Negotiating fixtures and fittings

[Walkingwounded]

After years of control/emotionally abusive relationship, am finally moving out as soon as possible.Have had offer accepted on house.

The sellers are downsizing and have offered to negotiate on furniture. This would be a massive help to me as am on my own, and fighting DH for items/trying to get new ones would be a massive headache. Would also help set the house up for DCs who are going to be devastated at the split.

Going to view items this week. Question is, having not done the house buying process before: How to negotiate on this? Do I tell them what I want and then they suggest a price, which I then try to negotiate down? Or do I give them my budget ceiling and they ask what it is possible for me to have within that? Or another way?

Sellers seem v nice, if that makes a difference.

Very grateful for any suggestions as trying to do this process for the first time, on my own. Thanks.

I'd tell them which items you want and ask for individual prices. Don't forget curtains and blinds too.

Ask for what you’d like and let them say what they want for it. Then you can say you’ll take x and y if they include z as well. It’s second hand and not worth much but is worth something to you. But I’d also check out Ikea and next which has decent furniture very reasonably priced.
It might be the white goods that are worth buying.

You tell them what you're interested in buying, they then tell you if they are willing to sell and if so for how much. Then, if necessary, you negotiate.

The usual way would be for sellers to set the price in the fixtures and fittings list, and you tick the ones you want to buy. This sounds a bit different, they want to talk first so you can have a bit of to and fro. I would get them to name a price first and then be prepared to negotiate down. Their valuation and yours could be wildly different, and you are less likely to offend them by saying a simple "no thank you" to their wildly optimistic prices than by offering them much less than they think it's worth.

I think you could start by offering a nominal sum for the lot. If the sellers don't want it they might find it easier to accept than the bother of getting rid of it. You can always freecycle items later.

Also have a look on eBay for what things fetch second hand. £50 is a reasonable ceiling for many basic furniture items and white goods, maybe a bit more for sofas. Dated dark furniture, however good quality, doesn't go for much.

Get them to leave the curtain poles. Curtains are also a pain to replace to match sizes, so worth keeping, but OTOH even very high quality dated curtains are peanuts on eBay so don't overpay for dated ones.

The first house we bought, the lady left all the (1960s) curtains and various oddments of furniture for free. She knew there was zero resale and it saved her disposing of them. We used them until we could afford to replace, and then they became our dustsheets. We still have them.

That is massively helpful thank you.
So - seems consensus is to say what I want, then let them state price, then negotiate from there. They say pretty much everything is up for sale, and it’s really nice stuff, goes perfectly with the house. They have great taste.

Will remember curtain poles and ask about curtains too.

Estate agent has offered to negotiate price but I said no, mindful that they work for the seller. Do you think that was right? I can still ask her to do it if that is better.

Do they know your circumstances? I just mean broadly rather than details? It's far less hassle for them to leave things in the house than try to sell them or donate them as they still need to move them or arrange for someone to collect. I think if you were to say you need pretty much everything they may be generous unless there's something they're attached to or which is fairly new and was pricey.

We did a deal whereby we asked our sellers to leave various things for no additional cost - they'd written "negotiable" on the form - in return for not insisting they clear an outbuilding.

They know that I am leaving DH yes. And they seem very nice. I was hoping that if I offered a reasonable amount they would be willing to leave anything they didn’t want or need. They said that most things are available.

It’s very true that it will be less hassle for them to leave stuff, so would suit us both.

If the price isn't right even after negotiating, hang fire and look at other second hand items on local Facebook pages or on gumtree to get an idea of what's available at what price. Realistically, they either want the items, so they're not for sale, or they don't. If they don't want them, who else does? Carpets are probably worth zero to anyone else. Other furniture may not be worth much either. When selling I've offered to leave items which fit nicely in particular rooms for free, because they suit the place and maybe won't suit my new place so well. I don't think this is unusual, and it's nice to be nice. Unless they reluctantly agreed a low price for your new home, they may be very amenable.

Yes, good call not to involve the agent I think.

The norm I think is that integrated white goods are already included, but £30-50 for freestanding ones is ok though some people will chuck them in for free.

You should price up and specify bigger things but be wary of picking through their belongings too much. We had a kind of catch-all - the seller left things she thought might be useful, for free, and on our side we didn't complain about anything left uncleared and we were responsible for disposing of anything we didn't want. It worked really well. You'd need to trust your sellers though. Ours had already moved out so we could see the house was largely cleared.

All v useful - many thanks. Think being given the tour; them explaining to me what they would be willing to leave and suggesting a price: and me explaining that I need everything but have limited budget, is the way to go. Then we can hopefully meet in the middle with ref to other second hand items.

Thank you.

Sounds like a plan. Not saying this is a hard and fast rule, but these days it is fairly unusual for sellers to take carpets and light fittings with them. There's so much variation in window sizes that a lot of people leave curtains and blinds too. If they're expensive made to measure ones they may well be planning to take them.

I offered mine twenty-five quid for the cooker and asked about the washing machine. They are letting me have both and the fridge-freezer for free!

Quick update: met sellers today. There are still good people in the world. Applied advice here, and plan above. After the tour and a discussion of what items would remain, we agreed an ‘all in’ price to cover sofas, beds, table and chairs, wardrobes, bookcases, white good - even the lawnmower and some garden furniture. They were good enough to meet me half way.

Am so delighted as will make life massively easier and their furniture goes perfectly with the house. We both left happy I think, and they are kindly going to provide me with a plan of ‘how the house works’ which is hugely helpful.

Very grateful for all advice which really helped. Thank you.

That's lovely! Enjoy your new home, sounds like it's going to be your haven

Lovely update. Sounds like a really good start to your new home. Good thinking on the garden furniture and lawn mower!