When you sell your home, obviously, you take your personal belongings with you. Buyers won’t expect you to leave your pots, pans, pets or personal pictures behind! But there are some things that don’t exactly belong to you; they belong to the house—and those things don’t go with you when you leave.
So, the question is, when you sell your home, what things stay behind?
A recent article from realtor.com outlined the items you typically need to leave behind when you sell your home, including:
Lighting fixtures. You may love the lighting fixture that hangs above your dining room table—but that fixture is a part of the house and, as such, stays behind when you sell. If you have a fixture you are fond of and want to take it with you to your next home, take it down and replace it before you even put your house on the market. While you could leave it up and “exclude” it from the sale within your listing, it can just cause issues if a Buyer sees it and wants it. Best to just avoid problems by removing it ahead of time.
Anything anchored into the ground. If you have outdoor fixtures that are anchored to the ground, they will need to stay behind. For example, if you have a basketball hoop that sits on top of your driveway, you can take it with you—but if it is actually anchored to the cement, it stays with the house. Same goes for swing sets, and grills.
Plants. Plants are part of the property—which means you can’t dig them up and take them with you when you leave.
These items typically stay with the home when you sell. But if there is something you really want to take with you that typically stays with the property, talk to your real estate agent and make sure they explicitly exclude the item from the sale within the listing, and on the purchase contracts before you sign them.
