Curtains in House Sale

tbs624

Catbells wrote: »

I think this is an over reaction.

Firstly I am renting - I hadn't planned to do this when I put my house up for sale with all the curtains for sale.
The place I am renting temporarily until I buy has very drab curtains. So when I found out the buyer wanted to come and measure for his own curtains tomorrow I realised he is clearly going to replace them with ones of his choice - not my choice. The ones I have put up are the same colour and will give them privacy until they get new ones.

I can see that technically - to the letter - the other ones were the ones up first but they are not superlative quality so I am not taking away anything which is going to leave them out of pocket.

What I wanted to know was the legal standing on this.

People can only go on what you put in your OP. The legal standing is that if you say you are leaving what is in place at the property, then it *is* what is at the property that you should be leaving rather than a replacement, unless the buyer agrees otherwise.

The buyer, although measuring for curtains, may have plans for the ones that you said you were leaving.

My point was that it was ironic for you to effectively say that "all curtains are equal" as far as your buyer goes, but that on the other hand it was okay for you to have a preference to take those particular ones after agreeing to leave them.

Why not just ask the buyer whether s/he minds - most people are fine about such things when /if you are upfront but if you try to be underhand it can cause ill-feeling between you and your purchaser. Both parties feeling that there can be an element of trust & fair play does help things run more smoothly.:)

harrup

giddypenguin wrote: »

Along a similar vein, we've had energy saving bulbs in most of our light fittings during viewings - would it be cheeky to replace them with normal bulbs when we left?

Depends.

If it states "energy saving bulbs" on the EA sales details leave them.

if it doesn't there you might as well take them whilst replacing them with cheaper ones.

That aside....substituting lightbulbs or curtains are veeeeeeeeeeeeery different things.:) I can't see many buyers throwing a stellar hissy fit because a house doesn't have the same bulbs as when they saw it before.

westlondonbuyer

Catbells, if you're selling after 20 years, are you not getting an absolute FORTUNE for your house? Why are you fretting about curtains when you could be laughing all the way to the bank?:)

sunshinetours

westlondonbuyer wrote: »

Catbells, if you're selling after 20 years, are you not getting an absolute FORTUNE for your house? Why are you fretting about curtains when you could be laughing all the way to the bank?:)

Sorry but that is rather irrelevant (and a bit personal I guess). Its either legal or not legal (in a contract sense) -think it has already been clarified it is not "legal" as the house should be sold as seen and as specified

giddypenguin

westlondonbuyer wrote: »

Catbells, if you're selling after 20 years, are you not getting an absolute FORTUNE for your house? Why are you fretting about curtains when you could be laughing all the way to the bank?:)

It's not really a fortune though is it? It's reletive as overall house prices have raised...

westlondonbuyer

I should also say, it's worth clearing with your buyer what s/he *doesn't* want of the fixtures and fittings.

When we sold my husband's flat, that never occurred to us. We were just delirious with relief to have got the place sold.

We left behind everything, including a white stone elephant doorstop the previous owner had left behind, even though I LOVED that white elephant. It just felt like bad karma to remove it from his "resting place".

Two weeks after the sale, I strolled by the old flat, and in front of it was a skip containing my husband's 18 month old cast-glass bathroom sink, his 12 month old custom-made fitted cupboards, and the white elephant. With his trunk broken. I'd have cried if it wasn't for the fact I only had myself to blame.

westlondonbuyer

giddypenguin wrote: »

It's not really a fortune though is it? It's reletive as overall house prices have raised...

Sorry, that *was* personal. Definitely wasn't intending to be rude. It's just that on another thread, I read Catbell's house has just sold for £1m. That's a fortune to me:o

Alikay

We bought a house and paid the full asking price on condition that curtains and carpets were left. The curtains when we viewed the house were lovely lined quality drapes which matched the decor beautifully. Of course we intended to redecorate at some stage but our budget was stretched and we didn't know when that'd be, so nice coordinating curtains and decor meant we wouldn't have to rush into changing things when we couldn't afford it.

On the day we moved in they'd taken all the nice curtains down and replaced with horrid thin ones off the market that neither fitted nor matched the decor. I was very disappointed, but when I spoke briefly to our solicitor about it he said yes, they had broken the contract but a dispute would cost much more to resolve than the curtains were worth.

If I ever want someone's curtains again I'll insist on separating it from the purchase price and giving the curtain money in cash on or after handover.

LandyAndy

Alikay wrote: »

We bought a house and paid the full asking price on condition that curtains and carpets were left. The curtains when we viewed the house were lovely lined quality drapes which matched the decor beautifully. Of course we intended to redecorate at some stage but our budget was stretched and we didn't know when that'd be, so nice coordinating curtains and decor meant we wouldn't have to rush into changing things when we couldn't afford it.

On the day we moved in they'd taken all the nice curtains down and replaced with horrid thin ones off the market that neither fitted nor matched the decor. I was very disappointed, but when I spoke briefly to our solicitor about it he said yes, they had broken the contract but a dispute would cost much more to resolve than the curtains were worth.

If I ever want someone's curtains again I'll insist on separating it from the purchase price and giving the curtain money in cash on or after handover.

If the curtains aren't specifically identified in the sale details I don't see that there is any obligation to leave anything other than 'some curtains'.

Errata

Catbells wrote: »

I said I would leave all the curtains at my house which I've just sold and I have. Its just that I have taken down two sets of curtains and replaced them with similar ones which I bought new because I wanted the ones that were up when the buyers viewed the house. My friend said I shouldn't have done this. Curtains are curtains surely. ALSO The buyers are coming round tomorrow to measure up for curtains so assume they only want them for temporary privacy. They weren't lavish curtains.

If curtains are curtains why didn't you go to your local charity shop and buy a couple of paris for a fiver ?
I suspect it may because you're hoping your buyer won't notice the curtains they saw are no longer there or becuase you think you can flannel your way out of what you told your buyer you would do.