When selling your home, it’s good to know what normally ‘conveys’ with the home/sale and what you are allowed to remove. In fact, there is a specific section for such built into our sales contracts, but there remains confusion oftentimes and hopefully this blog will help clear some of that up. It usually comes down to what is “attached” or “affixed”, but what does that mean? Well, the answer isn’t always clear… but basically it means it’s fastened or adhered to something else.
For example, you hang wall art, pictures and decorations by a nail/screw, but they’re not built-in and can be easily lifted off the wall. Whereas, a curtain rod is anchored into the wall normally and doesn’t just pull away.
Let’s begin with appliances… anything “built-in” remains such as the dishwasher, range/oven and microwave if not a countertop version, but Refrigerators, Washing Machines & Clothes Dryers are considered personal property and therefore the latter three items do not have to remain. They are negotiable, however, and many buyers will find value in them staying.
As mentioned, Curtains & Rods, Draperies and Window Treatments are supposed to stay, although with the proper disclosure and verbiage in the contract, a seller could still get to keep them after closing.
Security systems with camera & video doorbells have become very popular, but it’s also created some gray area for real estate. Many get locked into contracts for the equipment & monitoring, but those systems are built-in most of the time and therefore would remain. The buyers usually don’t want to absorb that cost so the seller can end up paying to leave the equipment behind. This includes other smart home devices such as thermostats.
Light fixtures and ceiling fans are pretty straightforward to stay, but what about mounted TVs? Per our contract’s standard verbiage, the wall mount stays, but the TV is personal property and can be removed.
When it comes to outdoor plants… if they are unpotted, they stay, but if they are in a pot that can be picked up, they can go.
As you can imagine, there are countless other scenarios that come into question so if you’re unsure, ask us and we will figure it out.
