? I paid over £1000 for the lounge carpet in my old house only a year of two before we moved. Of course I brought it with me. It was refitted into the (slightly smaller) lounge in my current house and looks as good as new 15 years on. We completely spent out moving house, really stretching ourselves to buy this house - I couldn't afford to buy such a good quality carpet again, and what would be the point as we already owned it ?
Same with curtains really - I've reused a lot of them... some in my own (new) hose and some went to by SiL who was just buying with nothing to spare at the same time. I find it weird that people think it is odd to take things that you have bought, to your own taste, with you when you move house. Seems odder to me not to take your things with you.

[Bisquitine]

When we bought our first house I walked round with the seller agreeing a price for all the furniture etc she would leave. Paid her an extra £2000 and she left a couple of broken chairs and some rubbish! Stupidly got nothing in writing, wont make that mistake again.

[peachgreen]

Our vendors offered to sell us the carpets (despite them being mentioned in the listing). We said no thank you because we were pretty sure they were just being cheeky (who takes carpets? I mean, maybe one or two at a push, but not ALL of them?!) and we didn't like them all that much anyway. Moved in and they'd taken up the lot. DH did a dump run later on that day and they were there dropping them off at the dump! They'd removed them out of pure spite. Bastards.

[LittleRen]

Our sellers wanted us to buy their carpets for a ridiculous amount.. they were pretty new, wool etc. They had a dog though and I am allergic so I said no thanks not expecting them to really bother ripping them all up, but they did!! I suppose it saved us a job though...