Buying a house with a refrigerator

[mommin]

We moved from California a few years ago and in our area of CA it was not expected that you would leave a fridge when you sold a house. I’m in Nevada now and moving to Missouri and in both places it is expected that a refrigerator stays with the house. I thought it was a fluke when we bought and didn’t realize it was standard practice around here.
My mother in law is in Idaho and she said that her house came with a refrigerator as well. Her realtor said it is far more common for a refrigerator to stay with a house there.

Just curious, in your neck of the woods (if you care to share where that is) does a fridge stay with the house?

[eb777888]

We negotiated the fridge, it definitely didn't' come with the house. Dallas suburbs.

[TR]

I’ve bought in SC and TX and in both places, the appliances all conveyed, but I believe that was specified in the listing/contract.

[Saudade]

MN. I've bought 4 and sold 3. All times it was expected that the fridge would stay with the house. None of the houses I even toured mentioned not leaving the fridge. How odd

[eb777888]

Oh wait. It's possible they excluded it from the sale and we negotiated it back in.

[Vespasia]

When we bought our house in MD, it came with all kitchen appliances and a washer/dryer.

However, the sellers removed every single lightbulb in the house. It was bizarre. 

[gummybear]

Our first house came with a fridge (the the PO did an old switcheroo and left us with an old, different one)

Our second house came with a garage fridge but not a kitchen fridge

Our third house came with a fridge

Both our rentals came with fridges and we left fridges when we sold.

So I guess yes? We were going to bring our fridge from house 2 to house 3 bc it was really nice and house 3 had an almond colored small fridge. We stated it was excluded on disclosures. But the buyers really wanted it so we ended up negotiating to leave it.

[UMaineTeach]

Ours was a flip house with a cheap refrigerator. It came with it, but we changed it out within a year.

I think the expectation here is the kitchen appliances get left. Washer/dryer usually go.

[starburst604]

I'm in MA and the fridge does not have to stay with the house, but it's stated in the selling points whether or not it will be included. I think most people leave them unless it's some crazy expensive fridge though, who wants to move that? Our new house was a new build and had no fridge. Some were surprised they didn't put one in but I was honestly fine with choosing my own. I'd rather have the one I prefer. Same with our washer/dryer.

[gretchenindisguise]

We bought and sold in KS and the refrigerator stayed with the house.

We rent a townhouse now in SoCal and had to buy a fridge.

[devonpow]

MA - every house we have purchased/friends have purchased come with all major appliances. I’d never heard of houses not including them until this board.

[acr]

It varies. I don't expect it to (in TX), but when we bought our current house, the fridge stayed.

[EvieEthelGarland]

I'm in WA and the fridge has conveyed on all my purchases/sales.

Oddly, my friend works at a college where the on campus apartments do not include fridges. Every year its an issue for her to deal with 19 year olds (and their parents) as they try to coordinate who of the 4 is bringing the full sized appliance for 9 months. If they got ranges and dishwashers, surely they could do a bulk deal of basic refrigerators.

[devonpow]

MA - every house we have purchased/friends have purchased come with all major appliances. I’d never heard of houses not including them until this board.

A lot of people we know have sub zeros or other specially shaped/sized/built in fridges where the cabinetry is built around that type of fridge. So it doesn’t make sense to move them.

[waverly]

We are in the midwest. We have bought 1 primary house and 2 rental houses (1 of which we sold). The refrigerator remained with the house in all 4 transactions.

[eb777888]

I feel like I'm remembering that our realtor said the fridge does typically stay with the house but it was probably excluded so it could be negotiated later. When some things didn't meet inspection, they offered the fridge as a trade instead of fixing the (very small) issues, just like my realtor predicted. Anyway, that fridge was old as hell but it worked amazingly well. We now have a new very expensive fancy fridge and I hate that thing.

[redheadk]

I'm in Texas. The fridge does not convey unless you specify in the contract unless it's a built-in (like a Viking).

[mae0111]

DH and I have bought 8 houses, sold 5, in 2 different states. Only with one property did the fridge come up. The owners took it, so I replaced it. When I sold it 6 months later, I took the new fridge because my parents really needed one in their rental property, and they had helped me out a ton when my ex-FI left me with that albatross of a house. I spelled it out very clearly in the P&S.

Otherwise, never mentioned and always left.

[Roc A Bee]

I’m in CA. The fridge never comes with the house unless negotiated. I’ve moved my current fridge 3 times

[mccallister84]

Yes all appliances, hard wired light fixtures and window coverings convey unless otherwise stated in the disclosures. But I’ve never heard of anyone not conveying appliances, sometimes it’s a light fixture that they will take with them.

[cmeon]

I've only bought new builds, no fridge (or washer/dryer), oven and dishwasher included in purchase price. We did (and would, if we sell this house) leave the fridge in our last homes when we sold (they're a PITA to move).

[moreace01]

I'm in Illinois - both my condo and house came with a fridge (and all appliances).

My brother recently moved to Dallas. His house either didn't come with a fridge or didn't come with a washer/dryer. I forget which. It was a big surprise when they moved in.

[eb777888]

Yeah, I've never moved into a place that came with the washer/dryer.

[candreco]

Northern VA, appliances conveyed with both houses we've bought- W/D, fridge, range, dishwasher. I think it was the same for every house we looked at too, it seems to be standard here so it would stick out if it wasn't the case.

[noodleoo]

MA - no ours didn’t come with one but that’s because it was a new build. I think they would have put one in but we opted instead to take their appliance allowance and pick out our own. I feel like most people I know have had a fridge stay when they bought. We love our current fridge (replaced the original last year), but it was difficult to get into the house so I’d probably leave it if we sold.

[fortnightlily]

When I lived in Los Angeles as a renter they always told us that the old tenant happened to leave the fridge but if it broke it'd be our responsibility to replace it. And often it was the same brand as the stove and dishwasher which told me it was the original so it felt like some racket cooked up long ago between landlords and refrigerator sellers. It makes absolutely no sense to me that all the large, major kitchen appliances wouldn't convey.

As a renter in VA and homeowner in MD the fridge is treated the same as the stove/oven and dishwasher. I have not heard of anyone saying you had to BYOF.

[wanderlustmom]

Yes, Atlanta suburbs and all our houses came with a refrigerator. We have never bought one except the garage refrigerator we bought for $100 20 years ago that’s still running fine.

[wildrice]

Mine came with all appliances. But within the first 2 years we had to replace the fridge, w/d, and microwave, and I think the dishwasher is not far behind. So, it was nice that we didn't have to buy them IMMEDIATELY but also probably wouldn't have needed to be a dealbreaker since we ended up paying for them anyway.

[jewel]

I’m in CA. I’ve purchased 4 houses and the fridge has never come with. We asked for it on the most recent purchase because it was a really nice, fancy fridge and the sellers declined.

[leahcar]

I work in mortgage so have seen lots of purchase contracts over the years. It's not normal for the fridge to convey. Window coverings, light fixtures, the other kitchen appliances (stove, dishwasher, microwave if built-in) do stay unless specifically called out.

That being said- our house in TN came with an (ancient) fridge and extra basement freezer because the seller didn't want to move them. Both worked perfectly the entire time we lived there. Our buyer asked for them so we let them convey with the house.

We had to buy a fridge for this house.