You will either need to label the fans as not conveying or replace them.

If I were looking at a house and the ceiling fans didn't convey, I'd be mentally reducing my offer, because I'd have to do *something* to replace the ceiling fans. And whatever I did, buy & install new fans, replace them with ceiling light fixtures, cover up the hole where they once were, it would cost me time and money and energy.

You don't want your buyers thinking like that. Just get reasonable replacements and install them. Pack up the old fans so buyers never see them.

Definitely take them down and put something else in their place before you list, take pictures, and show your house. If your current fans are the only thing that'll keep the house from looking poorly staged then you should take that into consideration now rather than later. Surely, you can find an inexpensive fan from a big box store that'll be just fine. Lighting and fans may help the overall appearance of the house but they're easily changed so it wouldn't bother me.

I'm not really Mike but his wife, Marg.

Anything that is attached to the house should be removed prior to showing. You may exclude things such as curtains but specify that in the listing.

We sold a house that had a fence with a shed attached. My husband is a good artist and had painted a detailed mural on the shed doors. We were informed by our real estate agent to replace them or buyers would insist we leave them.

We moved into our current house in 2008. The sellers were being difficult. They had a huge pot rack in the kitchen on a vaulted ceiling above a buffet island. (They had a lot of Calphalon and LeCruse cookware.) There would be no way to take the pot rack down and remove the hooks. They had lots of fancy curtains, several silk from Pottery Barn. All were excluded according to the listing. We met their offer contingent upon their leaving all that stuff (minus the cookware).

I did refrain from asking for other things. Bottom line -- if you don't even want to think about letting it go, take it away. Also, when selling be reasonable.

It is true that anything attached to the house (including drapery/curtains/miniblinds and ceiling fans) must convey. Unless you specifically exclude them in your contract, if you took them down after signing the contract and before closing, it would be considered theft.

A contrary point of view: it sounds like the fans belong in in your house. I would leave them and let them convey. Is it really worth it? Does your new place need two fans?

I had a deal almost not close because the sellers decided to remove the chandelier and another light. My buyers were very upset and almost walked away from the whole deal. It took days before buyers, sellers, lawyers all came to an agreement. The sellers dropped their price by thousands in order to keep the buyers.

Remove any fans, lights, curtains now and replace them with something decent that looks nice. This way you do not have exclusions that buyers have to wade through. Make it simple and easy for a buyer..

I have a chandelier I had intended to take with me when I move. We had somebody come by to look at our house before we actually listed it, so didn't have the chance to put the old chandelier back up. They ended up making an offer, I tried to list it in the exclusions, but the offer asked for the darn chandelier. Guess what, the chandelier is staying. I think once they see it and are decorating around it, they cant' unsee it. I'd take the ceiling fans down.

Replace them before the listing agreement is even signed.

What they never see they cannot ask for.
I have replaced chandeliers, a Viking stove and hood (had to brick up the opening for the exhaust line and fix the plaster wall), and a number of sconces over the years.

The buyer liked the brand new gas stove.

We purchased a home on a short sale, and the zillow photos showed the home furnished. The disclaimer said "bird baths, pavers and silk curtains do not convey."

Imagine our surprise when we compared what we bought to those real estate photos. The chandelier was gone and replaced with a cheap ceiling fan!! There is not one towel rack in the entire house!

It's okay with us because we got a really good price for the neighborhood. But if you are selling as a standard sale, you really should replace those fans prior to having realtor photos taken.

Good luck!
Suzi

Ok, I understand anything permanently attached (draperies/rods/blinds, ceiling/wall-mounted lighting, fans, mirrors, bathroom fixtures, etc.) convey.

We're reviewing a potential buyer's offer who has written in "all window treatments and all lighting to convey".

Well...we don't have any window treatments other than shoji screens and small decorative table lamps/lights. Our REA claims this write-in does not include our personal items. It's just a skittish buyer who is adding boilerplate.

I'm of the mindset, the potential buyer saw how we staged, wants those items and would not have added the write-in otherwise.

Personally, I'd remove the fans and replace with something appropriate to the space. Remove & replace anything you want to keep. That's what we did...antiques, musical instruments, paintings, area rugs all went into storage. Even though I'd have enjoyed using some of the things for staging, I didn't want to take a chance on a potential buyer writing something in to a contract.

If you *really* want those fans, remove them now. Anything less and you are just asking for hard feelings.

A personal anecdote: my mom was staging what had been my grandmother's house for sale, and she bought a fair number of furnishings that would initially be used in the house while it was on the market and then later replace some of their current things. The buyers fell in love with an electric fireplace Mom had purchased to act as an attractive space-heater in her own guest bedroom. They went so far as to make the sale of the house contingent on her leaving it behind. It was a $200 outlet item, so she wasn't too broken up about it. But she was a bit put out that something she had picked out for a specific location in her home was now the property of someone else.

Moral of the story: if your buyer can't have it, get it out of the house before they see it.

Draperies do not convey. The rods that are screwed into the wall need to say, but the fabric drapes/panels that are hanging on the rods do not convey. If that was the case, then towels that are hanging on towel rods should convey too!!

It depends on what is standard practice in your area, chispa. Around here, drapes are expected to convey unless specific other provisions are made. (I still haven't gotten around to replacing the yellow checkered curtain in my new bathroom.)

"Does your new place need two fans?"

If not then do yourself a favor and leave them.

Or if you want to go to the bother, replace them with something less expensive and sell them on eBay, etc.

"I understand anything permanently attached (draperies/rods/blinds, ceiling/wall-mounted lighting, fans, mirrors, bathroom fixtures, etc.) convey. "

Define "permanently attached."

Draperies them selves are just hanging on a rod.

The rod is hanging on hooks.

The hooks may be screwed (easily removed) or nailed (NOW you might have hit "permanent.")

Pictures do not convey, but the nailed in hangers do.

There are also 'local understandings' of what conveys in many places.
Ask your RE agent what traditionally stays, but if it is large, expensive, and MIGHT betaken as permanently attached you can easily get into an argument.
Some things are just dumb to take, like custom width shades or blinds.
They are rater unlikely to fit anywhere else.

Nailed vs. screwed has come up.

If you damage pulling nailed items you are on the hook fr at least the damage. Best to leave it.

Things screwed may be removed with less risk of damage.
How important are to YOU?

Putting a huge list of "Does not convey" in a listing is generally a turn off to buyers and may attract excessive attention (The "I want that" syndrome").

Better to just remove things ahead of listing that do not convey.

"permanently attached" items as explained by our REA are:

Mirrors (such as in a bathroom)
Medicine cabinets (" " " ")
Wall/ceiling mount lighting & fans
Shower rods & towel racks, toilet paper/tissue dispensers
Window treatments of rods/hooks/draperies or curtains/Venetian blinds
Support/bracket system(s) for televisions/stereos/speakers if part of a media room

It is a fairly comprehensive list she gave us. I'm sitting across the way for a showing, otherwise I'd give more details :-) Another thing was leaving the hearth tools, wood caddy & fire grate. It's considered "customary".

When working with a REA we have to trust that person knows the score for the locale/area. Especially for neophyte sellers *grin* who do not want any drama or trauma.

If a buyer wants all of the new towels & fluffy robes we put out for staging/showing so be it. If a buyer wants the staging/showing dishes & utensils so be it. If a buyer wants the hutch in the kitchen or the tall dining table & chairs so be it. We're willing to include everything in the house...that's why we rented a 10x12 storage unit for anything we'd not negotiate over. Well, except the dogs & cats. They do NOT convey.

What if the ratified contract has a yes or no option for the ceiling fans to convey and it's checked no.

When I bought my first home many, many, years ago, the seller came back after the closing and dug up and removed numerous rose bushes. The advice I received at the time suggested i report them to the police for theft.

I let it go. ;-(

Two (barn) cats conveyed when we bought our house.

When we moved to our old home (the ex and I) the prior owners took the vintage sink faucet. However since I didn't have a picture of what had been there, I couldn't prove it so had to let it go. They replaced with a very cheap faucet.

In our condo now, I have expensive door levers on all our doors. The ones the builder wants to use in our new build are 1/3 the price and not nearly as pretty. I'm going to replace every door lever in our home with one similar to what the builder uses and take the good ones for my new build. I'll do it before I put the home on the market. I also have some light fixtures I love that were expensive, so will replace those with similar looking fixtures from HD. They will still look good, just not as good. ;)

Laughing... when we moved in here, the shower curtain rod apparently didn't convey, and it wasn't here. No big deal, except for the first morning we couldn't shower!

When I do move, the only fixtures I plan on taking are my collection of toggle switch plates (most of them). After 20+ years here, I've accumulated a set of fun and unique ones, and even if it means I'm not going to be using the new-style rocker plates in my new construction, so be it. They can keep the ceiling fan, the dining room overhead light, and yes, even the shower curtain rod! And the blinds -- my window dimensions will differ.

This has me worried. If I ever buy another place, I think I will be photographing every little thing I like in case something gets replaced after I've seen it. (This is not addressed to anyone who has posted here.)

"This is not addressed to anyone who has posted here.

lol

The posts here have been somewhat telling, however.

Nothing wrong if it's done BEFORE putting the home on the market, which is what I intend to do. :) I would never do it after it has sold. In fact when I moved from my first home to my second, I made it a point to ask the buyers of our first place if I could take some cuttings from some of the perennials in the yard as I had planted the whole garden. They told me to take whatever I wanted. (I'm glad I did, because after we moved, they moved in and ripped up most of the perennial garden.)

The woman we bought our house from wanted to take all of the chandeliers and pendant lights. I wish she would have.