Should we ask buyers to pay for appliances, carpets and blinds?

[7in1Pond]

We're (hopefully) moving and I've just been filling in all the details about what is and isn't included.

We have a range cooker (10yo but good), very new dishwasher, newish Miele washer and tumble dryer, wine fridge. We also have nice Roger Oates carpets and fitted blinds.

Should I be asking for money for any of this? I don't want any of it (except maybe the washer and dryer if the people we are selling from don't leave theirs). What's the norm?

Also you would then have to clean behind the range cooker and underneath it, whereas if you leave it in place…..😁

Carpets no. But we charged for our (custom made) blinds, and freestanding kitchen units as were only a couple of years old. Charged less than you’d get on Marketplace. You can only ask for money and they can say no.

I dont see that this is an especially silly question, perhaps we buy cheaper houses than some others here but I have never left or been left curtains or white goods (but yes if they were fitted I would expect them to remain). Range cookers we have always moved with us aside from when we agreed a price with buyers last time.

Carpets and blinds i would expect to be left unless specified. When we last moved we did take two very expensive light fittings but were really clear on that from the point of listing and we offered to have the buyers replacement fittings installed when we took ours down (at our expense) but they just asked for plain bulbs.

When we moved into that house the sellers tried to charge us extra for bog standard blinds and light fittings and when we refused to pay deliberately damaged them and left bare wires with no fitting at all in the ceiling fittings.

I think the key is to be very clear from the beginning, dont be offended if they won't pay extra, if they actively dont want it then take it with you (we had to move two bespoke cupboards we had no space for but they didn't want, so fair enough) and leave things safe/legal.

So you might get some pushback now if they thought everything was included and you only mention extra costs now.

In my 47 years I have never heard of anyone taking the carpets. I think it is worthy of eye rolling.

Ask your estate agent and/ or your solicitor about “fixtures and fittings.”

They are usually included in the contracted price.

I don’t want your white goods, expect your curtain rails but not curtains or blinds, and the expect the carpets. If you leave anything else I’d want you to pay to remove it.

A general rule of thumb taught to me when I was doing my conveyancing seat (shudder) was to imagine turning your house upside down, if it falls out take it with you if it doesn't, it stays.

To be fair, this is true.

Carpets and curtains were left at an additional price. It usually ended up that carpets were left for nothing because it was a faff to take them up, but curtains were taken. White goods/cookers were never left, they went from house to house.

I suspect most people sneering are younger and haven't bought and sold many times over decades.

The only context where I think taking these things might be normal, would be if you were buying a house that had been rented out, and the white goods etc. belonged to the people renting rather than to the landlord. In that situation, yes, probably you'd have to have a conversation (or the LL would have to compensate the tenants).

I know someone who wanted £100 for the fitted wardrobes and the buyer said no so she had to remove them, dispose of them and fill in all the holes.

You'd be surprised what people charge for. A colleague had a transaction where the seller offered the boiler for sale, then removed it himself as he was a qualified heating engineer when her client wouldn't pay.

Fucking hell you're tight. Who even considers taking the carpets these days? If you don't want the white goods then by all means ask if they want to buy those, but the rest of it I really couldn't imagine trying to charge for.

Are you prepared to take them with you if they say no OP? Our vendor tried to charge us for the appliances and curtains, we told them we didn't want them.

its meant to be funny…

Also if it's something like an AGA that's like charging for the boiler! I would expect a reduction in the purchase price if I expected a kitchen with an AGA or similarly expensive range.

It would never occur to me that freestanding appliances are part of the same regardless if I was selling or buying
I’d take any blinds and curtains you could reuse chances are new buyers would bin them anyway
I’d probably leave carpets as no use

Appliances yes unless old or built in. Carpets and curtains/blinds no, but you can take the curtains/blinds with you if you wish to as long as you declare it

You can offer the appliances on the form however they are entitled to say no and you have to remove them or leave them for them to have for free. Anything fitted is usually included in the house price

I would leave the range cooker in my house and probably the dishwasher but I’d take my washing machine and tumble dryer because they’re free standing in my garage. I would also leave the blinds etc because why wouldn’t you? I can’t imagine who would let somebody move into a house with no window coverings.

The clue is in “fixtures and fittings”.

If it’s fixed (integrated appliances, shelves, curtain rails etc) or fitted (carpets, blinds etc) then it stays.

If it’s freestanding (furniture, non integrated appliances) it goes.

The grey area is usually curtains and light shades.

12 years ago, our vendors offered us the dishwasher (not integrated) for £100. We looked up how much a new slimline dishwasher would be and told them we would buy it from them. No mention of its being out of warranty (or that it leaked often, not surprisingly). We would have preferred that they left it free of charge, but maybe they didn't because we were getting the house for £1,000 less than they paid... We were skint and had to buy the cheapest cooker we could find as they'd taken theirs.

It might not be the norm but it wasn't an unexpected ask for us, so something about it must have been standard.

You can’t charge for anything fitted like carpets,
integrated appliances or blinds

we were asked to buy the greenhouse. We said
no thanks. Guess what, they left it.

Definitely leave carpets, unusual to take blinds if fitted in recess if window. Curtains are really personal taste so quite possibly take, White goods unless integrated I'd take. Range cooker is the difficult one. Depends if your kitchen blurb said space for cooker or not. Range cookers can be upwards of £1.5k easy (some double that) so I can see why someone would take it with them.