Should You Ask for Personal Items When Buying a Home?
Transcript
One thing that comes up a lot when buying a home is, you look at a house and it's beautiful, love [the way it's] decorated and a lot of times buyers – they'll want to ask for personal property.
And I always think that this is – it can be tricky because what can happen if you make an offer for a house and there's a bill of sale attached and you're asking for a couch, and a rug, tables, things like that.
A lot of times it's the difference between a business deal – selling the home, and taking someone's personal stuff.
So what I've seen in my experience is a lot of sellers react emotionally and will actually be more aggressive in the response to your offer for their house and [the buyers end up paying] double or triple what the furniture or the decorations are actually worth.
And so I recommend a little bit of a different strategy. So if you're a buyer and you really like the way a house is decorated or want to ask for some furniture, my recommendation would be to get the offer done on the house and ratify that contract first, and then ask the seller through your agent, “Is there anything you want to sell in the property?”
Because if you think about it, the first thing a seller thinks after they ratify a contract is, all right, we've got to schedule the movers, we've got to get all that situated. And that can be really stressful. And I know when I move, the last thing I want to do is deal with all my stuff.
So at that time, I think if you go to the seller saying, “Is there anything you want to sell?” And just kind of see how they react, you might be surprised that they'll offer up something you wanted anyway.
Of course, if it's something you just absolutely have to have, go for it. Who cares? But I would recommend waiting until the contract is ratified.