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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Conveyancing help needed please - who is BU?

15 replies

LittleEsme · 15/05/2022 10:04

DH and I have just sold our house and we are doing the conveyancing bit online.
We are inexperienced house sellers. The form to fill in is massive and very thorough.

We have venetian blinds on all our windows. DH has been measuring the windows of the property we'll be moving into to see if they are compatible with our current venetian blinds (we are on a very tight budget and can't buy many new things).

Some windows are compatible - say, 4 out of 16 windows - so he plans on taking 4 blinds with us and leaving the rest. 1 set will be out of a 2 windowed room (so new buyers will be left with one window with blinds, and another window without). The blinds are maybe 10 years old so not easily replaced/matched.

I feel a bit uncomfortable with this. Surely we either take them all, or leave them all? DH disagrees! Who is being unreasonable here?

Thanks!

OP posts:

emsyj37 · 15/05/2022 10:07

Well, neither. The buyers may not even want 10 year old blinds. Have you asked them? As long as you are clear about what is included and what is not, you can take some and leave others.

fishonabicycle · 15/05/2022 10:13

Speak to buyers. Alternatively there is a fixtures and fittings form where you tick every item that you are leaving.

Nc58985 · 15/05/2022 10:14

As PP said, buyers may not even want them! When we moved sellers said they were leaving the blinds but we didn’t want them as we wanted shutters fitted.
I wouldn’t stress about it myself. It’s your house and you paid for the blinds. I’d take what you want and declare it in your fixtures and fittings form

HeddaGarbled · 15/05/2022 10:17

It’s totally OK to leave some and take some.

WeAreTheHeroes · 15/05/2022 10:17

Just make it clear what you are leaving. It's all you need to do.

Lolapusht · 15/05/2022 10:18

Neither of you is being unreasonable, but your DH is a absolutely right. You can pick and choose what you leave and what you take. If you’re buyers aren’t happy about it they can offer to buy what they want. When you say you’re doing the conveyancing yourself, do you mean the estate agency? Buying/selling houses is brutal and don’t expect any niceties from anyone. Don’t try to do anything nice for your buyer as it will probably come back to haunt you. Don’t do multiple visits, say they can store things at your house before exchange, start work before you’ve exchanged or until you’ve completed. People who are experienced at house purchasing may try to take the piss so be careful. Nobody is legally committed to anything until you have exchanged contracts and that can take weeks if not months.

NotThoseKindOfEggs · 15/05/2022 10:18

Unless you’ve explicitly stated that blinds are not included in the sale, usually they would be considered part of the ‘fixtures and fittings’ and should be left for the new owners.

NoSquirrels · 15/05/2022 10:18

I’d be pissed off if I was left with one window with blinds and one not in a particular room. But if I wasn’t expecting window fittings to be left it wouldn’t matter.

Ask them if they want the blinds as you’re considering taking them to your new place. If you communicate first, then fill in the form, that would be best.

Fedupbuyer · 15/05/2022 10:21

Our plan was to buy new blinds when we bought the house not realising how bloody expensive they have got!..the seller had left her blinds thank god.

LampLighter414 · 15/05/2022 10:23

It is fine to leave some and take some. Fill out the fixtures and fittings forms accurately. In my experience they are rarely challenged.

The cost of some replacement blinds will be trivial compared to the price of the house for the buyer, which can be said if they do make a fuss. Would they really throw away the chance to buy the house for the sake of not wanting to spend £50 on new blinds? I suspect not

With my first home the sellers took all of their fancy light fittings and left just rose+flex, I was disappointed as they had given the property a more luxurious feel but at the end of the day was I going to potentially lose buying the place over about £200 of b&q light fittings? No.

MadeForThis · 15/05/2022 10:41

Just take both blinds in that room. Even if you will just use one.

Bluevelvetsofa · 15/05/2022 11:21

Take them all and sell or give away the ones that don’t fit.

worriedaboutmoney2022 · 15/05/2022 18:45

I think either take them all or leave them all if they are all older designs and matching and can't be matched up would be my advice. I would think It was odd leaving some but not all of them to be honest

LIZS · 15/05/2022 18:50

Definitely leave all or none.

SarahAndQuack · 15/05/2022 19:03

You're absolutely entitled to do what your DH says; if the buyers mind they can always come back to you about it. It's funny what people mind about/expect, though. My rented house recently went up for sale, and I was there during the viewings. The poor agent doing it could never get her patter right - she'd start by explaining some things were ours and would be going with us (eg., cooker, white goods, but also some of the light fittings). Responses ranged from quite open relief that this tat of ours would be removed, to absolute outrage that anything would be taken. One woman started trying to ask the agent right in front of us if she could keep the spice rack that was fixed to the wall!

Bottom line: you just can't predict what people will want or expect, but if you're worried your sellers will kick off, I suppose you could give them the fixtures and fittings list and also a message to ask them to get in touch if they want to discuss it?

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