Don't leave champagne unless you know for certain that they drink. A gift card to a local home store or nursery might be a good idea instead.

How do you know they are gardeners or DIY'ers? Leaving something FOR the home,ie nursery/home store would imply to me the home needs HELP...Leave the champagne, are there people that actually don't drink? lol...

We left the bottle of wine the last time we were in the house - a few days before closing? Our final walk-through so to speak.

Leaving something FOR the home,ie nursery/home store would imply to me the home needs HELP...
I disagree. People often need to buy a water hose, rake, mop, trash can, or some other little item. So I don't think leaving a $20 gift certificate signals a major flaw in the house.

a 20 dollar gift card looks cheap, sorry...and don't forget, this isn't a House-warming gift, this is a simple, good luck with your new home

We don't drink, if we do, I might like champagne, I don't touch wine, while hubby does.

A gift card to somewhere like Walmart would be welcomed by me. When you move, there is always something you can't find and having even $20 to put towards it is $20 more in my pocket.

When to leave welcome gifts?
How about when the buyer gives you a full price offer with a quick close and no contingencies? I can see leaving a fruit basket or champagne, but to me it would seem odd to receive a gift card from the sellers.
Leave them a clean house with manuals for the appliances and instructions on the sprinkler system, where the water shut off is, etc.

I would be happy to have a spotless house either by the previous owner or a cleaning service. Maybe trash bags, scissors (never can find those), disposable cups, plates, and utensils, toilet paper, hand soap, dish detergent- just general things that would make a move in so much easier.

A gift card would be nice too and I don't think $20 is cheap- I think anything that someone gives you out of kindness should be appreciated. How about a gift card to one of your favorite local restaurants along with a menu from there?

I would skip the wine or champagne it is a nice gesture but there are people that don't drink for various reasons.

When we sold a home we left a gift basket. Like groomingal said I left things that might be needed right away when moving in. A couple of dish cloths and small bottle of dish soap and lotion and a nice bar of hand soap. A couple of dish towels a candle and matches, crackers and candy bars.Small paper plates and plastic glasses.Two coffee mugs and tea bags and sugar/creamer. Peanut butter, juices and cheese in the fridge. I left fresh rolls of TP in the bathrooms and an extra roll in each cupboard. And last a Welcome card and Thank you from us. We did do a FSBO.

In our case the buyers were arriving to the house after a LONG drive at who knew when in the day or night. I tried to leave necessary things and comfort things. Later she told me how wonderful that gift basket turned out to be. They were VERY late arriving and tired and that town rolled up the sidewalks at 6PM.

All in all I might have spent $25. Of course I also left the house books.

SOI

IMHO the manuals and warranties are gift enough. I try to write the purchase date, serial number and staple the receipt in things as we get them. Sure does help when you have to call for help.

Maybe write them a note wishing them happy times in their new home.

"Leave the champagne, are there people that actually don't drink?"

Wow, how ignorant can you get! I certainly hope no one leaves us a bottle of wine or champagne because it would go right in the trash. It would be a terrible waste.

I agree that the nicely-organized manuals are plenty under most circumstances, maybe a card saying something pleasant like "hope you enjoy this house as much as I have" or some such thing. I think that the whole trend of giving everyone and his cousin gifts for every imaginable occasion is really getting out of hand.

IF the buyers have really gone above and beyond with a top-dollar price and an effortless closing, I think a nice new trash can or recycling bin with paper plates/cups/napkins, plastic utensils, paper towels/TP, trash bags (ESPECIALLY if your town has a special pay-by-the-bag program), some bottled water, a razor knife for opening boxes and a stack of takeout menus would be very welcome. There is also an old superstition among some subcultures that one never brings an old broom to a new home, because you're making a "clean start", so you could leave a nice broom, maybe the kind with the dustpan attached to it. Our sellers were Hispanic and I guess that is a very important thing to them, because they left behind about five brooms and even their vacuum cleaner. LOL

here we go again, getting personal..tsk,tsk, johnmari...calling me ignorant when my comment was SARCASM, is pretty ignorant on your part..Of course i am aware there are some people that don't drink..
And is till contend a gift card to Walmart, the killer of mom and pop businesses in America is cheap..If not a bottle of wine/champagne perhaps a fruit basket or such...

Walmart? I have never been to one, and wouldn't know where one is...I guess a lot has to do with the selling price also...

Could also have to do with the area and whether there is one. Where I am, they are everywhere.

And is till contend a gift card to Walmart, the killer of mom and pop businesses in America is cheap..

I know someone that swore they would never shop there, not even for toilet paper... Of course they ate their words because they were driving by and needed something.

If not a bottle of wine/champagne perhaps a fruit basket or such...

Every area is different. One area may call for a fruit basket / champagne, while another might not.

I think that the whole trend of giving everyone and his cousin gifts for every imaginable occasion is really getting out of hand

exactly.

ROTFLMAO.

You guys crack me up. IMO- there is no need for special gifts for the buyers.
I left the house spotless. I did this, inspite of my buyers TORTURING ME. I cleaned the whole thing until my fingers swelled up. That was stupid, too. I should have just broom swept. I left warranties & some instructions how to operate things. I also left them a bar full of liquor, because we had a bar full of stuff (gifts). We don't drink. The buyer's eyes lit up at the bar full of liquor when they were looking at the house. I knew THEY drank ;)

Qdognj- I'm in stitches from your posts. You DARED to go against "where America shops"-Wallmart?-LOL *sarcasm*
You're probably right, Wallmart card(?sp. I've only purchased toiletries on sale there- a few times) may be approprate if you sell a starter home. The W-card not go over very well when selling 500k to multi million dollar homes.

Icsatx- Hang in there. Let your (seller) emotion cool off a bit. We all get excited when we get a contract. The buyers in the beginning ALWAYS seem nice. We get cranked up emotionally, that we want it to be the nicest transaction, unlike other horror stories we hear.

Selling a home is like a divorce in reverse. You always say that YOURS will be amicable. Then things start falling apart. By the date of the FINAL divorce date, you want your ex-mate "bumped-off" the face of the earth, beacuse as the date approached the emotions have changed. He realizing you're no longer his, NOW wants everything & is torturing you. Same with buyers. As the days progress, many experience "buyers remorse". It's normal for a very high percentage of buyers. They NEVER think they got a good enough deal, esp. in a declining market. They have many tricks up their sleeves, if they feel that the deal was too smooth, no matter how much you the seller gives in.
Very few buyers are easy to work with throughout the process. Not that sellers are angels. We are human ;)

Anywhoo, I sold many properties. Only one went completely smoothly. When it comes to money, the worst comes out in people (buyers & sellers).
I've experienced:
-buyers remorse.
-game playing by the buyers to get a better deal AFTER they speak with their friends.
-unrealistic demands, well after the contract has been signed.
-wanting a substantial price reduction (not just repairs) after the inspection...
-LYING,LYING, LYING...

This all happened well into the contract. In the beginning we were the best of friends. Yup, that's how EMOTIONS work.

Bottom line: I would broom sweep. Leave warranties & maybe a "hope you love this house as we did note-good luck"... If you gave them a good deal, nothing else is necessary. Unless, you got a full price, no problems with contingencies & they are STILL nice, the sky is the limit what you can do for them :0.

Touchy subject apparently!

I left a good bottle of white wine and a notecard wishing them happiness. I had already met the couple at closing (we had occupancy until the day after so I could have the carpets cleaned) and I thought they really seemed like they would appreciate such a gesture.

Also- I think it goes without saying that the manuals and any warranties be left for the next buyers. I left mine in a drawer in the laundry room. Ditto on making sure your home is clean- especially the kitchen and bathrooms. I also labeled all the keys to the various doors (outbuildings, etc) and left them out in the kitchen.

Buying a new home is a really big deal for people- I wanted my buyers to feel like they won the lottery by purchasing my house.

Yes, there are people who don't drink. They are called alcoholics. I grew up with two--my grandpa and my dad. They would certainly not have appreciated a bottle of alcohol as a "welcome to your new home" gift.

Even if they don't drink, not everyone appreciates a bottle of champagne or wine. A friend gave me a bottle of champagne after I bought my first house, and it sat in my fridge unopened for two years. I threw it away when I moved out. I drink, but I'm not big on champagne.

She also gave me something I've used time and time again. It's a thick book called "Home Comforts." I've referred to it many times for tips on several household tasks.

I wouldn't leave a gift at all...I'd never even heard of doing this until I read about it on these boards. It must be a regional thing because no one I know has ever done this. For me, selling/buying property is a business transaction, not a social event. I guess I just don't get it.

I guess since we were FSBO we got to know our buyers and are still friends to this day, years later. Knowing they were driving over 10 hours just to get to the house I just felt leaving a care basket was the right thing to do.It wasn't like I was leaving a gift to them as much as a small token of consideration. We did not have any problems with the sale. Nothing nit picky. We even took care of the house.Checking on and in it for several months after closing until they were there to stay to be sure nothing was leaking and the heat still on etc.They were happy to have us do this so they did not have to worry about it through the winter.

This kind of thing is just what is done here.

We have only had one BAD buyer in the 10 places we have sold.

SOI

. I think that the whole trend of giving everyone and his cousin gifts for every imaginable occasion is really getting out of hand.

AMEN!

qdognj, This is the 2nd thread where your "sarcastic" remarks where not taken in the way in which you intended. You might want to reconsider your writing style as people have a hard time understanding your "humor". When you try to write the same way that you speak a lot gets lost without hearing the proper inflection. A well placed wink ;) can help get your point across.

I guess...Some get the humor, others don't...Let those who read my posts make their own assumptions, i won't place a winky to let those "understand" my comments...But i stand by my comment that a gift card at the very least is tacky and cheap(no winky)...and i have never been or never will shop at a Walmart(no winky either)..Biggest importer of Chinese goods, lousy employer who pays medicore and provides weak, if any,benefits...Oh, and it drives out local businesses...The plus side is you can buy 48 rolls of toilet paper for cheap, or a 48" disposable widescreen tv,or so i hear(no winky0

I guess...Some get the humor, others don't...Let those who read my posts make their own assumptions, i won't place a winky to let those "understand" my comments...

Ever think that the ones you may think get you are ignoring what you say?

I wasn't so sure how to take what you said and chose not to bother mentioning it.

In both cases where qdognj claimed "SARCASM", I hadn't been able to discern it from the writing and didn't realize that it was an attempt at humor.

Amazing that a simple question by the OP and my well-intentioned suggestion somehow turned this thread into a snarkfest. Jeez.

One of the last times DH and I were at Wal-Mart (can't beat their prices for household goods and some food items), we saw the wife of one of the wealthiest men in town shopping there. This is a couple who own one of the oldest and biggest houses in town. It's a gorgeous brick house that sits high upon a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. He is from one of two very well known families in town...his family started several businesses and at least three buildings I know of are named after his family. I say if Wal-Mart is good enough for Roy Carver, who has more money than God, it's good enough for me!

terrig, you'd be singing a different tune if you had a small business in a small town that Walmart crushed into oblivion..Or had to work for a company that paid the wages they do and provide the benefits they do...I am glad the richest guy in town is frugal, and i am also certain he doesn't care about the local economy, as he doesn't have to worry about wages and benefits...But this is WAYYYY off topic...

WOW, the "forum police" REALLY need to lighten up!
Have a strawberry daiquiri, people! Or a virgin daiquiri if that's your choice....wink. :)

Thanks for all the replies! It was very informative and amusing (wink!).

Dabunch, thanks for the wake up call. I do hope my buyer does not feel buyer's remorse since I have already started packing our stuff. I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope (and pray!) that everything goes smoothly until the end.

After all the advices, I will definitely prepare a packet for them containing all the manuals and other house information. We will clean and have the house ready for them. If everything goes well, I will skip the champagne and will just probably leave a small vase with flowers (just something simple and tasteful) and a note. I hope that will be enough of a "welcoming" gesture for them.

I think it's nice to leave sometbing cold in the fridge. It could be a bottle of wine or a 12 pack of bottled water. If the new owners are arriving with movers or after a long drive, they will appreciate the thought.

...And don't forget to leave TP in all of the bathrooms.

(Seriously!)

Personally, I think the best gift is leaving the buyers Spare copies of the house keys and conveying appliance manuals.

It would be thoughtful to leave them things they might need shortly after taking possession of the house that would save them a trip to the big-box; all purpose cleaner, glass cleaner, fresh sponges, microfiber cloths, toilet paper, paper towels, package of light bulbs, dish rags.

A gallon of bottled water in the fridge is an excellent idea.

The W-card not go over very well when selling 500k to multi million dollar homes.

Well, a $20 gift card to Nieman-Marcus would be insulting.

I would be happy if people just left toilet paper in the bathrooms, paper towels in the holder if there is one in the kitchen, and working light bulbs in all light fixtures. Twice I have concluded that the people saved all their burned-out light bulbs and put them back in when they were leaving.

I would also be happy to get manuals for appliances, and keys to everything. Some of the appliances here were brand new, but there were no manuals. And there's one door, requiring a key to open from both sides, for which I received no key. On the other hand, I received several keys that don't appear to fit anything.

Sarcasm is seldom humorous, except to the person saying or writing it.

We knew that on the day of closing, our buyer would tear up the carpeting and start painting the whole house, so we left them a case of gatorade and water. All the manuals/mail key etc where put in one place. I also left her the plant fertilizers/fungicide etc. as our property had about 20 roses, she was really happy about that.

Our Sellers left us all the manuals, books, yellowpages etc. I appreciated how clean the house was when they moved out, it was spotless- now that's a wonderful gift in itself.

The last hing I want to worry about when selling a home is a gift for the buyers. It is a business deal, not a personal relationship.
Definitely leave the house the way you would want to find it - really clean, with all light bulbs working, with toilet paper in the bathrooms and with all appliance manuals.

qdognj: I am sorry I gave the impression that I love Wal-Mart. I certainly do NOT! But I do love their prices, and you can find most anything there as long as quality is not an issue. I grew up in a small town (5,000) that suffered greatly when Wally World came to town. Not only did Wally chase out K-Mart, but it did also crush a number of small businesses. I now live in a town of 30,000, and, in the nearly year I've lived there, I have seen several small businesses come and go (we have a Super Wal-Mart). It is unfortunate, but I think small businesses can survive once they realize they cannot compete with Wally but can offer something Wal-Mart does not--friendly, personalized service. We buy mostly household goods (TP, tissues, paper towels, cleaners, etc.) and personal items (toothpaste, deodorant, etc.) at Wal-Mart. We also patronize tons of local businesses...we try very hard to shop at home instead of going out of town. We realize those small businesses will not be there if we don't shop at them. I would say 95% of what we earn is spent locally.

My point in commenting about the frugal rich man in my town shopping at Wally simply was that even people in big expensive houses do shop at Wal-Mart and probably have received a Wal-Mart gift card. Wal-Mart is NOT just for poor people.

Consider also labeling the leftover paint cans in the basement/garage. A bit of masking tape and a sharpie will do the trick. I would have LOVED to have been able to lay my hands quickly on some touch-up paint, but had to drag them all into the light and guess (various greens, taupes).

Of course, your buyer may move in and paint everything ASAP, but in the event they LIKE your colors . . .

I have to second the TP suggestion. Our house was left with filthy carpet, curtains, no TP or anything else. I was stunned, as in my many moves over the years, I have always left at the very least, the bare necessities to get through the first couple of days!

So many nice folks in this thread, leaving gifts for buyers! Wow. I have bought three properties, two of them fixers, and got no gifts (instead, dirty window treatments, undisclosed problems, etc.). I think a lovely gesture to want to give a gift. Around here, I have heard of some sellers bringing champagne to the actual closing (and then everyone just gets a sip, it is symbolic, and I think even non-drinkers would appreciate the gesture). More important: a clean house, leave everything that you said you would. The warranties/instructions will definitely be appreciated and if you kept them, leave them (they "go with" your property). I agree too with whoever said to label the paint cans--I have done so for the next person in my home if they want to keep this paint. I went nuts trying to figure out what they did leave for me....

It was nice to move in and see the POs had left a nice bottle of champagne. Even nicer that they'd left paint chips as well as labeled paint cans, manuals, warranty info, and receipts for appliances, menus, and phone books. And TP. :)

At my previous house, the phone books didn't make it and we NEEDED a phone book! We had to go through all sorts of unbelievable hoops in a new state to get a phone book. Less important now that we have the internets, of course, if you can get your service started promptly.

I eventually learned to label paint cans for myself...

Something else I just remembered - many cities/towns have a packet you can pick up at the municipal building that is basically "welcome to ___________, here's all the information you need" - things like what day trash pickup is, what can go in the recycling bins, how much the rec passes are, how to get a dog license, info about registering kids for school, yadda yadda. That would be a nice thing to obtain and leave if your buyers are not moving from another home in the same town. When we moved here I found the Welcome Wagon packet to be an absolute waste of paper - it's about marketing, not information - so I wouldn't rely on them for solid useful information.

I find these comments are quite humorous. I think the question was When to leave a welcome gift and NOT should I or what type of gifts?

In my case, the seller bought a bottle of champagne to the closing. I was quite surprised and very pleased with the welcoming gift even though I don't drink. It surprised my real estate agent too as she hasn't seen it happened with her before. Perhaps, because like many of you, the seller would leave the gift at the house instead of bringing it to the closing.

As I mentioned, I don't drink so I saved the bottle for my 1st year home anniversay party. I shared it with my friends & family that drink. When friends & family found out where the bottle came from, they were a bit envy that they didn't have such a nice gesture happened to them at their home purchasing :)

As for home appliance manuals or other documents, I wouldn't consider these as gifts. I think it should be a must to leave a copy for the buyer(s). That is if you still have the documents. It will minimize the buyers calling you for every little thing.

In general, my thought is, leaving a gift to the buyer is a nice gesture and when you don't have to do so, it makes it even a nicer gesture. The buyers shouldn't be offended with a gift whether they can use it or not. It's the thought that count....it's better than not having one at all as in the case of my family & friends.

Shades_of_Idaho, you reminded me of the time when I moved into my first apartment. When I moved in, I had all the basic items in the kitchen and bathrooms. Sort of like when you go to a hotel. This wasn't a high price apartment neither. It made me feel that someonw cares. I'd love to have you as my neighbor! You're so sweet and very thoughtful. It's a good thing that your buyers let you know how appreciative they are for your extremely nice gesture. Knowing that there are still people like you in this world brings a pleasant feeling :o)

By the way, I don't drink because I'm allergic to alcohol, not all but in most. There's nothing wrong if you chose not to drink neither. The world is plentiful of things to enjoy besides drinking.

I believe we realized what the OP's question was, but that doesn't mean we're bound to address only the question, and not discuss other aspects of the matter. Right? :-) Hey, it's a discussion forum. That's what we do.

Ntt hou

you have exactly the right idea. a voice of reason amid the babble! I think the thought of leaving a gift is sweet and it is an act of kindness in a world that needs more of it.

I think the thought of leaving a gift is sweet and it is an act of kindness in a world that needs more of it.

Also, if we start worrying about offending people who don't drink (have they no friends? They can re-gift) then where does it end?
--Peanut butter? Allergies.
--Fruit basket? Strawberry allergies.
--Menus? What if they're kosher?
--Flowers? Hay fever.
--Gift card? What if they're compulsive spenders who had to cut up their credit cards?

Really. It's a bit much. Leave a gift of your choice, or don't. They can use it, give it away, or throw it out. Their choice.

We left the manuals and garage door openers on the kitchen counter, along with a bottle of wine and a card, so it would be there when our buyers walked through on their way to the closing. We also left the house spotless.

Our sellers left us nothing, in fact, they "can't find" one of the spare garage door openers, so we're short buy one. But no manuals or waranties, including those we specifically asked for prior to closing and they said they would leave in the house. The house was also filthy. Oh wait, they did leave us a gift-- old food in the fridge and the hugest fur balls I've ever seen courtesy of their smelly dog. I'm bitter, can you tell? lol

I was also thinking that certain gift have a certain meaning in some culture. Such as in my country, it's common to bring oranges when visiting someone sick. Probably it's because when you have a cold/flue, you'd need vitamin C and oranges are plentiful of it. Similar, in the US, most people would bring flowers to cheer the sick one. It's especially needed in the eekie hospital environment I think ;o)

So, similar, giving a bottle of champagne have a meaning of celebration, doesn't it? Isn't it why we open champagne celebrating the New Year or celebrating at weddings, etc.? Basically, I wouldn't be surprised if a house warming or welcome gift is a bottle of Champagne or Wine. It's a time of celebration!

Though, extra home needy items such as the ones that Shades_of_Idaho gave was nice too whether you had a long trip or not. Certainly, most of us had a long day of moving boxes (or even watching over the movers) and would love to have things ready available when needed without having to open boxes and search for them, yikes!

Here's a moving tip. Our family moved so many times that we learned to pack a bag of clothings, towels and other needy items to use for 2-3 days. Same items that we would use on a short trip. This technique works so well. Last time I moved into this house, I was by myself. I was busy all day making sure the movers did their job with the loading and unloading. It took almost the whole day. By evening, I was beat and needed a nice shower to refresh myself. I remembered the small luggage I packed a few days before. Afraid of losing the luggage in the pile of boxes, I put it in my car. That was easy to get to. I tell you, it was nice to have all the needy items without having to look for them. Even when I had all the boxes labeled, it still took me a few days to unpack the needy items.

Our home was new construction...when we came to the house after closing, we discovered a huge giftbasket on the kitchen counter from the devleoper,...with all sorts of goodies..cheeses, crackers, candies, chocolates, jams, nuts etc...

We also had a lovely wine and cheese gift basket sent to us by the dealership when we bought our most recent new car...and, a certificate for a free family portrait at a high end portrait studio....

Both times we were very pleasently surprised and appreciative of the gesture. :-)

Posted by ntt_hou (My Page) on Wed, Aug 8, 07 at 17:31
I find these comments are quite humorous. I think the question was When to leave a welcome gift and NOT should I or what type of gifts?

Still on my 1st cup of coffee, but I'm almost sure we had 2 posts here that were similar; the other was what type of gift to leave.

The OP did say: Also, I plan to leave a folder containing all the warranties and manuals for the house as well as some welcoming gift (champagne or something else). which to me meant they were unsure, so giving feedback on gift type might be useful to them.

The question of when was answered with the 1st two comments, and if you go to the 4th post, you will see when it turned to what type. Pretty common that we go off topic or stay on topic but have other thoughts. This particular post has a lot of feedback (almost 50 posts), when I open a post like this, I can almost bet there will be a lot of points of view on when and what to leave.

As a seller, I find posts like this to be some of the posts that I might look for to reference. I will come back and read it or might link to it when someone else posts a similar question down the line.

Why would you leave spare copies of the house keys? Isn't changing the locks the first thing you do when you buy a new home? A gift is not necessary but is certainly a wonderful idea.

Our seller has been such a jerk from the start. Anything that he might leave for us (and I highly doubt that there will be anything) would be immediately dumped in the trash.

Our family needed a very unique type of property which was in such short supply that we really needed this house, but I would have loved to have terminated the contract several times along the way.
Susan