Does The Refrigerator Come With The House?

When I first got started in real estate and was learning the nuances of the purchase contract, my trainer told a story that has stuck with me to this day. She was working with a couple buying a home from a widower that had lived in it for numerous years, but was moving out of the area to start a new life. He had actually signed the closing papers a day earlier than the buyers, and when they arrived the morning of the walk through, the house was totally empty as expected, but all of the kitchen cabinets were gone as well.   Imagine the surprise and confusion! A few phone calls later, it was ascertained that the older gentleman had actually built the cabinets himself and assumed that they were his personal property and not a part of the house itself. The contract to purchase, however, defined them as ‘fixtures’, not unlike a dining room chandelier, so they should have stayed.  (He did return and re-install the cabinets.) This could have easily been avoided if the agent and the seller had talked about personal property and conveyances. 

How can you tell if an item in a home will convey?

Most people don’t buy or sell homes often, so it’s easy for buyers and sellers to make assumptions about whether personal property or fixtures are included in the sale of a home. Also, other parts of the country have different customs about what they leave behind or take with them. In Texas, for example, people tend to take their refrigerators with them from home to home. As a general rule of thumb, appliances are included. But to avoid confusion on what stays, personal property should ALWAYS be addressed in the offer to purchase. Appliances should be specifically named in the offer so there is a clear understanding between buyers and sellers.  There is protection for both buyer and seller for having these items spelled out in writing. Let’s say as a buyer you are planning on the appliances being left and you get to your final walk through and they are gone. If it wasn’t specified within your offer, technically there is nothing you can do about it. Conversely, as a seller, if the appliances weren’t included in the offer and you leave them there, the buyer could make you remove them. This could delay your closing while you arrange for removal and disposal, because the buyer does not have to close until they are removed. In the earlier example, the seller could have specified in the contract that he wanted to take the cabinets with him. Since he didn’t, the buyers were within their rights to ask for them to be brought back and reinstalled. Furnishings are another kind of personal property that should be addressed in an offer to purchase. As a buyer, if you are asking for furnishings to be included, you may want to just attach a bill of sale to the offer to purchase and buy them from the seller separately. Lenders generally do not want personal furnishings on the offer because they are only lending on the value of the house. They don’t want to get into putting a value on furnishings as well. 

What’s the difference between a fixture and personal property?

Whether or not an item in the house is considered a fixture that conveys with the house, or personal property that does not, can sometimes be tricky to ascertain. Items like brackets for wall mount televisions, custom drapery, chandeliers, and floating wall shelves all fall into a gray area. The seller and buyer may not make the same assumption based on whether the item is permanently affixed to the home. The best way to handle it is to spell out conveyances on the offer to purchase, so both parties can come to a mutual agreement on what will remain with the home. This is yet another reason we recommend hiring a Realtor to represent you. A good agent pays attention to the small details that could add up to big problems if missed. Looking for a great Realtor to help you? We’d love to chat and hear about what you are looking for in your next move. Please reach out to us here!