What Exactly is Sold with a Home?

When you are buying or selling a home in Florida, do you know what real property and personal property go along with that house as it is transferred from one owner to the next? According to the Florida Bar As-Is contract, real property includes the property as outlined by its address and legal description, “together with all existing improvements and fixtures, including built-in appliances, built-in furnishing, and attached wall-to-wall carpeting and flooring…unless specifically excluded.” It then goes on to say that the personal property that is included would be “range(s)/oven(s), refrigerator(s), dishwasher(s), disposal, ceiling fan(s), intercom, light fixture(s), drapery rods and draperies, blinds, window treatments, smoke detector(s), garage door opener(s), security gate and other access devices, and storm shutters/panels.” That gives you a pretty good idea as to what is conveyed when a house is sold, but it is not the whole picture.

When I list a house, I have my sellers fill out an inclusions list. This is a more detailed breakdown of the above-referenced real property and personal property. I like to have in black and white whether the wall-mounted tv’s stay with the house, if the Nest thermostat or the Ring doorbell that you were able to install pretty easily remain. I also want to know if you are very attached to your custom silk curtains or your great aunt Sally’s chandelier that hangs in the hallway – if so, then those can be marked as excluded. Upon showing a house, I give that inclusions list so that there is no question from the start as to what is included with the sale, and what is not. Then, once we begin to negotiate I have that signed right along with the property disclosure because that clarity is as important as any other aspect of the deal!

If I am working with a buyer and the seller does not have her own inclusions list, then I am sure to specify within the contract that “all installed appliances, window treatments, floor coverings, and light fixtures” are part of the sale, unless I know otherwise. In that case, I list the exclusions in paragraph 1(e) of the contract.

I know that this is not earth shattering real estate news, but it is so important that a buyer gets exactly what he or she is paying for that it is crucial to always have it specified in black and white. That way, if I am at a walk-through just prior to closing I can tell, either from my inclusions list or the contract with the inclusions/exclusions spelled out, whether everything that needs to be in the house is, in fact, there. While these might seem like small details in the grand scheme of a home sale or purchase, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details!