Inclusion or Exclusion

Real Estate: Inclusion or Exclusion

by Darrin DeRoches October 1 -7, 2009

Before you sell your home you really should walk around your property and decide what you would like to leave and what you want to take with you. Over the years I have had many heated conversations about drapes, shelves, and now a wheelchair lift. Everyone gets caught up in the sale of the home and many minor items are left out, but they can become major when the deal is done. My first experience with a buyer threatening not to close the deal over drapes went something like this. I sold the property in one day. Yes, one day. I listed it and had it sold within 24 hours, and everything was going great until the mother wanted her homemade drapes. We called the other agent and everyone agreed, done. I wish. The day of closing the agent calls and the buyer wants to do a walk–through to see the property. Unusual but I have to show it. Everything seems great, takes ten minutes, I lock up, done. Nope. The buyers’ agent calls and there seems to be a problem with the drapes. They say they’re not the ones we agreed on; the one they want are missing. I call my client and he states they are the same exact drapes, done. Nope, we are just getting started! I inform the agent they were the exact drapes and she states they want $500 for the drapes or they will not close the deal. The agent asks if I would be willing to pay half. After a few choice words I explain they better close the deal or the lawyers will have fun billing her and her buyer. I also state we have pictures of the drapes and they are the exact ones they saw when the house was shown. I receive a call from the lawyer’s secretary and she is amused about the situation and we sit and wait to see if they close. Five o’clock rolls around and they close, same drapes – no 500 bucks, a little swearing and a huge waste of time. Remember, we sold the house in one day; I had only been in the home three times myself. I had no idea if these were the same drapes, but a deal is a deal and we stood by our word. The moral of the story is, you should really look over your property and decide if you want to keep the chandelier, the shelves, and the rose bushes. Everyone seems to throw in the fridge, stove, washer and dryer these days (new shiny silver appliances and front load washer are the must–haves) but most seem to forget about the little things that have meaning. These little items can cause a big problem when you are trying to remove them later. The rule of thumb is if it is affixed to a wall, ceiling or floor, it stays. Flat screen brackets and wiring is becoming a big thing to remove and are costly. Inclusions and exclusions – think about them! V [DARRIN DEROCHES] Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at mail@uniquerealty.ca.