inexperienced 1st time buyer looking for help

jnorthwood31

Hi everyone. Me and the girlfriend are in the process of buying our 1st house, we've had the lending agreed and waiting on surveys.
We've had contact with our sellers solicitor today asking if we would Co operate to get the exchange done before Christmas. .. something we are more than happy to do so replied immediately with a yes. Soon after our estate agent rang and the seller's have asked to meet us on Monday to discuss what we'd like to be left in the house. Here's were I'm confused. Are we expected to pay extra for items such as carpets and curtains and there's an oven and fridge freezer we'd quite like to keep. What is a reasonable fee to pay? And if we can't come to an agreement what are they entitled to take from the house?

very inexperienced in this type of thing so some of this may be obvious.

Any advice would be much appreciated

enthusiasticsaver

I wouldn't expect to pay extra for carpets and curtains. Almost always carpets are left and included in the price as the seller can't take them with them and we have never moved to a house where the carpets have gone. If you want the curtains just say you want them and don't offer to pay extra and see what they say. Again they are not likely to fit windows in their new house so they may be happy to leave anyway.


They are entitled to take anything which is movable so if the oven and fridge freezer are free standing and not integral they could take them with them and often it depends on whether the place they are going to already has them. Again I would not offer - price is negotiable according to condition so if they ask for an amount take a judgement on whether you consider it is worth it or if you would rather buy new. It may just be that as they want to move quickly they are going through the fixtures and fittings form which states everything they are going to leave on completion.

Newly_retired

I don't think you can generalise.
We left some carpets, but some rooms were overdue for redecoration so we got rid of the carpets in those rooms before we decorated in neutral colours. We left some curtains and carpets and blinds but not all, as there were some we could use.
We left a free standing cooker and freezer as they did not fit in our new property.
We did not charge extra for any of this stuff. None of it was newish.
Our FTBs were very pleased as it gave them a start.

lincroft1710

Bear in mind that the value of secondhand electrical items is negligible when they are out of guarantee. Over 5 years old and they are probably on "borrowed time".

paulsad

I left loads and my wife has never forgiven me; some beautiful light fittings as I couldn't be a*s*d removing them, as well as a fairly new fridge freezer and range cooker - wouldn't fit my new place. Like has been said depends on your vendors they may wish to negotiate a price for extras.
Did buy once off a real scrooge he took everything including curtain rails - actually came back when we'd moved in for a 3 ft long one he'd forgotten over the back door. I was so stunned I ripped it off and threw it at him. We'd bought the house without him needing to go through an EA so saved him a bundle, he'd originally said the gas fire was included then our solicitor rang and said he wanted an additional £400 which us being young and naive agreed to.

penguingirl

Sometimes vendors will offer to sell you stuff they don't want anyway- our vendor gave us a list of things to 'sell' including some light fittings and curtain rails. She also wanted £200 for the shed. We didn't agree to any of them, as we knew the vendor was going into rented and she'd been a nightmare anywhere so we quite liked the idea of her taking the shed apart and removing it. Of course she didn't, and 5 years later we are still happily using it. She did take some of the curtain rails, but left the light fittings and also the mouldy conservatory blinds (that she'd tried to charge us £30 for)

jnorthwood31

Thanks for your replies guys. as were young and naïve I just don't want the vendor taking advantage of us. I suppose it depends fully on the sellers attitude towards there items. Now I have heard some of your experiences I feel more comfortable going into this meeting on Monday, who knows maybe we'll end up with a free cooker and fridge freezer.

Hoploz

Just find out what they want to take and get a feel for what they are not going to want to take with them. If there are things they don't need they will quite likely just leave them.

Certainly don't get involved in any bartering, or agreeing to buy anything in person on the day. All this will form part of the sellers information forms which they will complete for the solicitors, then you see it and if they list items for sale on that document you can choose at that point to buy them or not. But you will already have got a feel for whether they actually WANT these items or not. Make sure if you'd like them to leave things they can't get rid of you say you are happy for them to do so, otherwise they might dump old white goods etc that you could use, if you say you don't want to buy them at the first price they suggested.

whoschuffed

Sorry to hijack this thread but it feels relevant - Who do you speak to about seeing if the vendor will leave things in a property.

The house we are buying is being sold on behalf of a late Father (we think). Its vacant anyway but a lot of the old furniture and appliances are still in the property.

Now most of it is junk but i'll happily keep his fridge and sofa's until its time for us to replace them as an interim measure.

I did ask the EA about what would happen to all the furniture before we moved in and they said it would all be gone. Does my solicitor get a copy of anything which shows things which are going to be left or anything, or do I ask my solicitor to ask theirs?

rosie383

Tell the EA to tell the vendor that you don't mind if they leave x y z. They will probably be happy no to have to get rid of some of the larger items. Don't offer to pay for them though. If you wait until you get the fixtures and fittings list it may be too late.