Leave ALL of the house keys, if applicable, exact access to the Septic Cleanout. If no secrets, list of tradesmen that have given you good service... electrician, plumber, etc. If oil or propane heat, name of supplier.

Names and addresses, phone of the next door neighbors if they do not mind. Any Warranties that transfer to new neighbor. List of phone numbers for utilities. Copy of any local covenants or HOA literature.

My wife the Master Gardener has always left a lengthy note re the gardens and any special suggestions. (Names of unusual plants, special plant needs, etc.)

We will be leaving ...

ALL the manuals for everything in the house (really important!)

The lawnmower

The pool cleaner (explicitly conveys) and nets and brushes

Any paint that was used in the repaint

Spare tiles from various projects - enough to expand the backsplash and re-do the kitchen without having to worry about matching tiles.

I'm leaving the pool cleaning equipment, nets and brushes, too. I have tiles, too.

thanks

Take the lawnmower. They can buy their own. I would leave tiles and paint. But if you are moving to a new pool, take the pool cleaning stuff. They can hire a pool dude. If you have 1+ acre, leave an irrigation plan. They will need to know which station waters what and which valve controls it all.

They didn't want the riding mower, so I sold it already. No new pool for me. My garden is drought-tolerant and designed to go without supplemental water. I took out the irrigation after 2012 when we had 90 days over 90 degrees. Now, the garden does it's thing with the toughest plants and it works well. I have 4.5 acres, with half in open gardens and grass. No one here in the neighborhood irrigates the meadow grasses.

Leaving the lawnmower (inexpensive electric one) because we have no lawn at the new house.

No pool either.

Definitely leaving a map of the drip system because it's got 2 controllers and a dozen circuits.

I always leave a roll of toilet paper and an new, unopened shower curtain liner (assuming I take the curtains and there is no shower door).

From your list I would leave the following:

cans of paint used in the house--if it was painted in the last 5 years. Otherwise get rid of it.

blueprints--YES! These can be very helpful to future homeowners.

anything else about the house construction? (I have good
documentation on all the fixtures, cabinets, granite, tile, trim
carpenters, etc.)--How long ago was the house built? Probably a nice thing to do.

extra supplies for pool?--if you have no need for them, it's a nice thing to do. Supplies are expensive.

I'll leave manuals for the pool, water feature, appliances, HVAC, etc----Yes.

Garden items you mentioned are personal property. Take them with you.

One item you didn't mention is a landscape plan or a list of the many flowers, shrubs, etc. and how to care for them. I left the landscape plan at our first house that identified the trees, shrubs, and flowers. I also left page of brief simple instructions for them that indicated when they should be trimmed or pruned and how much. I didn't go into great detail about it--just the basics. They could choose to use it or not. I know if I was purchasing a place with many gardens I would find it useful. Others might not.

All of the above plus. I was going to say TP also, as well as hand soap and a roll of paper towels at least. Our seller left NOTHING but a huge pile of old clothes, linens and general cr@p piled high on the driveway!

However, when we sold that house 5 years ago, I left detailed instructions for maintenance related things, as well as all Manuals. She never bothered to read my notes and bombarded me with phone calls. My standard answer was to read the stuff that I left, where it was all explained, even with some pictures..... Geez!

rrah - I'm going to walk through the gardens with the buyers, but they also have my blog that shows the garden from the beginning until I stopped blogging when my husband passed.

my blog

I would leave names and phones numbers of the plumbers, air conditioning/heating guy, lawn service etc. since many people move from out of town and do not have references. Our air conditioning/heating person is an independent small business owner who will come that day or the next if the unit goes out. Exceptional service for someone who does not advertise and works 7 days a week during the hot summer or cold winter. Also, these people are familiar with your house.

Yes, I've already recommended the cleaning service and lawn services. I've been on a regular yearly HVAC maintenance check-up with a company. Will also leave the pool service info.

Thanks

I'd suggest asking the buyers before leaving paint behind. It's taken two years and I'm still drying down some of the ~50 cans of paint left behind by the prior owners so they can be disposed of in the trash. I'd really rather they had cleaned up their own toxic waste. (It can take a really long time to dry a 5 gallon bucket of paint, couldn't give it away because it was ruined by multiple freeze-thaw rounds.) I've never successfully "patched" a paint job in any event-- invariably the patch is visible and I end up re-painting the room.

rwiegand - does your area have paint drop off sites, I can drop off any toxic material monthly. It is a nice drive up service where workers take it out of my trunk for safe disposal.

Congrats on the quick sale. Did you do much on the interior? I think spring was your greatest selling feature. I hope your buyers love the place as much as you did. I know they will appreciate all your work and care there.

I pretty much follow the advice above on what to leave -- but if you leave some hand soap, make it a pump bottle so they won't wonder if it's been used. The list of contacts is especially important to anyone moving from out of the area, Warranty info too. I would leave paint if it was bought in the last year, maybe two, and if you identify where it was used. Older than that and it is less likely to be able to touch up sucessfully.

My dad prepaid his yard man for a couple of months as a courtesy to the buyers and to try to help the yard man keep the business. He does my lawn too so I know that they didn't keep him (he did only that one house in that neighborhood and they locked their gates, so it was tough on them both - he does a large portion of the homes around me), but I thought it was a really nice gesture for both. Totally unnecessary, but I will do it if I leave this house under my own control.

Hope you have a smooth closing and move.

Take your garden benches, etc. after we looked at the house we ended up purchasing it had a beautiful concrete fountain in the garden along with several huge ceramic pots, and benches, that we assumed all came with the house. On a visit to measure items and walls in the house before closing the owner asked how much we were willing to pay for the garden accessories. Of course we purchased them because they just belonged where they were, but I was not a happy camper.

To sell quickly, I cleaned out all extra stuff. Since I'm downsizing, I sorted into: trash, donate, give to family and friends. I took down personal photos; stowed valuables. I bought new towels and bedding for the master suite. I had my house and pool cleaned weekly and I had my lawn mowed every 10 days. I took my dog to daycare everyday during the week so I didn't have to worry about her during showings. On weekends, she went everywhere with me. Every morning, I spent the time to make sure everything was "showing ready" so I wouldn't have to panic and get things settled as sometimes I had only a one-hour notice. If there was a showing scheduled, I turned on all the lights before I left. I had no negative feedback from anyone except one woman who didn't like the upstairs carpet. No one complained about the extensive gardens, pool or the water feature (waterfall with 50 ft stream). My realtor had professional photos made; a nice wooden sign out front; color brochures with extra information (my gardens were in Southern Living Magazine a few years ago and the article was reprinted). She made sure to point out the custom features such as the Shaws Farm Sink, Rohl faucets, mahogany butcher block island, etc. I had two offers and a third prospect who was devastated that they waited 10 days and I accepted an offer before they got theirs in. In fact, that prospect wrote me a long note expressing their disappoint and stopped and talked to two neighbors to express their disappointment in not getting my house!

It may be too late for the OP, but in our last purchase contract it stated several things did not convey. They took more than was stated, but since we were doing a complete renovation, it really didn't matter. Red silk drapes? Assorted pavers? Bird Bath? We'd have kicked all of that to the curb anyway, but the fireplace mantle was a surprise. They took that! AND they left a lot of trash we had to haul away.

Wow, Suzi! I'm surprised the buyers did that to you. I'm having my cleaning company do a move-out cleaning, including the kitchen cabinets, drawers, baseboards, windowsills, etc.

Babbs50: I wonder if I should have my agent remind the buyer's agent that the garden items are personal property? I'm leaving an arbor that is driven into the ground with metal stakes. Everything else is portable (with big guys doing the lifting).

I would ask if there's anything that they don't absolutely need.

When we moved into this house, I couldn't believe the stuff they left! Some was good, some not so good.

And don't forget garage door openers, even if yours is automatically 'auttached' to your car(s). The house probably originally came with 2 and a new home owner would expect them.

It's helpful if you can label the paint cans with the rooms where they were applied. Label on the side of the can, not the lid. A nice gesture is a list of local restaurants you like, or even a gift certificate to the local pizza delivery service. For that first chaotic day in a new home!

In TX, pool equipment/pool cleaning equip, drapes, appliances (excluding refrig) light fixtures all stay with the house.

Will you be making a new garden in the new place, dyhgarden? I hope so as I'd be interested in hearing about it.

i doubt I blog again. I will have some sort of garden. It will be 3 months before the renovations will be completed on my fixer-upper.