To think taking light fitting might put buyer off

[legaleagle21]

We are selling our house and have an offer from a very nice young coupe who are first time buyers.

When they first viewd they asked what fittings we would be living - I said i'd have to check with dh.

Anyway they are coming for a second viewing tomorrow so I am thinking they'll ask agin about fitting and fixtures.

Basically I am happy to leave for free anything that I will be of no use to me in the new house. So i'll leave the shed, cooker, most carpets, light fitting etc.

However, is it reasonable to charge market rate for the things I could use?:
*a carpet in one of the bedrooms (£200)

*2 free standing chest of drawers that matche a fitted bedroom suite I(which in all honesty veiwers may have thought we're part of the fitted units) (£400)

*light fittings in the lounge (£100)

Do you think me saying these things are not included would put off the buyers? I really do not want to loose the sale though.

without doubt leave the carpets, light fitting is a bit different, my parents moved recently and in one of the rooms they had a light that cost a fortune, which they had made for them, they told people when viewing that they would be taking it with them (they replaced it with something else) it wasn't a problem

AwesomeWellies, yes they told the neighbours it had all been written down and agreed to (although it had not been, it was a 'gift' to the buyers) and then rang the buyers and told them that if the pots were not there then they would call the police.

They were FURIOUS. (Still are) And these neighbours were supposed to be friends. It still leaves a nasty nasty taste really.

We made an offer on a flat and the sellers then tried to charge us £5 for the toilet roll holder (amonst other things). We didn't buy the flat.

When you move these days one of the documents is a list which says exactly what is going to be left and what isn't.

To avoid exactly these situations where the happy family turn up at their new home to find that the entire inside has been ripped out, rendering in unsafe and uninhabitable without £1000s of repair costs.

People have been known to take all teh internal door handles and light switched FGS

Others ripped out roses from the ceilings, fireplaces and other period features and fittings.

Some people are arseholes, is the conclusion, really.

The woman I bought my flat from wanted to charge me £3k for the carpets. I called her bluff and told her I didn't want them but apparently she couldn't take them anyway because it's bare concrete underneath. After I moved in, I realised there was a huge stain in one of the bedrooms which I would have been furious about if I'd paid for them (£3k seems a bit steep for a 2 bed flat in any event!).

Same with my previous flat - the vendors pointed out the handmade bathroom cupboard which was there when they moved in and then added it onto the list of stuff they were taking which I thought was dead cheeky. It was still there when I moved in though (along with hundreds of discarded wax earplugs which had been chucked behind the bed ) and I left it too - I don't know how it was attached to the wall but it didn't want to come off. I think it belonged to the flat

We didn't buy a house once as, when we looked round, the buyer wanted us to pay extra for the spotlights which were in the ceiling. We would have been left with holes.

If you did that to me, I'd scan all those pre-approved credit card applications in your name that plop through the letterbox and post them on the internet.

Just tell them the drawers are freestanding, but if they don't want them, you'll gladly take them with you.

Must say it was always the old codgers that tried to sting us for extra cash for carpets etc when we were house hunting in 2008. Maybe in the 70s it was usual practice but not now. Actually a good estate agent should firmly tell their client that asking for extra for stuff like this is not done and only succeeds in alienating your buyer.

It's perfectly acceptable to take light fittings but they must be replaced with a bog standard bulb-on-wire fitting.

I think you're taking the p*ss with your proposed prices and taking the carpet though.

If they have already offered by all means show them what you believe to be included (you will be asked to itemise anyway) but be prepared to negotiate. A carpet really isn't worth the hassle of haggling and it is so unleikly ot fit anywhere else. As a minimum you should leave a basic light in each room if you remoive the fitting and replace any poles or curtain tracks if these are included.

When we viewed a house we were shown all around including a nice wooden summerhouse/playroom in the garden, failing to notice it wasn't specifically listed on the particulars and when we made an offer we were asked to pay extra for it. We offered asking price inclusive and it was rejected ! Ironically the people who bought it paid less in the end. If they are ftb then it is worth keeping them onside for sake of a few £100

Blimey! I wouldn't think of taking carpets or light fittings. As far as I'm concered those are fixtures. We are leaving carpets, built in beds, light fittings, book shelves the lot. DH built a lot of these things and he built them for this house.

When you sell a house you have to take on board the need to replace furniture that mightn't fit or suit the new house. It is all part of the same expensive nightmare that is a house move. However, you are unlikely to persuade a purchaser that they need to cough up silly money for a chest of drawers that they haven't chosen for themselves on the basis that you need the money to replace it.

Also, unless they are solid gold, why on earth take curtain poles? They won't fit properly elsewhere and you'll need to make good any damage made by removing them.

Without wishing to be unkind, if I were your potential buyers alarm bells would already be ringing...

I think that when you've only moved once or twice, and it was a long time ago, that it's difficult to tune into housebuying/selling etiquette. I think that Estate Agents could sometimes do with giving people a little gentle guidance.

I'd point out that the chests of drawers are freestanding just in case they don't already know. I would take the lightfitting though if you love it. As others have said, as long as your sellers know, it should be fine.

The people that we bought our house from took all of the light fittings - which was fine with me as we have different taste - and just left bulb and socket fittings.

What they did leave was all of the curtains and poles. We really appreciated it, until we tried to change them and found that they had been glued to the walls. It was a flipping nightmare making those holes good!

The chump that we bought our house from took all of the light fittings, including wall lights, on the proviso that he left them in a safe and useable condition.

Come moving in day, we find that the imbescile has left wires hanging out of the walls in a very NOT useable condition and we had to get our electrician to rectify it whilst we =moved in.

Sorry, not answering OPs question but moaning about my own experience

Its a bit confusing.

You say that the potential buyers would be unlikely to find a match for the fitted wardrobes themselves.

But you also say that you are planning on installing the same wardrobes in your new home and if you take the chests of drawers you wouldnt have to buy a new set.

And that you are basing the £400 on what you paid yourselves?

So would that mean you are asking the prospective buyers to buy 2 secondhand chests of drawers from yourselves at new price so they essentially fund you to have brand new ones again?

Wouldnt the decent thing to do be to tell them where they can buy them new (even if they have gone up a bit?)

Personally I would find it very offputting to hear the prices you are mentioning - it would just sound like a very high price for secondhand chest of drawers - and I would rethink whether I wanted to negotiate all the ins and outs of a house deal with a seller who was asking for what would seem to me, heightened prices, for furniture.

I'm guessing Ive misunderstood something here but thats what it reads like!