REAL ESTATE
Sunday, September 9, 2001
What's all this stuff?
New homes often come with unexpected surprises — the seller's junk and leftover things
Noreen Seebacher
If the house you buy is empty on closing day, consider yourself lucky. If it's clean enough for you to move in, you've been blessed.
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| Joe Larese/The Journal News |
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New homeowner Chuck Gerardi goes over a box left behind in the attic by the seller, as realtor Peter Bell and Gerardi's fiancee, Susie Walker, look on from the attic door. They just recently closed on the ranch house in Putnam Lake in the town of Patterson. |
One of the ironies of home buying is that "broom clean" has less to do with "not dirty" than simply vacant "Who knew?" recalled Melissa Wilson of Eastchester. "The contract said the house had to be 'broom clean' so I assumed it meant that someone had to clean the house. With a broom."
But expectations often fall flat. Gayjone Carroll, associate broker at Weichert Realty in Suffern, said one of her buyers "found a garage full of old bicycles, paints, old tools, broken sawhorses and broken toys during a final walkthrough, just hours before the scheduled closing."
It took last minute negotiations between the attorneys for buyers and sellers to keep the sale on track.
Chuck Gerardi and his flancee, Susie Walker, are still wondering what to do with all the debris the previous owners of the house they recently purchased in Patterson left behind. The couple discovered the unexpected mess when they did their final inspection before the closing with their agent, Peter Bell, of Balch Buyers Realty in Mamaroneck.
"First we saw a few paint cans. Then we looked in the crawl space," Bell recalled. They found everything from cartons of old books to stereo speakers.
The former owner failed to make good on a promise to return to get everything he left behind. Now the new owners are wondering what to do with it. "We made the former owner put $500 in escrow for the clean up. So we have that money to fall back on. But I'm still frustrated. I don't want to have to move someone else's trash. And I don't even know what to do with the paints and chemicals," Gerardi said.
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| Joe Larese/The Journal News |
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New homeowner Susie Walker holds one of the paint cans left behind by the seller of the home she recently bought with her fiance Chuck Gerardi. |
Real estate agents agree that houses are often left scattered with the remnants of years of living. "Sometimes, sellers are physically or emotionally unable to clear out the house. Other times, they're just lazy," Carroll said.
And even otherwise clean homes may have piles of debris in basements and garages. That's because some of the stuff typically stored there — paints, solvents, old tires, inoperable appliances — can be difficult to discard. Most moving companies won't even put hazardous materials on the truck.
Rather than fret about finding the right disposal location on the eve of the move, some seller's just forget about it — and hand off the problem to the new owners. "That can be a problem," said Sona Davidian, co-owner of McClellan Real Estate in Pelham. "Most buyers know how difficult it can be to get rid of those things, and it invariably becomes an issue at the closing"
The seller may be required to hire someone to clear the debris from the house, put money in escrow to cover the cost of removal or offer the buyers a credit at closing to pay for the clean up. The typical cost: $500 to $1,000, agents said.
Even if a seller leaves the house vacant, it's naive for buyers to assume the property will be pristine. All "broom clean" means is that the former owner's belongings and refuse are gone, and that the floors have been swept or vacuumed.
"If a house is broom clean, you're not going to want to eat off the floors," said Jacqueline Rosenberg, associate Broker at Vannier GMAC Real Estate in Armonk.
Don't expect bathrooms to sparkle, windows to be freshly washed or kitchen appliances clean enough for you to cook your first meal in your new home. Although a few fastidious sellers will wash the floors before they sweep them, or thoroughly clean the house, most don't.
Unfortunately, it's hard to predict what condition an owner will leave a property until the closing
is near at hand. Prospective buyers usually perform what's known as a final walk-thorough within 24 hours of the closing.
By that time, the house should be nearly vacant But some sellers wait to the last minute to move, or underestimate the time they need to clean out the house. In those cases, the final walk-through can be a source of unwelcome surprise.
"It can be very disturbing," said Joan Campbell, an agent with Prudential Spectra in Brewster. "I sold one house last year in which the owner's son was supposed to get rid of a lot of stuff. Well, when we went for the final walkthrough, the buyers almost died."
"There must have been 10 feet of junk in the front yard."
The owner managed to have it all hauled away before the closing the next day, she said. But it took its toll on the buyers. "It made them very emotional, and very excited," she said.
The best strategy for sellers: Keep the buyers happy and maximize your profit by getting rid of all your junk well in advance of the closing.
Copyright © 2001 The Journal News. All rights reserved.