Seller's Question
I am selling my apartment soon. I have beautiful sconces and pendant lighting from France and Italy that I had installed in my apt. Is it ok to show my apartment with the lighting and then take it when I leave? Do buyers assume light fixtures are included/not included? Should the real estate agent tell…
I am selling my apartment soon. I have beautiful sconces and pendant lighting from France and Italy that I had installed in my apt. Is it ok to show my apartment with the lighting and then take it when I leave? Do buyers assume light fixtures are included/not included? Should the real estate agent tell perspective buyers that it is not included? Does that effect the selling price?
With so many light fixtures and high ceilings as you describe 7:19, that’s exactly why you should either include the fixtures with the property or go ahead and install some replacement ones now.
Otherwise you can guarantee the buyers will use the fact the place comes with no light fixtures, to negotiate the price down.
This boils down to mutual agreement, there aren’t laws protecting a potential buyer that what they see at a sales visit is what they get on closing inspection (once the closing inspection is done that’s another matter). If you have a chandelier and you want to remove it before you close, it’s okay to show the place with the chandelier in place but you’d be a real scoundrel not to clearly disclose to potential buyers what you wanted to do. And closings have fallen apart for smaller issues than that.
That’s why there are walk throughs before closings. People sometimes take dishwashers, refrigerators, all sorts of things with them. For a reason I can’t even remember, I had to actually move with my own range once. As long as everyone knows what’s happening up front, you’ll avoid arguments about it at the closing
Got it. Thanks. My thoughts were that the house would show much better with the lights and that replacing drop lighting for 13 foot ceilings and 10 sconces would be costly.
This gives me something to think about.
If light fixtures are very expensive or rare, even if a seller didn’t want to keep them I’d say definitely take them out. In a slower market a seller might not get a return on them when selling the apartment. Some imported chandeliers and light fixtures easily cost thousands of dollars. People’s tastes differ so much, the buyers might not see the fixtures worth spending more on the apartment to buy. Install some stylish but moderately priced fixtures instead for selling.
If you do leave them in (sometimes places show better with the nice stuff) have the descriptive sheet that the broker hands out on your place list what is going – so they get it in writing, as well as from the broker verbally. That way, they shouldn’t be surprised when they get the contract from your attorney with them listed as excluded from the contract. There is a place on the first page of the contract where you list what is and isn’t included.
When I bought, the broker said verbally “they are taking the chandelier” (not on first showing, which would have been better if I’d cared, but when I was there later for my inspection) and my reply was – “good, it isn’t my style anyway – doesn’t go with my stuff.” (The place did show better with it in – it was nice, just not my style.) Even if it was, I wouldn’t have minded them taking it – I’d have just bought a similar one.
As long as you are upfront, it shouldn’t be a problem. If you are concered about someone arguing with you over the contract exclusion, replace it with cheap, generic stuff before showing – but that isn’t really necessary as long as the contract is clear when it is signed. Once the contract is signed (be sure to carefully review what your attorney has and has not crossed out in the exclusions section), it can’t be a problem after that – they’ve agreed.
Agree you should take them down before showing, the buyers won’t be disappointed if they don’t know they exist…
I believe the law indicates all fixtures are included unless specified otherwise so I would be very clear that you are not leaving them.
Yeah, it’s an unnecessary red flag otherwise. Change them before the showing.
Fixtures are included. You can list the place exclusive of them and the broker would tell potential buyers. Ask the broker if they recommend just taking them down now and replacing with cheaper home-depot stuff.