How to decide on what stays, goes in sale of a house

Is it attached, or is it not attached?

For homebuyers and sellers deciding what stays in a house, that is the question.

And the answer's not always black-and-white. So how do you decide?

Traditionally, anything considered a fixture, or "an irremovable part of the real property," according to Black's Law Dictionary, stays in a home when it's bought.

An item usually is considered a fixture if it is attached, and removing it would cause damage. For example, a mirror that hangs on a hook can be taken by the seller, but one that is attached — say, glued to a wall — must stay.

But not all situations are that simple, making the fixture debate one that mediators and attorneys deal with regularly.

Real-estate professionals gave these gray-area examples:

• Though an alarm system wired into a house could be considered a fixture, what if the seller only leases the system?

• Refrigerators, long considered removable items because they were merely plugged in, now often are connected to pipes to supply built-in water and ice machines. Are they still removable?

• What about items that aren't connected to the house but are an integral part of the lot? Does a storage shed stay? How about a stone birdbath or a child's play equipment?

• Light fixtures generally stay. But what about landscape lighting? Can something be affixed to the ground?

There often are no clear-cut answers to such questions, says Richard Hornung, a Louisville, Ky., real-estate attorney who deals with such issues as a mediator.

"What you think is a fixture, someone else may not," he says.

Another mediator, attorney Jason Vaughn, agrees. "Two minds on separate sides of a contract can assume the wrong thing."

Vaughn and Hornung have both seen the effects of disagreements over high-value fixtures, from failed closings to mediation and even lawsuits. A few simple steps can avoid such problems, they say.

"What you want to do when you walk through a house is write down anything you might have a question about," Vaughn says. Then the buyer should put anything he or she wants to remain in the contract.

If there are questions about what's attached and what isn't, ask, Vaughn says. And err on the side of being too specific in the contract.

Hornung and others recommend talking through whether the following items will stay: window treatments, appliances, lighting, fireplace tools, security systems and anything in the yard.

A buyer also should consider what items he or she wants removed.

Hornung says unwanted items left on a property can be a hassle to get rid of. These can include wood piles or debris, old refrigerators, extra paint cans, or anything else that can't easily be thrown away.

"A seller might think [extra paint] is a benefit to the buyer," he said, but then "the buyer has to go through the proper process of removal, because you can't just throw it in the trash anymore."