Fixture or not?
2014/09/22

"List items included in property sale!"

When listing or putting in an offer on a property, be sure to check that anything that is not of a permanent nature but appears to be a fixture and is meant to be included in the sale of the house is listed in the offer to purchase.

Unless specified on the listing sheet or agreement of sale, such fixtures could cause a problem should the owner decide to remove them. Such an item could be a satellite dish. The majority of sellers will automatically include this as a fixture because the cost of moving it is about the same as putting up a new dish if there is not one. Today this is most unusual as the overwhelming majority of homes already have dishes. However, unless specified on the listing sheet or agreement of sale, this fixture could cause a problem should the owner decide to remove it.

Other items such as pot plants, bookshelves that seem to be built in but are not, freestanding wardrobes, kitchen preparation islands or blocks on castor wheels, stoves that are plug-in and not built into the counter, fireplace screens, fireboxes of the kind that do not need a flue, swimming pool cleaning equipment and burglar alarms etc. should be listed specifically in the deed of sale if they are to be included, and the buyer should ask about items that he thinks will remain in the home but the seller has not mentioned.

If the property has been rented to a tenant for a while, the landlord might not have realized that the tenant has installed a burglar alarm or a new portable CCTV monitoring system, which he intends taking with him when he leaves. The buyer, on the other hand, will have viewed the property thinking that this item is staying, and so mistakes can be made in assuming what is part of the sale and what is not.

There is no such thing as overdoing it, and in the listing sheet, it should actually mention whether certain items are owned or rented so that there is clarity on what is staying or going.

Pay careful attention to detail.

SA Property Investor