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Appliances - Do They Stay or Do They Go?

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Sevick Law PLLC

Appliances www.MIRealEstateBlog.com    Just last week I was working on a purchase agreement review that was written by a newer local Realtor.  The buyers had contacted me to review the agreement, title work, and condominium documents prior to closing.  The buyers are first time home buyers and moving in from out of state.  While reviewing the purchase agreement I saw that nothing had  been included in the "Inclusions" section of our local contract despite that the kitchen appliances and washer/dryer had been listed on the MLS listing ticket.  A real estate expert, Bob Bruss discusses a similar concern in this article.

    In our case, that may indicate to me that the items were not included in the sale, only offered, but not accepted or requested.  In questioning the buyers they of course did want the items included.  So with I'm sure a sheepish approach the buyer's agent contacted the listing agent, made the request and wrote an addendum to include them.  The sellers were not concerned since they had intended to leave them anyway.  However, this could have been all to much of a bad issue at closing or in the hours before if the appliances were gone and each party thought they were correct in what they had wanted.  On February 3rd, in this blog article I touched on the importance of a pre-closing walk through and this just outlines one major need for it exactly. 

 

 

Comments(4)

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Gregg Holman
REALTY WORLD MID ATLANTIC - Herndon, VA

Wow, Christipher, you hit one of my hot buttons!  It really depends where you are. I practice in 2 states plus the district of columbia and state law has little to do with it.  In my market it appears that the more urbanized the community, the more likely that the appliances stay.  Out in the Shenandoah Valley rearely do washers and dryers convey and it isn't unusual for the fridge to not stay. In the city everything stays.

I've heard arguments about what is/is not a FIXTURE - some appliances are built in like the d/w, but aren't refriderators with icemakers connected to the plumbing too?  It makes little sense.  My niece in Texas said that for her dryer and fridge to convey, they had to be unplugged and pulled away from the wall. - very strange.

Our regional contract form has a pick/check list to inventory such items as to whether they are included in the purchase agreement or not.

 

Great Question!

Mar 20, 2007 07:54 AM
Jon Boyd
Home Buyer's Agent of Ann Arbor - Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor Real Estate Buyers Agent

 

Christopher,

I read your post here and thought - it sure sounds like that licensee is not well supervised. And, I bet they are not a buyer's agent, more likely a designated buyer's agent.

Since it is common practice here to include the appliances in the offer if the buyer wants them and the seller is offering them you would think somebody in the brokerage would know that and make sure the contract was filled out properly.

However with designated agency it is only the individual licensee and a "supervisory broker" that have any fiduciary obligation to the consumer. Nobody else in the company has any obligation to help look out for the buyer's interest. 

And, the typical "supervisory broker" has far too many licensees to actually do much supervision.

In any case I'm glad you caught the error and I hope your clients are enjoying their new home!

 

Apr 30, 2008 10:22 AM
Bill Schwent
Casa Tierra Realty - Santa Fe, NM
Santa Fe Broker

Christopher,

The MLS data may have indicated that the appliances are "included".  That is not an excuse for not writing that in the Purchase Agreement so that there is no confusion.  But I suspect that if the local MLS clearly indicated that appliances stayed with the property, it would be difficult for any of the participants to expect anything less.  The questions at that point would be:  Did the sellers know what the MLS data indicated and was that the same as or different from their listing agreement?

May 02, 2008 10:07 AM
Lisa Lambert
The Law Offices of Elisabeth A. Lambert - Fresno, CA
Esq. 1031 Exchange Expert

Christopher:

Thanks for sharing that story. It's an excellent example of why we need to read our contracts and listings closely.

May 02, 2008 07:23 PM