Wear and tear after moving - inform buyers?

[Sfex]

Currently in the process of selling/moving to our dream home.

Our current home is a new build which we have lived in for 5 years since being brand new. We’ve done a lot to it even up until recently, and our buyers (first time buyers) have said numerous times that the thing they love about it is that it’s move in ready with nothing to do. However, it occurred to me that this isn’t really going to be the case. We have a lot of fixed furniture which will leave marks at best/holes and damage at worst when moved. Examples are -

TVs on the wall, with holes drilled out behind to feed the wires through so they aren’t trailing down.
Floating TV cabinet fixed to the wall.
Light fittings which will need to be removed.

The big one is then the wardrobes. One room is a dressing room, and Ikea PAX were installed to look like fitted wardrobes. This included removing the skirting board so they sit flush to the wall and having the carpet installed around. They have already said they don’t wish to keep them or buy them off us, but when they’re removed they will have half a carpet and missing skirting boards. Same in the nursery - the skirting board was cut out so the wardrobe sits flush in the corner.

Do we need to say something to our buyers about it? DH is of the opinion that they should realise that stuff will need doing once furniture, at least fitted furniture, is moved. I’m not so sure.

Any advice please!

I think it would be extremely unfair to remove wardrobes leaving gaps in carpet and skirting, without advising the buyers beforehand - they may change their minds about buying the furniture from you - that said, I personally would leave it at no extra cost if they wanted it.
They have only declined because of the extra costs involved, which may turn out to be less than paying new carpet and skirting.

The contract/fixtures and fittings list just states that a ceiling rose and basic fitting should be left which is what we would put back in place. The light fittings are big, bespoke, expensive fittings (think chandelier type but not that grand!) which we don’t want to leave/will put up in the new house.

You don’t have to fill every hole @Sfex we never have and never had any complaints (moved 6 times). Equally, the properties we have moved into have never been perfect either. There are always some holes in walls/ scuffed paintwork etc & marks where pictures & mirrors have been, it’s normal in my experience.

I think your mistake on the wardrobes OP was asking them- if you don't want them and they're fitted, you should have just left them. It would then be up to the buyers to remove them if they wanted to.

You definitely need to tell them that you are happy to take the wardrobes but the carpet is missing - do they want them left instead?

You're thinking too much about their side of the matter.

You write down what you are taking and leaving. They either accept that or start a negotiation.

You absolutely do not need to make good where you have hung pictures etc. That's the buyer's problem.

I think you are being very unreasonable as you appear to have given your buyers the impression that the house will be fit to move into without any work. I think you should have made clear to them when they said that that you would be removing the TV fitting and light fittings and that would leave marks that will need to be repainted. As for dismantling fitted wardrobes and leaving holes in the skirting board and only part of the room carpeted, that is just wrong. Whatever your contract says, you must know yourself that you have not been honest with your buyers and that your proposed behaviour is shoddy. Would you want to be treated like this?

I think you then should make good the paintwork around the new, basic light fitting. And I would make good damage to the wall from the TV, but I wouldn't worry about small bits from pictures etc

I think you definitely need to tell them that the carpet is fitted up to the wardrobe, so if they want you to remove it there will be a gap in the carpet and skirting boards. It probably should have been mentioned when moving them was discussed. But just send a message informing them - they can keep the wardrobe (for free) or have the gap.

Have you actually read my PPs? We said we are happy to leave the wardrobes but they have specifically said they don’t want them and asked for them to be removed. I can see from the majority of considered responses on here now that we need to go back to them and explain about the carpet/skirts and see what they want to do given that.

And I have given the buyers no impression whatsoever, I’ve never even met them actually. It’s the estate agent who has said a couple of times about them liking that they can move straight in with nothing to do. And I heard them on the ring doorbell saying similar after the second viewing.

Why is it my responsibility to let them know (point out the obvious) that moving furniture/taking things down off the wall will leave marks? The whole point of this thread is to ascertain what is reasonable to expect them to realise or not.

You originally said they did not want to buy them from you. Now you are saying they don’t want them at all. You need to check.

To add/ask as well, as a few of the responses seem to imply that we have been communicating with the buyers. That isn’t the case, we’ve never met them or even have contact details for them. So all of this is going between the EA and the solicitors (which obviously makes things more difficult/gets lost in communication). Is it more usual for us to get the buyers number/email and just speak to them directly?

In the house we moved into:

1. Nails left in walls (you're not then leaving a hole) - we put pictures in the same place.
2. Large shelving unit removed from the wall, they made good the whole wall and repainted
3. Nice light fittings replaced with ceiling rose - marks (holes and unpainted sections) left on ceiling from larger fittings

We were relatively happy with this but would have preferred they touched up the holes and unpainted parts under the light fittings.

I definitely wouldn't be happy with missing carpet

Sorry, I clarified above it was poor wording on my part - we did put a few prices for things they could potentially buy on the F&F form, some of which they have accepted. With regards to the wardrobes they are not classed as fitted wardrobes (EA and solicitors agreed) so on the form we put that we were happy to leave them, no charge like other items. They came back and said that they didn’t want them and that they would like them removed.

I would always go through the solicitor or estate agent

My point on touching up the marks/holes after they’ve been filled though is that we’re potentially going to get into a situation of having to redecorate the entire house. As a majority of walls have either pictures/stuff up, or furniture up against them.
Obviously after a while you can no longer ‘touch up’ paint as the original has faded/worn over time so any touching up flashes - I know from experience of trying to touch up marks in the hallway, we ended up just having to repaint the entire thing.

Do it through the solicitor but they do need to be aware of missing carpet. Apart from anything else if your fixtures and fittings list specifies fully fitted carpets you would actually be breaching that.

I wouldn’t fill or touch up where pictures have been. But you must tell them what it will look like once the wardrobes are removed. And put light fittings so they can at least can see in the evenings.

The room you have been using as a dressing room, is it built for that purpose i.e. leading from master bedroom, or is it a separate bedroom that you turned into a dressing room?

I'm asking because if the buyers want to change it back to a bedroom then it’s really handy for them that you’ve agreed to remove the wardrobes. I wouldn’t worry too much about the flooring, you’ve been quite reasonable imo.

Thank you - it’s a bedroom that we have turned into a dressing room. They want to use it as a double bedroom again, which it is and would fit a double bed/small wardrobe in but certainly not with the size of the wardrobes we have in there now.

Do you not have any off cuts of carpet left by the fitters

Hooks in walls are fine. Holes from shelves you've said you will be taking also fine.
Light fixtures you MUST tell you are taking plus leave a light source in the room (it can be a bare bulb though).
Wardrobes - if you have said you are removing them then fair enough, though a heads up about the carpet would be good. No one expects behind the wardrobe to be perfect.

All bar the carpet under the wardrobes seems normal to me. I'd fill holes and patch the paintwork myself, but that only works if you know what the paint is or have it, and you may need to paint the whole wall if it has faded. There's nothing you can do about wallpaper. And patches where paintings and clocks and such have been is just normal. Re the wardrobes, I'd be sure to let them know the carpet didn't run underneath, so they know they will have to do something about that, and leave it at that.

I would also like to clarify we have made it 100% clear on the fixtures and fittings form what we will be taking and what we won’t. They are fully aware we will be taking things such as the bespoke light fittings (but will replace with the basic ones), the floating TV cabinet and other items. There are a few things we have given them the option to purchase - a large dresser, shelving unit - which they have agreed. Everything else they know will be removed (wardrobes aside for now), my question is more about how much they should realise removing them, amongst other things, will leave marks.

I think you need to put the missing skirting back - that's something a buyer would reasonably expect to be in place. I would also assume that the whole floor was carpeted and the wardrobes built on top.
I would also fill in holes and repair paintwork as much as possible - it's nice to leave the house liveable.