Seller is leaving behinds lots of stuff - can you help me to decide what to keep?

[Redandyellowbits]

Hi, I am buying a house and the seller is downsizing and wants to leave behind lots of stuff. I am stretching to afford the house, and do not have any household possessions (fridge, sofas etc) as my exH kept it all in the divorce. I live with my parents until the house is ready for me and my 3 children (all age

If you are having major works done I would be inclined to say no to anything except white goods unless you have a place to store them. The non-working dishwasher is a definite no as you’ll need to get it disposed of.

Don’t give her money for things she wants to leave behind! Especially for things you don’t really want. Your budget is going into the renovation work, not furnishings. Tell her she’s welcome to take them. You may well find she leaves things behind because they’re a pain to move and dump.

You do not need anyone’s 30 year old tat. Definitely not sofas and if you don’t like the wardrobes certainly don’t buy them.

You’re taking your time to do the house up, you don’t need the burden of old clutter.

I'd say you don't want anything apart from the children's beds and the white goods.

If my seller is anything to go by the rest will probably be left anyway

She should be paying to discard the old stuff, and you shouldn’t be the one ending up doing this, no matter how reasonable she and the estate agent appear to be.

Sounds like she's leaving you a load of old tat that will cost you a fortune to get rid of.

I'd be very clear what you will or won't keep and ensure she gets rid of the rest. It'll just be in the way of the workmen anyway.

My seller left loads of totally unwanted c..p, but in there were a few gems.

I painted the freestanding wardrobes and they looked fantastic. Now I am even thinking of taking them with me for my next move. White goods were also a godsend. The washing machine lasted another 4 years and the dishwasher is still going strong.

My advice is to think it through very carefully, bearing in mind that you will have to pay to dispose of anything you subsequently decide to dump.

Personally I wouldn't want Sofas etc for just the reasons you have highlighted.

I would ask her to remove the dishwasher as it will cost you money to dispose of (and potentially to remove if you need to get someone to disconnect)

Keep wardrobes and potentially the bed base (but ask to check it first to make sure it’s sound) good quality wardrobes hold their value and can always be painted.

Decline the sofas- they are very inexpensive second hand on eBay or similar, esp if you’re not being super picky. Have a google and see what you could get for a low budget.

Definitely ask her to dispose of trampoline-again, it will cost you to remove.

Ah thank you so much! I didn't expect so many quick responses!

I should have been clearer - she is leaving it all for free - except she wants £100 for the two wardrobes as they are of good quality. They are old-fashioned and dark wood, whereas I really want ginormous fitted wardrobe in my room in time.

Dishwasher is a Beko one, and she hasn't used it since her husband died 4 years back and so she doesn't know why its not working. But as they are 'fairly cheap, it's probably cheaper to replace a bit later, than it would be to try to fix and then have to dispose anyway. (I have no idea how to dispose of this...)

I feel quite relieved that you are telling me not to keep the sofas!

I would argue for the wardrobes, as fitted wardrobes are expensive, and having things lying around is messy and annoying. They'll do as an interim, and you can paint them to suit you for the time being.

We bought a £45 painted wardrobe from a charity shop whilst saving for our wedding just to keep our things nicely stored.

Make it crystal clear that anything you have said you don't want is to be removed from the house and disposed of. She can order a skip and get the removal guys to skip what isn't staying. Or she can take it with her.

If she is leaving things "for free", does that mean you can select what you want, and she will remove the rest at her expense? I would be wary of anything free, unless you can be sure that she only leaves items that you specifically want, and undertakes to remove everything else.

I wouldn’t want a non-working dishwasher left. That’s mad. (To dispose of mine I just left it on the drive and the scrap metal guys took it away within a day or so).

Don’t pay for wardrobes you don’t like.

I would have said to keep the sofas as they would be fine until the work is done and wouldn’t matter if they got dusty etc. However, as you won’t be there it’s not worth it.

Also say you don’t want the trampoline if you don’t want it. You don’t have to accept anything.

How big are the wardrobes and how do they compare to something from ikea storage wise?

Get rid of sofas and bed base/mattresses - they may well not meet current fire regs. Non working dw not worth it either. We took cast offs and still have some 25+ years on!

It’s a blooming pain to dispose of big things so definitely don’t keep anything you don’t want. We had to pay the council to get rid of our sofas for example.

Pay for nothing, tell her you don’t have the money for anything, tell her to get rid if anything you don’t want or need.

Easy.

Make it very clear to them plus both solicitors that they are only to leave the things that you explicitly ask them to leave.
Don't end up clearing out their rubbish for them!

In a very similar situation and we are buying of eBay etc and getting things in styles we like and in good condition for very little. We are lucky in having a place to store them while a rewire and new CH is done. I wouldn't keep any of it tbh as storing it and ensuring it's not damaged will be a nightmare. Also far easier for the trades to work in an empty house. The only stuff we are keeping in the working white goods and we have been very strict/strong in the wording about the house being empty of all goods not listed on the fixtures and fittings paperwork that we want kept.
Have a pootle round eBay and see what you can get for your money

Thank you so much for this - I think I have been far too flexible and accommodating with this all, as she has so much stuff to get rid off and I now agree that she is fobbing this off onto me so she doesn't have to deal with removing it all.

The wardrobes are oak ones, they are doubles, a really dark colour, but really not to my style at all. I prefer light colours, with mirrors, lots of shelves inside to organise things, this is just an open wardrobe for hangers. Thinking about it, I would rather pay the £100 for some second-hand ikea ones from ebay that I might end up keeping rather than these which would I would definitely be selling off or having to get rid of somehow. Thank you for that.

I didn't even think about the fire regs for the beds! I was going to keep the kids ones, but I won't. They are the divan style with drawers underneath - again not to my taste as I like wooden frames with empty space under them.

I think I will get new beds for the children too. So I will say no to broken dishwasher, all sofas, beds, wardrobes, trampoline

and I will keep fridge, freezer, washing machine, tumble dryer. I'll replace these when I eventually get the kitchen redone.

I have a feeling she will try to leave these things behind under the guise of being generous, I will make it clear that everything else must go.

Good for you. 🙂🙂🙂
Make sure in the fixtures and fittings list it clearly says nothing else will be left....I'm still trying to get the " pile of rubble " the sellers claim we wanted removed from our F n F listing