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Original poster

Would you charge your buyers for curtains and blinds?

140 replies

ESpressoNotEXpresso · 04/05/2020 13:43

Hi,

Just that really.

Our sellers are asking quite a lot of money for them. Because the windows are bigger than average and were custom made, rather than declining, we counter offered and they came back, I think, still too high.

Would you charge?... Did you pay?

Thank you! Smile

OP posts:
NotMeNoNo · 04/05/2020 15:35

When we sold our last house, I should have been warned when the agent said "I always try to get a few thousand extra in fixtures and fittings for you" . Cue several weeks of pointless wrangling over sheds, shelves etc. IMO either price it into the sale or take it with you. People who have stretched to buy the house wont suddenly find money for fittings they didnt choose. It made our sale unnecessarily confrontational.

yearinyearout · 04/05/2020 15:45

When we moved once, the seller wanted us to pay extra for every curtain, light fitting, carpet, and we seriously were on the bones of our arse and wouldn’t afford any of it. They took the lot, even the crappy lamp shades and the fitted carpets. We had to move in with a crawling baby onto bare floors and put up with it for a year until we could afford them.
It wouldn’t have been so bad but I’d left loads of stuff for our first time buyer.

Bluntness100 · 04/05/2020 15:49

People generally do charge for carpets and curtains/blinds especially if they are custom made and expensive

They really don’t, the price is supposed to include all fix and fittings, if you’re excluding it then you need to say on the form it’s being excluded and the buyer can adjust the price down accordingly.

You don’t get to pretend the price is inc of fix and fittings then try to sell them a second time.

The issue is the greedy people who do this, have their buyers by the short and curlies, they are just trying to get more money out them. If they did want them they wouldn’t negotiate a sale price.

mencken · 04/05/2020 15:49

last time we sold the buyer was quite surprised that we were leaving curtains. Not only is every house different, but we were going to rental so had no idea what we would have needed. The only 'fixture' that came with was a particular wall shelf unit, but that was specified.

as for moving carpets; even if they weren't getting worn, again who does that? All houses are different! All this stuff should be factored into the price.

MaggieFS · 04/05/2020 16:31

I think it used to be more of a thing because the value of chattels wasn't included in stamp duty so the buyer didn't have to pay out on them, plus they weren't included in the sale price of the house for the Estate Agent's % fee, so it was in both parties interests to have as much outside of the sale price as possible. Could be completely wrong though Grin

Today, as a buyer I'd make it part of my offer to keep it simple - I'll offer £x but it needs to include a,b and c fixtures and fittings. If nothing else, if gives you a few more negotiating tools.

As a vendor, if they're a good buyer who offer a price I want, I'd probably include them if I wasn't dead set on keeping them because it would be a hassle to remove everything. But if the buyer turned out to be a dick or tried to renegotiate the price, I'd pull them out.

WombatChocolate · 04/05/2020 16:59

House selling can bring out the meanness in people. It can show how some people are quite petty and don't se the big picture, but get caught up in little details, often to make a point.

When people have negative memories of the person they bought from, it's usually about fixtures and fittings, not the hundreds of grand paid for the house.

I heard of someone whose seller asked for payment for the carpet - it was old, in a really expensive house. They didn't agree to pay and when they arrived, found the carpet had all been pulled up and cut up and left on the drive. Like a previous poster, they had a crawling baby. Honestly, why?!

I'd say, only accept an offer you are really happy with, which covers the house and any standard fittings you don't want to take away with you. So fine to take the curtains if you love them or the white goods or whatever and exclude them from the sale, but don't try to get extra money for the items you don't want to take.
When you accept an offer, do it on the understanding that is what you will get for anything you choose to leave and that anything else should go with you. It's the thinking that somehow an extra few hindered can be squeezed out if the buyer that is problematic and causes all the aggro.

romatheroamer · 04/05/2020 17:19

This thread certainly strikes a chord with me, as in "don't be such a mug next time".
Offered to pay for curtains but no dice. Don't know where they were going to fit as they were going into rental but they wanted money for kitchen appliances. Dishwasher has already had to be replaced and oven new fan. Noticed from feedback they gave on agents' site that they thought they'd sold well anyway.
Next time I'll try no thanks and see if they leave the items.

ChrissieKeller61 · 04/05/2020 19:16

Tbh my ex is trying to give my house away in our divorce ... if he succeeds I’ll be taking the windows never mind the curtains !

nowiknowmynoodles · 04/05/2020 20:32

Our seller had absolutely hideous pub carpets. Wanted a grand for them. We said no (we would have pulled them out anyway) he then removed every light fitting in the house leaving live wires hanging out the walls - I was fuming but the solicitor said it wasn't worth the hassle. All because I didn't like his shitty carpet

imsooverthisdrama · 04/05/2020 20:55

When we moved house the house had a lovely fireplace and then we found out last minute when signing the contract I think , that they were taking the fireplace. They said It was very expensive and had not long had it . We made them deduct the cost before signing . I was fuming tbh if they wanted us to pay we would have offered but to take it out , it looked a mess so we had to sort something really quickly.
Then they had the cheek to ask to pass post onto a neighbour that they knew on my street without paying redirecting. I did that for a few weeks as no bother but after a bit I thought no . Weeks later they knocked on my door demanding the post like I'm holding onto it , I just said it's been sent back . I really hope they were stuck with this very expensive fireplace.
Just say no they will probably leave it and if not get some to your taste , they will be stuck with them .

imsooverthisdrama · 04/05/2020 20:58

Sorry just checked with the dh the very expensive fireplace was worth a couple of £100 . They agreed £200 deductions as goodwill so we would sign contract .

YippieKayakOtherBuckets · 04/05/2020 21:11

I agree with PP that your sellers are being petty but be sure that you know the cost of custom-made replacements before you cut off your nose to spite your face. Good quality made to measure curtains are really expensive.

Helena79 · 04/05/2020 22:24

Yes, I would. I’ve never offered to leave curtains, but I’ve been asked about selling them with past houses. Last place we sold the vendor bought all of the curtains, blinds, headboards, cushions, mirrors, light fittings, washer, drier etc. I think as she lives overseas and that way the place was ready to move in and she needed to buy only furniture.

Custom curtains and fittings are expensive. We recently had new curtains and blinds installed in our new house. The windows are huge and we couldn’t buy off the shelf. DC1’s bedroom curtains cost £2k inc a custom pole (18m of fabric), our curtains cost £1.8k inc custom track and pelmet (21m of fabric), DC2’s Roman blind cost £1k on a custom electric mechanism (9m of fabric) and so on. All of the windows are big, so I’d take the curtains with me to next house and cut them down to size.

MagnificentMillie · 04/05/2020 22:44

They wouldn’t be my taste though, it’s peanuts in the scheme of things. I have always left custom made blinds and curtains.

BackforGood · 04/05/2020 23:21

They said that for £1000 they'd leave it for us - utterly ridiculous since clearly it wouldn't able to just be removed and fitted in another house

Er..... why not ? Confused
Of course you can move a carpet.

This same question comes up on MN every now and then.
I do think it depends when you last sold / bought, as, as pp have said. It absolutely used to be the norm. Indeed, as has been suggested upthread, when we bought the house before this one, we made an offer a fraction under the stamp duty price, then paid £1000 'for fixtures and fittings' - as was normal practice then.
Now, if you are buying off someone who has been in their house for a long time, then it's perfectly reasonable that they might not be aware things have changed so much.

Also, if they are custom made and a wide fitting window, you need to consider how much you would have to pay to get some new ones made, compared with a compromise price on they ones that are already there.

LolaSkoda · 04/05/2020 23:59

I would never pay extra for a sellers items. Either price it into the sale price or take it all with you as far as I’m concerned.

I have a ‘thing’ for light fittings and spend a reasonable amount on them. When I come to sell I would either choose to leave them for the buyer or explain that I was taking them with me, and replace them with a standard fitting.

OP, tell them to piss off. You think they’re being unreasonable, so if you pay for them you will end up looking at them with resentment!

caribooshriek · 05/05/2020 00:02

We just gave ours away, so to speak. Included in the price of the house. They were custom made and cost a fortune but we had no use for them.

Smallgoon · 05/05/2020 00:25

@WombatChocolate and the most sensible post of the day award goes to... Smile

ImDillDandin · 05/05/2020 00:25

We paid our seller £800 for all of the curtains and blinds here. All custom made and only 2 years old. I thought that was fair. It would have cost us a small fortune to replace them - the sitting room curtains and poles alone cost 2k new.

Smallgoon · 05/05/2020 00:28

@Borgonzola need to see a picture of those curtains...

wafflyversatile · 05/05/2020 01:03

God I remember a friends dad selling his dead mums property. Lots of worthless furniture he didnt want and you'd have to pay to have taken away. Tried to sell to the buyer. Now they were a ftb so while they didnt like the stuff some of it would be useful at first until she bought her own stuff which would take time on a budget. He wanted way too much. She would only pay so much so rather than accept her offer or just leave it or give it to charity he took an axe to it. Despicable man, he was.

I wouldnt dream of charging for stuff I didnt want for myself.

cabbageking · 05/05/2020 01:11

I would offer any expensive items or sell them if it was worth it.

Totally up to the buyer to refuse or negotiate a price.

FiveShelties · 05/05/2020 07:21

I would pay if I really really wanted them but would not think of charging anyone who bought a property from me. I have always offered a price for a property and specified that this includes carpets, curtains etc to stop any stupidity down the line.

heylittlehenwhenwhenwhen · 05/05/2020 09:19

When we bought our first house the vendors suggested that we pay an additional amount for the chinese lampshades that they weren't going to need. They were the round paper ones from Habitat Grin

When we bought our last house the vendors removed every single light fitting leaving just wires from the ceiling. There was one light bulb in the toilet - that was it.

They also took the wood burning stove leaving the top couple of feet of the flue hanging out of the ceiling.

When we bought our current house they has refreshed all the paintwork throughout and left a kettle, teabags and mugs. This almost made up for the fact that the dark wood floor in the living room had only been stained around the large rug and sideboard.

Pipandmum · 05/05/2020 09:23

No. More likely than not they will leave them anyway as they will be too much of a hassle to move. I always redecorate so wouldn't want anyone else's curtains.
When selling I say curtains etc included however if they do not want them (and I still like them) I would remove them and reuse them in some way or donate them.