“Can we include the seller’s leather Pottery Barn sectional in our offer?”
For starters, in the history of real estate transactions, people have asked for some pretty weird things when writing an offer. We’ve personally had people request chickens & boats, we’ve heard of cars 😳 and even rolls of toilet paper (thanks 2020).
But did you know you can’t actually ask for things like cars and furniture in your offer to purchase? Well.. unless you are an all cash buyer.
You might think your offer could look something like this – “all furniture to remain, couches, tv’s, boat in shed”
But why can’t you put that in the contract?
The short answer: The lender won’t allow it. So if you’re financing your home and need to get a mortgage from the bank, you can’t include things like the leather sectional or the classic car as part of your offer to purchase.
The mortgage company is responsible for financing houses only, not furniture, cars, boats and cats.
They are not a Pottery Barn furniture lender, they are putting their money up front to buy the house you are going to live in and agree to pay them back for.
The lender has to know that the money they are lending you is equal to the market value of the house.
So if you’re including things that aren’t typically included in the offer to purchase, they need to be written on a separate addendum or bill or sale – for the sake of your loan.
On the other hand, you ARE able to include things like refrigerators, dishwashers, anything built in, and any other appliances you see when you look at the home. It’s just the fancy (or in some cases, odd) extras that have to be handled separately.
Have you heard of any crazy things included in home sale purchases?!
