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Is leaving lights in the house you sell an American thing? Unless it's built in lights like spots, all the bulbs and even fixtures usually move with the person

Is leaving lights in the house you sell an American thing? Unless it's built in lights like spots, all the bulbs and even fixtures usually move with the person where I'm from (the Netherlands).

ashark 9y ago
Incandescent bulbs here are so cheap (and fragile, especially if they're used) they're definitely not worth bothering with, and they're still really common. Even CFLs are really cheap now, and don't travel as well (or last as long) as LEDs. Light fixtures would almost never go—either they're $20 pieces of crap that aren't worth unwiring (then wiring back up at the new place), or they're nice enough and suited specifically enough to the space that the new buyers definitely want them to stay. If you wanted to keep one you'd have to take it down before listing, and replace it with something else.
5555624 9y ago
Lights in light fixtures usually stay, while lights in lamps go. I don't know anyone who removes the lights from overhead fixtures, ceiling fans, etc. In the house I just moved into, all of those lights were there, even if the light switches were not.
bluGill 9y ago
the fixtures are wired in, and thus legally part of then house. You need to add additional language in the paperwork if you want to take them. If you want to take one with you your realtor will probably advise you to replace it before you list the house. Of course as other have pointed out, fixtures are generally either generic, or specific to the room they are in: in either case it doesn't make sense to take them with you even if you can. Technically you can take the stove, fridge, washer, dryer, window coverings; but almost nobody does. The buyers realtor will automatically put a clause in the contract that they stay. It saves everybody the effort and cost of moving them, and generally the rest of the room matches them and not the new house. Sometimes this isn't done but that is rare. Light bulbs are not in the contract, but they aren't worth the bother to remove.
- khedoros1 9y ago
  I've never moved anywhere that I can remember already having a fridge, washer, or dryer. We've always taken ours with us. They seem like more personal appliances to me, anyhow. And in my current place, all the window coverings were removed before the home was shown. I plan on leaving mine in when I eventually sell. They were custom-cut anyhow; I suspect that the old ones were removed because they were damaged.
cr1895 9y ago
The whole "take the floor with you when you leave the apartment" thing that is common in the Netherlands is really very bizarre to Americans.
- kmmlng 9y ago
  Not just to Americans. I'm an expat in the Netherlands and interact with lots of people who came here from various different countries. It's bizarre to everyone. Seems like there are two options. (1) You can do it the Dutch way, i.e. every time someone moves they'll have to take their floors out. Those floors often won't fit into your new apartment, so you're just creating lots of waste. Not to mention all the effort associated with it. You will have to remove the floors, but also the person moving into your place will have had to remove the floors from their old place. (2) You leave the floors in when you move out. Then the new tenant/owner can decide whether to keep them or not. In the worst case, both new and old inhabitant will still decide to remove the floors. In the best case, no one will have to do anything and no waste is created. So what could possibly be gained from the first way of doing things? Genuinely curious if someone knows the reasoning behind this.
  - fujiters 9y ago
    Ripping up floors is an actual thing there?? I assumed the original poster was speaking metaphorically about how much gets taken out. I wonder how that practice got started. It's almost impossible to reuse floors.
    - cr1895 9y ago
      >Ripping up floors is an actual thing there?? I assumed the original poster was speaking metaphorically about how much gets taken out. Haha I was not...people literally take the floor laminates with them when they leave, if not to reuse them but out of some sense of ownership I don't fully grasp. Apartments are rented in a few ways: fully furnished (incl. floors and all the furnishings and even kitchen stuff) which is aimed at expats who make lots of money and people who are living short term; partially furnished (maybe including floors and some appliances or fittings, for which you'll pay a regulated monthly fee), or bare, which is as it suggests without fittings and without floor coverings. The latter is cheapest and most common I think. I've heard that sometimes you can make a deal with the leaving tenants if you'd like to keep their existing floors (for a price, of course!). People here seem rather adept and used to installing the laminate themselves, and they also seem to like the idea that you can put down whichever floor covering you like best. It must be a good business to sell floor laminate...
Freak_NL 9y ago
Common enough here in the Netherlands if you're buying a house. Expensive or heirloom fixtures may have been replaced with cheap IKEA fixtures, but houses generally don't show up on the market without lighting and a working thermostat. Perhaps you are thinking of rent?
- mcguire 9y ago
  That would tend to make the inspection difficult.
michaelt 9y ago
In the UK part of the sale process is agreeing which "fixtures and fittings" are part of the sale. There will generally be a form in the mountains of paperwork involved in a house purchase. Most sellers will leave anything fixed to the building like lights, sinks, toilets, doors, door handles, sockets, fitted carpets, fitted kitchen appliances, plants that are buried in the garden, fires and fireplaces, television aerials, boilers and radiators, built-in cupboards, permanently installed mirrors, and so on. Things that aren't fixed in quite the same way have different conventions. For example paintings, light shades, freestanding lamps, rugs, curtains, plants in freestanding tubs, and freestanding appliances are often taken by the seller. It's always possible to negotiate, of course; if the buyer and seller agree on something different, that's perfectly legal. And there are horror stories of overly trusting buyers discovering the seller has removed the turf from the lawn, and things like that.
stevekemp 9y ago
Finland here - rented one flat, bought two more. In all cases light-bulbs were absent, as were light _fittings_. All we had were some sockets in the ceiling into which you'll fasten your own bulb-holders/shades, and then your own bulbs. The only lighting present by default was that above the bathroom mirror(s).
sailfast 9y ago
The correct answer here RE "an American thing" is "whatever is written into the contract as 'conveying' with the house." If you say "fixtures stay in the house" then they stay. If not, no obligation to leave them. Typically, however, these clauses deal primarily with appliances and other larger items (TVs, hot tubs, etc) In my experience people don't think to bring the bulbs with them, written or otherwise.
lucaspiller 9y ago
In Italy it’s common for people to take their entire kitchen (including cabinets and fitted appliances) when they move.

Is leaving lights in the house you sell an American thing? Unless it's built in lights like spots, all the bulbs and even fixtures usually move with the person where I'm from (the Netherlands).

ashark 9y ago

Incandescent bulbs here are so cheap (and fragile, especially if they're used) they're definitely not worth bothering with, and they're still really common. Even CFLs are really cheap now, and don't travel as well (or last as long) as LEDs. Light fixtures would almost never go—either they're $20 pieces of crap that aren't worth unwiring (then wiring back up at the new place), or they're nice enough and suited specifically enough to the space that the new buyers definitely want them to stay. If you wanted to keep one you'd have to take it down before listing, and replace it with something else.

5555624 9y ago

Lights in light fixtures usually stay, while lights in lamps go. I don't know anyone who removes the lights from overhead fixtures, ceiling fans, etc. In the house I just moved into, all of those lights were there, even if the light switches were not.

bluGill 9y ago

the fixtures are wired in, and thus legally part of then house. You need to add additional language in the paperwork if you want to take them. If you want to take one with you your realtor will probably advise you to replace it before you list the house. Of course as other have pointed out, fixtures are generally either generic, or specific to the room they are in: in either case it doesn't make sense to take them with you even if you can. Technically you can take the stove, fridge, washer, dryer, window coverings; but almost nobody does. The buyers realtor will automatically put a clause in the contract that they stay. It saves everybody the effort and cost of moving them, and generally the rest of the room matches them and not the new house. Sometimes this isn't done but that is rare. Light bulbs are not in the contract, but they aren't worth the bother to remove.

khedoros1 9y ago
I've never moved anywhere that I can remember already having a fridge, washer, or dryer. We've always taken ours with us. They seem like more personal appliances to me, anyhow. And in my current place, all the window coverings were removed before the home was shown. I plan on leaving mine in when I eventually sell. They were custom-cut anyhow; I suspect that the old ones were removed because they were damaged.

cr1895 9y ago

The whole "take the floor with you when you leave the apartment" thing that is common in the Netherlands is really very bizarre to Americans.

kmmlng 9y ago
Not just to Americans. I'm an expat in the Netherlands and interact with lots of people who came here from various different countries. It's bizarre to everyone. Seems like there are two options. (1) You can do it the Dutch way, i.e. every time someone moves they'll have to take their floors out. Those floors often won't fit into your new apartment, so you're just creating lots of waste. Not to mention all the effort associated with it. You will have to remove the floors, but also the person moving into your place will have had to remove the floors from their old place. (2) You leave the floors in when you move out. Then the new tenant/owner can decide whether to keep them or not. In the worst case, both new and old inhabitant will still decide to remove the floors. In the best case, no one will have to do anything and no waste is created. So what could possibly be gained from the first way of doing things? Genuinely curious if someone knows the reasoning behind this.
- fujiters 9y ago
  Ripping up floors is an actual thing there?? I assumed the original poster was speaking metaphorically about how much gets taken out. I wonder how that practice got started. It's almost impossible to reuse floors.
  - cr1895 9y ago
    >Ripping up floors is an actual thing there?? I assumed the original poster was speaking metaphorically about how much gets taken out. Haha I was not...people literally take the floor laminates with them when they leave, if not to reuse them but out of some sense of ownership I don't fully grasp. Apartments are rented in a few ways: fully furnished (incl. floors and all the furnishings and even kitchen stuff) which is aimed at expats who make lots of money and people who are living short term; partially furnished (maybe including floors and some appliances or fittings, for which you'll pay a regulated monthly fee), or bare, which is as it suggests without fittings and without floor coverings. The latter is cheapest and most common I think. I've heard that sometimes you can make a deal with the leaving tenants if you'd like to keep their existing floors (for a price, of course!). People here seem rather adept and used to installing the laminate themselves, and they also seem to like the idea that you can put down whichever floor covering you like best. It must be a good business to sell floor laminate...

Freak_NL 9y ago

Common enough here in the Netherlands if you're buying a house. Expensive or heirloom fixtures may have been replaced with cheap IKEA fixtures, but houses generally don't show up on the market without lighting and a working thermostat. Perhaps you are thinking of rent?

mcguire 9y ago
That would tend to make the inspection difficult.

michaelt 9y ago

In the UK part of the sale process is agreeing which "fixtures and fittings" are part of the sale. There will generally be a form in the mountains of paperwork involved in a house purchase. Most sellers will leave anything fixed to the building like lights, sinks, toilets, doors, door handles, sockets, fitted carpets, fitted kitchen appliances, plants that are buried in the garden, fires and fireplaces, television aerials, boilers and radiators, built-in cupboards, permanently installed mirrors, and so on. Things that aren't fixed in quite the same way have different conventions. For example paintings, light shades, freestanding lamps, rugs, curtains, plants in freestanding tubs, and freestanding appliances are often taken by the seller. It's always possible to negotiate, of course; if the buyer and seller agree on something different, that's perfectly legal. And there are horror stories of overly trusting buyers discovering the seller has removed the turf from the lawn, and things like that.

stevekemp 9y ago

Finland here - rented one flat, bought two more. In all cases light-bulbs were absent, as were light _fittings_. All we had were some sockets in the ceiling into which you'll fasten your own bulb-holders/shades, and then your own bulbs. The only lighting present by default was that above the bathroom mirror(s).

sailfast 9y ago

The correct answer here RE "an American thing" is "whatever is written into the contract as 'conveying' with the house." If you say "fixtures stay in the house" then they stay. If not, no obligation to leave them. Typically, however, these clauses deal primarily with appliances and other larger items (TVs, hot tubs, etc) In my experience people don't think to bring the bulbs with them, written or otherwise.

lucaspiller 9y ago

In Italy it’s common for people to take their entire kitchen (including cabinets and fitted appliances) when they move.