What Stays With the House After Closing?
A good rule: Anything attached to the house stays with the house. If you are considering selling your home, and you want to take a fixture or appliance with you, then we encourage sellers to remove those items. This includes everything.
Most Tallahassee home sales include the appliances: stoves/ovens, dishwashers, microwaves (if built into cabinets), and refrigerators. Some loans do require that all the appliances that stay with the home be in proper working condition. For example, the FHA handbook states that the mortgage holder “must ensure that appliances that are to remain and that contribute to the market value opinion are operational.” That means the appliances must work.
Of all the appliances, sellers mostly exclude the refrigerator from the sale if anything. This is especially true in new construction. Sometimes, sellers will replace a high-end refrigerator with a new one before listing. Sellers are not required to match the new refrigerator to the old appliances (but it does help appeal to the buyer).
Washers and dryers are the most commonly negotiated item in the house. Sellers often exclude the washer and dryer from home sale because they plan to take it with them. That will not stop the buyer from requesting them.
We recently showed a house where the fruit trees in the front yard were excluded from the sale of the house. The sellers were moving the trees to their new home and would fill in the holes when the trees were removed. Trees and vegetation are considered personal property and can be excluded from the sale. In the area, I have seen sellers exclude sabal palms, chandeliers, generators, and fruit trees from the sale of their homes.
Thinking About Excluding Items From the Sale?
In real estate, there is little that cannot be solved through negotiation. If the seller wants to exclude something from the sale, it is best to make it clear to all prospective buyers. Make sure to post these exclusions in several places the buyer is likely to look – including the sellers’ disclosures, listing description, and a note on the item in the house.
