Including Personal Items In Real Estate Agreements

When buying a property, it is normal to ask for appliances. In certain cases, people might negotiate other personal items to be included as well, such as window coverings or equipment. Before inserting such things in real estate agreements, it is vital to understand the impact that it may have on the mortgage approval process. This article discusses the topic of including personal items in real estate agreements.

Value of Personal Items

When wanting personal items at a listing, home buyers may be willing to offer a higher price for the real estate based on the cost of the items. However, mortgage companies and appraisers do not add any value for them. This is expected since money is lent according to "real" property. Should a home buyer neglect to submit payments, they can initiate the process of foreclosing on that property. They would not be able to foreclose on belongings such as furniture, so they would not give any value to those items in the appraisal process. If a home buyer increases the offer dollar amount to cover personal items, it is possible that the appraised value will end up lower than desired. Additional, some underwriters might have an issue with some things being on real estate agreements.

How to Address Personal Items

Personal items may be noted in various ways. If the cost of the items are low and the offered price is not inflated to include them, then they can be written into real estate agreements as gifted items. For costly things, or a large number of items, it is better to address it in a different agreement. The Seller would essentially be agreeing to convey the personal items for a set dollar amount to the Buyer at the same time that the property transfers ownership. The dollar value and additional details would not be detailed in the official real estate agreements and the real estate transaction would thus not be reliant upon the purchase of these items.