# Selling a house... money for the fitted carpets?



## KevinST (May 6, 2002)

How many people, when they sold their last house, asked for more money for the fitted capets?
Our buyers threatened to pull out unless we gave them for free


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## head_ed (Dec 10, 2002)

> How many people, when they sold their last house, asked for more money for the fitted capets?
> Our buyers threatened to pull out unless we gave them for free Â


Unless it's stated in the property details that they are included in the sale, they are not inclusive of the price stated. If they agreed a price with you when they made an offer for your house but didn't ask if you would leave or include them in the sale then it's tough!

I guess what you've got to work out is, is it worth the hassle of taking them? Will they really pull out if you don't leave the carpets? :-/

Personally I would refuse to be black mailed and would state quite clearly that this is not what was agreed. If they're paying the asking price leave them and get someone's cat to pee on them the day you leave! ;D


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## reavil (May 7, 2002)

We are selling a flat in Loughton at the mo, the buyer came round to list what was being included in the sale.

Knowing the housing market at the moment, we let her have what she wanted, being a cash buyer we dont want to lose her.

Can't believe we let her have the fridge though


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## chip (Dec 24, 2002)

Kev

you tight ar*e. Will you be taking the lightbulbs with you too? 

I don't know if carpets are classified as "permanent fixtures", but I am not aware of (or experienced) any house purchase where the buyer had to pay extra for the carpets. Unless of course, you had specially made Persian carpets, then I would understand your point of view.


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## nutts (May 8, 2002)

Generally (well certainly in all the houses I've ever looked at buying) carpets are included as negotiable extras, like curtains, gas fire, light fittings, non fitted cabinets, suites, dining table, etc. They may want them and generally ask whether they can be included in the sale, especially if they suit the house.

As someone earlier said, is is worth the hassle of them pulling out?


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

(Off Topic) Nice avatar TT 51YLE

Unless stated that fixtures and fittings are included in the sale then the carpets are excluded. I don't think it unreasonable for you to expect some compensation for the carpets etc. Next time add a bit more to value of house and negotiate from there.


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## mike_bailey (May 7, 2002)

> Unless it's stated in the property details that they are included in the sale, they are not inclusive of the price stated. If they agreed a price with you when they made an offer for your house but didn't ask if you would leave or include them in the sale then it's tough!


When selling and buying I seem to recall that there's usually a form that you fill in stating what's included, what's excluded and what's not applicable. I was told when selling my house that if I didn't specifically exclude a particular item on the form then, by default, the purchaser can rightly claim it as included i.e. the onus is on you to exclude it.

Incidently, when I bought my house the bastard sellers took all of the bathroom fittings such as towel rails and cabinets even though they'd ticked them as included - they were screwed into the bloody tiles. I had to give up trying to get them back in the end as they wouldn't budge


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## KevinST (May 6, 2002)

We're (hopefully) moving into house that requires new bathrooms, carpets, kitchen etc etc.
The carpets were put on the fixtures and fittings list because we knew that we could lift them up and put them (with a little trimming) into the new house, saving us a little money.

We gave into them age gave them the carpets, especially as the estate agent said we were the first sellers in 4 years that had wanted money for the carpets.
They then came back today with offers for the bathroom fittings, about 25% of what we valued them for  I refused the offer - they threatened to pull out again (noticed the trend??) - so the estate agent has said he will cover the fdifference between what the buyer wants to pay and what we want :-/

I realise that the property market is dodgy, I also realise that the value of the bathroom fittings is a small percentage of the cost of the house... but surely you have to draw the line somewhere??


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## Lisa. (May 7, 2002)

We did pull out of a house purchase because of the attitude of a vendor.

He had started to remove things from the "fixtures included " list unless we paid for them.
Most of it was shite anyhow like a plastic shower curtain, a venetain blind, cutlery tray. Stuff like that.
Stuff that you would need to replace anyhow but you could put up with for a short time, but no way would you want to pay extra for junk

The final straw came when he asked for Â£10 to leave the dustbin and the house number. 

I would do as already suggested, bump your price up a bit to cover the extras you would leave in anycase ( like bathroom fittings, remember your towel rail alone will probably cost Â£100 to replace)

If YOU could find a use for your old carpets at your new pad take them with you. It'll cost you far more than the Â£500 they are probably offering to get your new place carpeted straight away. Just work out how much it would cost you to replace them in your new place, take off some wear and tear, if they aren't prepared to pay the price take them with you.

Having said that, we don't have any fitted carpets in anycase in this house( stripped boards and rugs), and I doubt whether the house is worth any more or less because of that. Â


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## Guest (Apr 2, 2003)

> I realise that the property market is dodgy, I also realise that the value of the bathroom fittings is a small percentage of the cost of the house... but surely you have to draw the line somewhere??


yep.. depends on the overall impact of the deal.....

but then as you say at somepoint you HAVE to draw the line.. before the next request comes in.. and the next...


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

When I bought my current house, the owner asked for more money for the blinds and the curtains. I said no, so he took them with him!

Good!! As I bought the things I liked for my new home.

He never asked any extra money for the carpet. But if he did, I would have told him to take them too. Normally it is very difficult to refit them somewhere else as they are cut to shape.


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

When I bought a previous house, the sellers wanted extra money for the carpets which they had recently laid. However, they were not to my taste (read VILE) so I made a token offer. Vendors got very upset and offended at my offer, refusing to believe that I did not want them that much and thinking I was chancing it.

To demonstrate my seriousness, I then insisted that they were all removed completely and the areas made good before I would complete since they were not part of the contract. I know this caused them a lot of unexpected hassle - lifting, moving and refitting carpets is a drag and false economy when you add it all up - I got a nice set of floor boards in return and carpetted some rooms in time with to my taste for far less than I would have paid to the vendor.

They were moving to France.....


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

When we sold our house we got a good deal on loads of stuff.

We ended up selling our Fridge, Washing machine, dishwasher, sofas, and some curtain to the new owner.

We were paying extra for new stuff to be fitted into our place, so it made sense for us not not have to cart them with us and then have to sell them afterwards. Though a spare fridge might have been a good idea for parties.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that in some cases it's not worth the hassle of taking them, but if, like Kev, you're intending to re-use some of your stuff, then it should be made clear at the outset that they aren't included.

I, for one, wouldn't expect to pay extra for the carpets - unless they were either brand new, or at the very least, not very old.


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## newcasTTle (Nov 29, 2002)

just hope your buyers get their karmic come uppance when they come to move again - they are obviously arses so sooner or later someone is going to give them whatthey deserve - but bad luck for you  - move to scotland - you have to do what you say you will do and no backing out - can't believe the system we have in england...


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

Another issue. What is the average lifetime of carpets? Shall we say 10 years?

If they are new then some money can be requested. But if they are a few years old, then there is no point.


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## David_A (May 7, 2002)

I reckon if they are less than 2years old ask for extra other wise bear the loss.

They probably won't "move" that well anyway, bad stretching, get covered in [email protected], good excuse to up the mortgage by a couple of K and get new ones or floorboards.

Or if the buyers are real to$$ers sell the house with the carpets for free and then steal the carpets! Go on I dare you!

Dave


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## Carlos (May 6, 2002)

Agree to leave them (don't want to lose the buyer).

Once the deal is completed and you are exiting the house for the final time, I would leave them a nice fresh turd, just behind the front door so they tread it into the carpet as they enter.

Well no, *I* wouldn't, but it'd be funny if you did.


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## jonhaff (May 20, 2002)

All this really annoys the hell out of me !!

When we bought I assumed all carpets were in price cos thats what i asked and they said, but one week later I was told by the bastard agents that they got another offer and if i wanted to keep it i needed to up my offer and pay extra to keep carpets fridge oven, blinds etc. we had the Â£5 for bin stupidity too. and as for the oven they wanted what they paid for it , it was 2 yrs old! I could buy a new one for that price and told them. they seemed offended too!

after many words we basically given a long list of 'extra' items we can buy. We chose some to keep and some not in the end and yes they removed everything including light bulbs. I just cant belive the mentality of people sometimes.


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## chip (Dec 24, 2002)

Jonhaff

I'm 100% with you on this one.

if the vendor messes you around, you can always give them some grief with their post. If the vendor has any sense, they would divert their mail to their new home. If not, open ALL their post (credit cards, utility bills, store cards, subscriptions are the best etc..), select a random address (make sure it's a valid one), reply back to all the vendor's post re: their "new" address.

6 months down the line, your seller should receive a letter from either a debt recovery company or a solicitor claiming unpaid bills etc..Does wonders for their credit rating.

I wouldn't do such a thing myself..........


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## jonhaff (May 20, 2002)

> Jonhaff
> 
> I'm 100% with you on this one.
> 
> ...


lol
the tight fisted git didnt want to pay for his post redirection and asked me to forward stuff, in order to stop the insesent junk mail turning up everything goes back return to sender no forwarding address....hopefully it will have the same effect on some things!


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## christtopher (May 7, 2002)

Hehe, I'm on the other side of the fence at the moment...not only am I getting the carpets in my first house (free), but the vendor is cleaning them for me before we move in!! ;D


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