If an item is a fixture, it is included with the property when it is
sold & goes with the buyer. If an item is not a fixture, it is personal
property of the owner & goes with the seller. No one really cares if
something is a fixture or not until the property is being transferred to a new
owner. If items in a house, such as curtains or a dishwasher, are not clearly
mentioned as fixtures or personal property when the house is listed for sale,
there might be confusion about who gets the item.
A seller and a buyer could wind up fighting over an item, or the buyer
might get an unpleasant surprise. Imagine expecting certain things to stay with
the house, such as the dishwasher, and then finding it gone. People get upset.
There are some legal tests about whether something is a fixture or not.
And there are items listed as standard inclusions with the property. But, the
best thing a seller can do is to mention that an item, such as
Great-grandmother's Tiffany ceiling lamp, DOES NOT go with the house and will
be removed when selling the house. If you're a buyer, on the other hand, you
might want to mention a specific item in the contract offer that you expect to
be included in the sale. If a seller wants to be certain that a valuable item
won’t be included in the sale of the house, the best thing to do is to REMOVE
the item before listing the house on the market. If it needs to be replaced by
a similar, less valuable item, it should be done before any buyer falls in love
with it!
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