House Buying - ballpark white goods/ furniture payment?

laurathree

Hi all,

We are currently in the torturous process of trying to buy a 2-bed flat in London, but the solicitors and mortgage moans are for another board...

we are buying from a lady who is returning to Italy after living in London for some years, so I think she is unlikely to want to take much with her. The flat is almost empty, save for:

Fitted kitchen (pretty new - last 3 years maybe?) including a washing machine (not integrated - sat neatly under a counter) and an integrated fridge. Not sure about the freezer

One large wardrobe in the spare bedroom

Two large wardrobes and a bed in the main bedroom

A shed in the garden (contents unknown...)

As this lady appears to have all-but moved out, and she is leaving for Italy, I am hoping she might leave the majority of this stuff. Any garden tools would be amazing as we have none of our own except a couple of hand tools (this flat has 2 rather large lawned gardens), and we have no wardrobes at all as our rental flat has (hideous) fitted ones. We also have no bed.

So, two questions:

White Goods - assuming there *is* an integrated freezer (we didn't look in every cupboard), or even if it's just the fridge and the washing machine... how much would we be expected to offer for these on top of the purchase price?

Furniture - the 3x wardrobes and bed are fine, and would save us rushing out to buy our own immediately, but they are not what we would choose, and I would be unwilling to pay for them, but happy for her to leave them behind. Is this really cheeky?

It might be worth adding our accepted offer on this property is £7,000 over the asking price... so is there a case to say that we feel the white goods/ mystery shed should be included in that if she asks for payment?

I am waiting on the EA's response as to what she plans to do with all that stuff but nothing yet.

Thanks all,

Laura

Cisco001

I would pay nothing.

Probably give her two weeks and say to her if she are not coming to collect within 2 weeks, you would assume she doesn't want them.

Even there are a fridge or washing machine. Have you check if they are in working order?

rosie383

The vendor will be given a fixtures and fittings list to fill in which will answer your questions as to what is included in the sale. It is very comprehensive if filled in properly. It may be that she plans to leave some of the stuff to save her the bother of taking it but some people with take everything possible. Either wait for the F+F list or ask the EA to ask her. TBH if the goods are something that you can get good use out of, look and see what you could buy a similar thing for on ebay second hand and offer around that amount or a bit less. But I wouldn't offer a penny until you find out what her intentions are. You may be lucky. We are selling and would be delighted if we got £1000 for a four piece suite, cooker, fridge feeezer and all curtains blinds, curtain poles etc. But equally we would probably take a few hundred as it will save us the cost of transporting them.

Pete9501

Go for it and write to the EA saying that since the offer is £7k over oculd she leave the extras in and save her the problem of disposing of them. You have nothing to loose by asking in writing.

We have just gained a fridge, freezer and settee because the old couple moved into a flat with fitted kitchen units and we moved out of a house with fitted kitchen so have no white goods. Whilst they are not new it saved our vendors the disposal problem and us a few quid.

Certainly don't over pay for any of it, e bay and local newspapers are full of this stuff.

laurathree

Thanks all - just got the best possible answer from the EA. Vendor is intending to leave all the kitchen appliances behind, and was planning to dismantle and bin the furniture, but EA confirmed if we'd like to keep it she's happy to leave it all as is.

Ahh, not very often a house-buying issue solves itself so neatly! That will save us bankrupting ourselves in IKEA the week we move in, I hope.

TBagpuss

what would they fetch if sold second hand? Because that is the most it would be reasonable to pay.

I'd do as Pete says and in the first instance just ask for confirmation that they are included. If the answer is no, consider how much you think they are worth - (if necessary, go back to check make, model and age)

I personally would probably not pay more than £50 each for a washer or fridge, and I think it is absolutely fine to say that you are not interested in buying the beds and wardrobes but do not require them to be removed if she wishes to leave them.

I don't know about your local council, but mine charges (I think) £35 to collect large items so if she is not planning to sell them or take them with her it might cost her to get them out of the property, and if she left them without prior agreement you would be entitled to claim back from her the cost of getting rid of them, so no, not cheeky at all.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Good news - FWIW, I would expect all fitted furniture and integrated appliances to be staying and included in the price unless stated otherwise - they are fittings, not chattels and as such would expect any additional money paid for them to attract stamp duty. If a vendor said they were planning on taking a fitted kitchen and integrated appliances with them, I'd be seeking a reduction in purchase price to compensate, not offering them money!

Freestanding stuff though - that's entirely up to the vendor and I wouldn't assume it was staying - not even appliances. Bear in mind these things can range from being worth very little (cheap furniture, low end appliance models several years old etc.) to worth a fair bit (antiques, bespoke furniture, top of the range brand new appliances).

benjus

Generally people pay next to nothing for furniture and appliances left in a property for sale (unless new, high-spec ones).

Unless, that is, the property's sale price is near a SDLC threshold, in which case they somehow suddenly become worth thousands. However, HMRC is aware of this "trick".

rosie383

What a great result OP! Enjoy your free stuff!