Uh, What Happened to the Fixtures?

Today’s Wiki Wednesday Feature: Fixtures

Fixtures are a funny thing — especially when they’re missing from the house you just bought. During your many walk-throughs of a home that you eventually buy, you measure walls and take notes of everything in the house and how you will decorate it to your liking. You appreciate the ornate, full-length hallway mirror that looks to be very old (maybe an antique?) and the wood stove in the basement that will keep your family warm on those cold winter nights.

Eventually, you close on the house, get the keys and dash over to make your first visit. You turn the key, walk in and D’OH! Surprise #1: That gorgeous mirror in the hallway is missing. Not only that, but the wallpaper behind it is torn to shreds as a result of the removal. Surprise #2: The woodstove in the basement is… GONE! All that is left was the hearth it sat on and a gaping hole in the ceiling where the flue went.

What happened here is what happened to me when I purchased one of my first homes. I was young and naive, I admit, and didn’t really understand the whole fixtures thing. So, we contacted our agent to try to recover these two items. We got the woodstove back, but they refused to return the mirror. Something about a family heirloom. I don’t remember whether we were compensated or not. But, the point is: We did not understand the law of fixtures.

This fixture issue looks to be an ongoing struggle in real estate, as evidenced by Kris Berg’s own professional incident that she wrote about on the BloodHound Blog back in January. What resulted was a lively outpouring of opinion over what is considered a fixture or not. The gist seemed to be that screws make a difference. I have to agree. If you’re unscrewing something to remove it, it’s a fixture and should stay. We do have a brief description of fixtures stubbed out in the Zillow Real Estate Guide and encourage anyone to add to it. There is also a stubbed article on personal property, which can be greatly expanded.

Conversely, there’s the dilemma of when a seller leaves stuff you don’t want. This is Surprise #3: the basement contains old paint cans, old, mildewed kitchen cabinetry, broken-down mops, and, well, you get the picture. The garage is no better. It contains bald tires, assorted rusty metal pieces and huge sheets of stained plywood. Who would want any of this stuff? Maybe this guy.

It might seem obvious, but if you are buying a home, make sure you clarify what is staying and what is going so you don’t have any surprises.

Ed: Wiki Wednesdays is a weekly feature that highlights helpful or interesting articles from the Real Estate Guide.