They're taking the curtain poles and fitted units. Is this normal?

[ThePurpleCarrot]

We're buying our first house and I've just received the property information form. I'm shocked that it says the sellers are taking their curtains rails/poles/pelmets.

It says they are also taking their fitted units from bedrooms, hallway, living room, dining room.

Are we dealing with difficult people or is this normal behaviour in London area?

It's the bloody mess they will leave you with..holes in the walls, unpainted walls or old paper behing the wardrobes, carpets with big chunks out of the corners etc etc.

Renegotiate the cost of carpets, putting good, redecoration etc (15k) off the price.

Tbh though my friend had similar and they took internal doors, handles, hinges,ripped mirrors off the wall even took the shower. It was a nightmare i would jog on.

I think it is normal-ish. When we move I will want some of my curtain poles as they cost a small fortune and are really lovely. Fitted units I probably wouldn't take, unless they were easy to put in the next house. We once moved house as a child and the previous owner had taken all the light fittings to the point of removing every single bulb. My mum burst into tears. I would never go that far! I do think that if I'd paid an awful lot for something that I'd put in and would work in my next house I would want to take it.

It's not necessarily true that if people take stuff they will leave you with a mess. We are taking a few bits and pieces (curtain rails/ hooks in DSs room that are considered fixed), we've discussed it with buyers and we are putting everything back - hence my weekend of swapping light fixtures, filling holes, sanding and painting. Thankfully we have some of the same paint leftover to touch up.
To be honest the biggest pain is our extensive art collection and speakers Some of the large paintings have some pretty hefty fixings.

what?? home shmome, lovingly-chosen blah blah blah! it's for sale now. for 480k I'd assume they appreciate it and throw in the f&f, but that's just me.

OP, do your friends have the same taste as you, do they notice the same things as you? did they take a lot of pictures? A house on my road was recently sold to a woman who hadn't actually been in it but there are forty or fifty houses on the road and she'd been watching out for one for a while, and she trusted the friends who viewed it.

To be honest, I've bought/rented zillions of houses in my time, (well 14 anyway) and I cannot remember a single time when I have actually wanted someone else's curtains, curtain poles, carpet choices or light fittings. If I ever hoped they'd leave them it was just so I had something to use until I got round to changing them - nothing more.

If it's your first house I think you want them, to keep you going til you can replace things as you go along. the house I'm moving in to they say they are leaving them. They're not particularly nice but they'll do for a while.

Ha. When we moved into our last house, the vendors had moved to another property in the same village, so we saw them around the place from time to time. A couple of weeks after we took possession, she stopped us in the street and asked when they could come and collect their fitted aluminium loft ladder. Still makes me chuckle.

what did you say?

Our buyers sent me an email asking why can't they have the curtains! I replied that I had chosen them with great care over the years and would like to take them with me and have them readapted if they don't fit in the new house.
Very cheeky of them to expect what's clearly not a structural part of the house (rather a furnishing) for free IMO!
If the vendor of the house that I'm buying leaves the curtains, I'll consider them a bonus but no way I expect her to leave them for free.

In our most recent place we asked if we could purchase the bedroom curtains... as the house looks onto other houses and for various reasons we would not be able to organise curtains that would fit the bay window in a good time. But, we specifically asked if the vendors would sell them. They did. They asked for £400 which we agreed to.

I am interested OP what you have thought about/considered/decided to do over the weekend.

Oo yes drybones,what did you say?

You're spending 1/2 million pounds on a house you haven't been inside?

You're worried about leaving money in UK banks, so have decided to put it all into a house that you haven't seen.

And you've spent the grand total of £300 on the legal representation for ALL your money.

Sorry, but this a very silly thing to do.

A telephone receiver is the handset , very normal to take. tbh I suspect they think your heart isn't in it , you probably won't check personally and so are fair game. UK banks aren't going to go under all of a sudden , spread your risk (80k max in each) and make a more considered move when it is appropriate. Managing a property from afar with all the sundry costs just to keep it ok, even if you don't rent it out , make this a far risker enterprise.

You're spending 1/2 million pounds on a house you haven't been inside?

They sent a friend to look on their behalf. I assume they trust this person. The OP is at "the other end of the world"

Most people would rent in that case, after moving before buying. We have considered this ourselves.

OP - I'd walk from this as I think the sellers are going to be a PITA.

Red flags for me I'm afraid !

Has just occurred to me that when we come to sell our house I hope to God that the buyers would like to have the wardrobes......... Large IKEA self assembly jobs that I will never be able to disassemble and reassemble, and no way will get out the bedroom doors let alone down the stairs .