That's a new one on me.

really?

A nice candle centerpiece. (plate candle and rocks) with a card saying congratulations on your new home. The candle can be one of those battery operated remote control ones. I love ours.

Are they new to the area? if so, how about a list of grocery stores, amenities, schools, local government information, useful services like cable and trash collection, with a basket of items that won't go stale quickly.

Angie's List membership or Lowes/HD GC ;-)

Well, I've only sold one house and that was at a distance. Did leave a file box with info on appliances and the landscaping that we'd done, but no gift.

The previous owners left us a bottle of champagne. Since it's celebratory and general enough to suit most people, that's what I would do. We liked it! And it did feel really nice to find that waiting for us.

We had our cleaning person come after we moved out of our last house. She was a much better cleaner than I am, so the house looked great and ready for the new owners. Not really a gift, but I also did it for good karma reasons. We heard back from the realtor that the people moving in really appreciated it.

I know the buyer's agent will give a gift, but haven't really heard of the seller doing that. Maybe you could leave a bottle of wine or champagne in the frig with a little note? I'd appreciate the previous owner leaving a list of reliable service people they've used such as electricians, plumbers, lawn service, etc. If I were new to the area, I'd love you to have recommendations for restaurants and any other specialty shops like butchers, fish markets, florists, etc.

I can tell you what I did. Ours originally was a fixer but we planned to stay a long time. Things change...
I knew the owners were anxious for the keys.

I did purchase a nice bouquet and left a note but my best gift was a 3-ring notebook. I had made it a few years earlier for emergencies or if my DH wasn't around. So I went around the inside and outside of the house taking pictures of the gas meter, water valves, electrical box, furnice, sprinkler timers, etc... They are never in the same place in our other homes and I admit I was pretty clueless. I printed each picture on it's own page and wrote where it was located, what I needed to know and drew arrows to items like the shutoff valve, things that you can't always think of clearly in an emergency. DH explained it all with me and I felt confident with my new book.

I also left the new owners a list of rooms that were painted, with the brand/names/sheen, name of flooring, and all the appliance manuals I could find. I included names of vendors we had used for repairs or maintenance.

I loved my house and only hoped that the new owners would too. Even though we are now in an apartment, I will put together such a book when we purchase another house. I think any kind of housewarming gift for new owners is unexpected and appreciated.

Thanks, we have compiled a list of service providers and we have arranged for our cleaning people to clean. Sounds like champagne is the best idea.

thx all

I don't know if you will check back, but I'll post anyway. In addition to the collected appliance and repair information notebook, the seller of my home left a woven tray with liquid soap and disposable guest towels in the powder bath. She also supplied every bathroom with toilet paper and the kitchen with paper towels. She was also kind enough to leave behind all of her garden hoses and various plant fertilizers accompanied by notes on what to use where.

One of my friends received a basket with pretzels and peanuts and various snacks, along with champagne and plates and cups and a gift certificate for a local pizza joint, to keep them going as they moved in.

I thought that was a very thoughtful gift!

I think it is tradition to always give the new owners bread, salt and a broom for good luck and health when selling. I left a flowerpot with a starter kit for bread inside. After seasoning the pot with oil you can make a beautiful loaf of bread in a terracota pot. I also found the cutest broom and dust pan at Homegoods and I think they still carry them now eight years later. A nice pepper mill filled with sea salt and a note and our agent, who represented the new owners supplied the bubbly. It is an inexpensive yet thoughtful tradition that I am glad others still think to do in this crazy internet world.

I think it is good karma to do this - plus they inevitably have to forward some mail for you (or in our case a few Christmas presents) - we have done champagne or an orchid along with a list of good info - just makes me feel upbeat to do this - good closure probably. Lots of great suggestions above!

There is an old Irish tradition of giving a loaf of bread, salt, and a bottle of wine (I always use champagne for fun) with the following note:

"Bread--that this house may never know hunger, salt--that life may always have flavor, wine--that joy and prosperity may reign forever."

Sorry, I didn't know my picture was so large. Great ideas above. I didn't know about the bread tradition. Very nice idea.

I think it's a great idea, but I have to ask, what does Karma have to do with it? lol.

I have always written a card welcoming them to the house and expressing my hopes that they will have many wonderful memories like we had in the house. I usually would leave a bouquet of flowers too.

This time :*( the buyers were not going to be moving in until a week after closing. So, we left the note in the fridge with a bottle of champagne. They saw it at the walk through before closing and were very thrilled we left that for them.

Of course we always leave the brochures and details of any warranties that are associated with any appliances. This time I even left cleaning products that were specific to certain things--like the cleaner for the cork flooring.

Love these ideas, especially the Irish tradition of bread, salt and wine.
We went to a friends housewarming and brought wine, a brie baker, brie & a jar of compote. Could do similiar and leave on the counter with a 'Welcome Home' card:)

Move in day is always a mess. Or buyers may be there painting with not one useful thing in the house except a brush.

So we've usually left a note with champagne in the fridge and a couple of cheap flutes in the cabinet or on the counter, in case they haven't opened their glassware boxes yet. We also try to leave paper towels. And not leaving toilet paper is simply inviting the universe to open a sinkhole underneath your new house.

Paper goods, check. flutes, now that's a good one!

When I go over for a housewarming, I normally bring some candles. Those diptyque figiuer ones are super yummy. I swear they put crack in those things. But, since it's for a new owner...

I'd go with a GC for a yummy local pizza place that delivers (ie, not pizza hut or papa johns) and some pellegrino (or champagne or a nice case of water) and glasses. They will be busy and most likely looking for something quick to order in.

Or, go this route. I'd be really happy if someone left us a basket of Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products, some cheap dish towels, or some paper towels. Even if I had some cleaning lady stop by before I came over, I would still wipe down the counters and the toilets. I couldn't find the cleaner or towels when we moved in here and ended up making my husband go to target in the middle of the move. :)

It's a nice gesture.

We left a potted Chrysanthemum on the kitchen counter. We knew they'd be moving in that day.

A small gift certificate for a local take out place is always nice. I think it's nice to consider doing something like a basket with paper plates, plastic cups, etc. And leave at least one bathroom with a fresh package of TP, hand soap, hand towels, and a fresh box of band aids. I can't be the only person that always gets a cut or two on moving day.

When a new neighbor moves in, I am happy to welocome them with a batch of cookies, etc. As a recent seller, I just paid their CLOSING COSTS! Isn't that enough?

I left a small bottle of champagne, two plastic glasses and a small box of chocolates.

Another vote for champagne.

Like many have said, leaving a bottle of wine or champagne is traditional in our area. The home we moved into had been in the PO's family for over 60 years and they were a very close, welcoming family. They sold the home when the grandparents passed away and I know it was hard for them to leave. We understood that from the realtor that part of the reason they sold to us (there was a bidding war and we weren't necessarily the highest) was that they knew we planned on raising our family here and not just flipping it. One of the children colour copied about two dozen family pictures of memorable events inside and in the yard of the house - many pics were from over 50 years ago. We often look back on the pictures and have used them when restoring windows, etc. to the original. It isn't a gift appropriate for every sale, but we appreciated it.

I think it will cheer the new homeowners that the previous owners were thoughtful people who wish them well!
I like the traditional ideas. And champagne- anytime!

A jade plant placed in the north west corner of the house
is good luck, and a lovely housewarming gift.

When we sold our house in Ladue, MO, I gave an afternoon drop in for the new owners to meet the neighbors. St Louis can be very clubby so I wanted to make sure the couple was off to a good start with the friendliest group. It was a nice gathering of about 40 people and the buyers really appreciated it. They were darling newlyweds and we were in our thirties with 3 kids. For two others I left flowers or wine and a couple of disposable wine glasses. The last house we sold the buyers were so anxious to get us out that I didn't have time to do anything--- nor were they the type to appreciate it. When we sold that house we closed the sale at 11am and closed on our purchase of this one an hour later all in the same attorneys's office. Our banker came to the closing with a lovely housewarming gift for us but they came too early---- during the sale, not the purchase. The woman buying our house did nothing but complain for the next ten minutes that she didn't receive the same treatment from her bank. It wasn't surprising to anyone but her!

I think a puppy would be a great idea. A little one that will make them remember you.

Lol, Ellie.. .thats a wicked present for a difficult buyer!

Great suggestions and so sweet of you to do for the new owners!!

Ellie..you made me laugh so hard!!!

PS I am chilling my champagne as we speak! Nothing to celebrate but my love for champagne!!

i renovated the house top to bottom and had it cleaned. i figured that was good enough. i did thank them at the closing as soon as they handed over the check!

Okay. I stocked them with paper towels, tp and soap. I left a list of service providers, had the house cleaned. I left them a professional history done of our house by a former Newsweek reporter who researches historic homes ( i think it belongs with the house).

And a bottle of Veuve that comes in the cutest little saddle-stitched insulated tote. Extra credit karma.

Kswl - that is such a nice idea! But we've never met the buyers so that'd seem odd. And none of us are closing in person.
Daisy - how cool
Elle - lol

A clean house, a fresh roll of paper towels in the kitchen, a roll of toilet paper in each bathroom and a fresh shower curtain liner in its package with curtain hooks on the bathroom counters.

We left new buyers some drinks in the fridge, beer & limes, juice boxes and crackers and cookies in a basket on the counter and some cups and a note that said cold mugs in freezer. Weve done it a few times. Comes in handy when the moving in crunch happens.

Have only bought 2 homes in 41 years..not much history. We were left nothing when we bought our very first home in 1979...owners were not someone we ever met and had no contact with at all. We loved our post master though...she helped us with EVERYTHING...back in the day when you knew who delivered your mail and cared whether you got it !

Bought our only other home in 2002...they left a notebook of providers and clean home. More than enough . Didn't expect gifts and didn't get any. c

Well this is a little corny, but I wrote a poem for the young family that bought out last home. It was tough to leave since my folks both were there so often and my Daddy and I built the tree house for our two children the summer Mom suddenly passed on and later helped build our garage out back too.

Recently I happened to meet the wife/mom that moved into our home while both shopping for fabric and she told me just how much that poem meant to her and her husband. They added two little girls to their family since then. We talked for quite some time. It was very nice knowing another family is happy in our home.
Here's the poem...