Fixtures and fittings - curtain poles!!

[Yazi23]

Hi all,

We've received the F&F list off our vendors. They're leaving the fitted blinds in the lounge and conservatory but the curtains/blinds and fittings in all the other rooms are excluded. Obviously I didn't expect them to leave curtains but unless the curtain poles are particularly expensive/unique surely it's more effort to take down and make the wall good?
Are they expecting us to make an offer for them? They didn't put a price on the f&f form so I'm not sure? A couple of the windows aren't standard size so I'm not sure what good they'd be in their new house.
I don't know whether to a) ask if they'd consider selling them to us or b) wait and hope they might leave them anyway. My husband is rubbish with DIY so it will be a right faff putting up 7 curtain poles amongst everything else when moving in.
What sort of a price do you offer per 'pole', I have no idea about these things as a FTB! Would you contact them about this via solicitors or try and do it directly by putting a note through their door?

Thanks in advance!

I'd ask, through the estate agent, how much they'd want to leave the 7poles. You might be pleasantly supplied.

Why would they need to make good if they removed them?

We took most of ours and left the ones we didn’t need. Same with the curtains and we made good too. We had bought the house we were selling as a new build with no poles or curtains at all and had spent about £60 per pole and even more on the curtains and there were quite a few of them, over £1000 to replace. We also knew they would fit in new house. Also they had knocked us down quite a bit in price so we weren’t feeling very generous!

we're planning on taking our poles, mainly as a temporary measure when we move in to the new house. They are adjustable in size. It won't be too hard to make good a few holes when we remove them.

You could contact the EA and ask the vendors to consider leaving them. I probably would for a small fee.

Yes I guess if you or your husband/partner are any good at DIY it's not a big job to do.
They're definitely not moving to a new build but maybe their vendors are taking theirs.

I think I'll contact the EA and see if they'd be willing to leave the poles for a small fee.

Yes I would contact the EA. I think I wrote on our fixtures and fittings form that we were taking them so they were in no doubt that we would. I left some blinds in lounge and hall and bathroom as they wouldn’t fit anywhere in the new house. I’m not sure what price I would have left them for. As I said most of ours were from dunhelm and were about £40-£60 new depending on size. I always buy these in satin steel.

www.dunelm.com/product/ashton-fixed-curtain-pole-dia-29mm-1000011695

We are good at diy though and can cut them to size and fit them easily and it’s not much work to polyfiller the holes and paint over them.

So I've had a look and we could get 7 middle of the range poles for around £200 new. What do you think would be a reasonable offer to make for the existing poles based on this?

Ask them whether they will leave them and how much they want first.

And make sure any left behind include the finials as well - a friend paid extra for curtains and poles but the vendor took the finials.

I think it is very mean to take them and leave holes in the wall that then need to be filled! What a faff!

I would sort out a price and tie them down on what will be left. Pole and finial! I do expect curtain poles to be left and have never taken them and if everyone in a chain did the same, there is no problem. If you have to pay, offer £50 for the lot. You must have small windows if they will only cost £200 for 7 windows! Mine are more like £200 a window! If you do not like the poles,do not pay anything. I have high standards for mine!

If they are only a few £ from Dunelm, is it really worth removing them? People love stripping houses!

I think some people are unreasonable when it comes to fixtures and fittings.

Some people will charge for everything, incl built in fridge freezers etc - usually as they are aggrieved at accepting under the asking price and want to make up some of the 'lost' money and some people expect everything in the house you wouldn't reasonably be expected to leave such as sofas - usually ftbers.

I am leaving all my poles and curtains as I cba to make the walls good but sometimes there is a sentimental value. I am leaving all my curtains bar one set which were a moving in present from my now deceased grandparents.

Yazi Pop in an offer of £50 if you are really set on these poles, but if it's only a couple of hundred although not ideal, you could get some poles in a design of your choice.

Let them take them. This house is mostly poles and they are such stupid things. Curtains don't run properly, heat goes out and light comes in. And the bloody things appear to have been concreted in!

Rails at least, ideally with pelmets.

I don't think I'd be stressing if hubby or I had an ounce of DIY capability but we don't (although he thinks he does) so it will just be such a faff putting new ones up. I think I'll mull over it and make a decision in a few days.
I've discovered some stick on temporary blinds which would do for the first few weeks, so I'm not quite as stressed about it as I was.

Not pelmets Special Our current rental abroad has pellets, but they are coming down, as they are fabric, and poles are going up in place of the crappy Belgian rails, that you cannot get any more hooks on due to the way they are constructed.

It's not your decision, it's theirs. They might just want them - if the new house needs poles, why would I sell to you my (say) 6 poles at a knock down price if I'm going to have to pay for 6 new ones at full price ?

Namechanged - no, it's our decision whether or not we want to consider buying them if they're excluding them with a thought to selling them to us which is what their EA has intimated....

It's not!! They belong to the sellers. If they have indicated they want to sell them, that's a different matter but at present, they're not included in the sale and they haven't named a price or offered to sell them to you.

Unless they ARE willing to sell them, it's a moot point. Get them to confirm they're willing to sell them, not an intimation from the EA, then make a decision.

I think you've misunderstood me. Obviously they belong to the seller and obviously it's the sellers decision whether they want to sell them to us.
I was trying to say, IF a situation came up where they decided they wanted to sell them to us we would have to make a decision whether or not we wanted to buy them from them or just get our own poles. Obviously this might not happen and I'm just mulling over what could possibly happen. I'm thinking hypothetically as to what might happen because that's just what I do, sorry. Yes it could be a moot point but this sale has been dragging on for ages and it's my way of feeling like I have at least some control over things. I just wanted to gauge what other people thought of the situation.
Clearly it's up to the vendor whether or not they want to sell them to us...

Offer £50 and see what they say. They may not want them and it does save you the bother of getting new ones. I always get the curtain/blind maker to fit them as well as make them and you can get poles put up if you don’t trust yourselves. You just pay for the service. DH can do it but he’s time poor and I certainly don’t want to do it.