Negotiating "white goods" when buying house

[byeo]

As a FTB I've never had experience of submitting an offer on a property but this could change soon. The house we like has a free standing cooker and I'd like to try and get this in with the sale, just because it'll save us some money when buying all the things we'll need when moving in.

They may very well decline the offer and want to take it with them, it's not a deal breaker. How and when do I mention this? Do I mention it when offering a price on the property, "I'd like to offer £XXXX including the free standing cooker and chest freezer"?

 

[roboamigo]

Wait until you get the fixtures and fittings/contents list through, you may be surprised what they are considering leaving.

When we sold our house we put costs to leave the appliances. You can also mention at this stage if there is anything you would like to the solicitor who can contact the vendor.

 

[Semple]

Do I mention it when offering a price on the property, "I'd like to offer £XXXX including the free standing cooker and chest freezer"?

I would personally just enquire about what's included first. As you may well find the vendors are intending to leave it and have already factored that into the price.

 

[byeo]

Wait until you get the fixtures and fittings/contents list through, you may be surprised what they are considering leaving.

When we sold our house we put costs to leave the appliances. You can also mention at this stage if there is anything you would like to the solicitor who can contact the vendor.

I would personally just enquire about what's included first. As you may well find the vendors are intending to leave it and have already factored that into the price.

Thanks.

 

[Burned_Alive]

I know it's contrasting advice, but personally I would go in with what you want. Offer is conditional on XYZ being left behind....

Much better than getting into a negotiation over a few hundred £ later on.

 

[Quartz]

I would personally just enquire about what's included first. As you may well find the vendors are intending to leave it and have already factored that into the price.

This. BTW the term is 'white goods', encompassing the fridge, freezer, cooker, washing machine, and dryer.

 

[Semple]

I can't imagine many people take their white goods.

Unless they've literally been purchased in the last 12 months, or they're a particularly pricey brand i.e. miele, or i guess if the property they're moving into doesn't have any white goods. But otherwise white goods aren't that expensive to buy something just to get you by for a few years.

Things like washing machines, and fridge/freezers can be rather heavy, also if you're limited on van space, they could cost more to shift than they're actually worth.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Most people take white goods which are not integrated, especially if they are going to a house without integrated appliances being left. Most wouldn’t leave them for free either way, especially when they can be shifted on Facebook within a few hours in the week of the move.

If it’s integrated it’s much more likely to be left but not a guarantee.

 

[byeo]

Most people take white goods which are not integrated, especially if they are going to a house without integrated appliances being left. Most wouldn’t leave them for free either way, especially when they can be shifted on Facebook within a few hours in the week of the move.

If it’s integrated it’s much more likely to be left but not a guarantee.

Makes sense, like I said, if they take everything, it's not a deal breaker but it saves me having to buy a free standing cooker to tide us over until we do the kitchen up.

 

[peige]

From the flip side my buyer in the last house thought offering bottom money for white goods was going to work but I needed to buy those goods again in the new house so there was no incentive to take silly money on them. Add to that the house we were buying they were asking for silly money again to leave stuff you have to wonder how much a you could think an 8 year old American freezer is worth.

Anyway, I would wait for the F&F list and go from there, maybe popping over nearer the time of Exchange. In my experience people start off unrealistic and greedy and then become more reasonable when the sale is nearly done

 

[b0rn2sk8]

That’s a good point, solicitors will charge you to negotiate on your behalf. Speak to the owners direct if you want to talk price.

 

[Blackjack Davy]

You need to negociate exactly whats included and what isn't and don't take anything for granted. White goods I would assume would be taken I wouldn't rely on them being left behind and even integrated - you might find a hole in the counter where the appliance used to be. I've even known sellers arguing over a very integrated i.e. plumbed in gas fire - they were threatening to take it, I kid you not had to bung them a five hundred extra just to to quieten them (and stop the chain being held up - which I assume was their intention all along to line their pockets for a few hundred extra)

 

[roboamigo]

You need to negociate exactly whats included and what isn't and don't take anything for granted. White goods I would assume would be taken I wouldn't rely on them being left behind and even integrated - you might find a hole in the counter where the appliance used to be. I've even known sellers arguing over a very integrated i.e. plumbed in gas fire - they were threatening to take it, I kid you not had to bung them a five hundred extra just to to quieten them (and stop the chain being held up - which I assume was their intention all along to line their pockets for a few hundred extra)

Good point. We viewed our current house and the log burner in the living room was a big selling point in all of the adverts. We received the list from the solicitors with this listed for £1k!

We managed to haggle down to £300 but this was really annoying, we think this was a result of them accepting a lower offer on the property, so thought they would recoup this somehow.

Also check for things that have been left when you move in, that werent on the list. We had a garage full of crap and down the side of the house was full of rubbish and rubble. In the madness of moving day this wasnt really noticed for around a week due to the time of year (Jan) and it took us a while to shift. This was even more annoying when you consider that the PO owned a skip company and could likely had it removed FOC!

 

[Fluke?]

When we moved from our rented furnished flat in '07 to our ftb flat we managed to get -

• king size bed and mattress
• leather sofa
• table and chairs
• gorenje fridge freezer
• large wooden wardrobe
• hotpoint washer/dryer

All this kit was less than 2 years old and way higher spec than we could have ever considered, and we got it for £500. 12 years later and in a new house we still have the table, bed/matress and fridge.

Deffo worth a shout to the EA and see what the vendor is planning to do, and if they would consider negotiating on a couple of bits. Might even be doing them a favor tho and saves them the hassle of moving even more heavy bits of furniture.

 

[a1ex2001]

When we moved from our rented furnished flat in '07 to our ftb flat we managed to get -

• king size bed and mattress
• leather sofa
• table and chairs
• gorenje fridge freezer
• large wooden wardrobe
• hotpoint washer/dryer

All this kit was less than 2 years old and way higher spec than we could have ever considered, and we got it for £500. 12 years later and in a new house we still have the table, bed/matress and fridge.

Deffo worth a shout to the EA and see what the vendor is planning to do, and if they would consider negotiating on a couple of bits. Might even be doing them a favor tho and saves them the hassle of moving even more heavy bits of furniture.

Second hand domestic mattress euuugggghhhh!

 

[Tee Hee Johnson]

Rookie error here of forgetting to ask about white goods, upon entry was glad to see washing machine and fridge gone.

I don't like other people stuff.

 

[BigBoy]

Personally unless I was completely separate or the items were built in I leave nothing behind. I don't want someone's old washing machine, god only knows it's it clean!!!

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

Anything your interested in you should ask about as you go round. "I assume your leaving the log burner", "fitted appliances will be left I assume", or "are you taking the garden shed"
I found people don't like to come across as negative when showing you round so minor things like that they are more inclined to keep it seemingly going well, taking low value items that could lose them a sale, well they may not be people you want to buy from anyway

I thought that generally it was accepted to remove anything not classed as fitted and vice versa unless specifically mentioned. Of course you need to get to the room contents part of the process, but I would be expecting someone planning to remove a fitted fire to be mentioning that as they showed me round.

 

[Shoza]

I’d be arguing the log burner as most are fairly well attached to the house and removal is complicated / destructive, therefore classing it as a fixture and not a fitting. I’d raise this through your solicitor and ask them to inform the sellers solicitor the reference to the log burner on the fittings & contents form was quite a surprise and you will be expecting it to be included in the sale. If their solicitor has half a brain they will explain why the seller should not argue this.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Agreed, asking for additional money for an installed log burner is a taking the proverbial, especially given lots of it becomes a part of the building fabric (like the flue) and permanently attached to the building. A huge proportion of the cost is getting the thing installed. Removing it isn’t a simple unplug and pull out like an integrated kitchen appliance, it’s a whole new level of work needed.