Does that come with the house?
The story about the Blochs and their conflict with their condo association reminds me that many consumers don’t know what real estate is! There is a magic line between real estate and other processions. Real estate is the land, the house or condo and anything that is bolted onto it or otherwise affixed to it. Something specifically built-in or built-for a space is also real estate. So are plants growing in the yard. However, if something is attached by a hook, it is chattel or personalty; that’s personal property, like a picture on a frame.
When a buyer is looking at a house with me, sooner or later I have a conversation about what is real estate and what is chattel. There are lots of things that are real estate that don’t seem like it and vice versa.
A mezuzah affixed to a doorpost with a nail or screw is real estate. Mezuzot are real estate. Other things that seem like personal processions but are real estate include baby gates, spice racks, built-in or built-for bookshelves, shades affixed to windows, and fancy light switch plates.
My clients are often annoyed that refrigerators are not real estate. But here in Massachusetts, one can sell or rent a place without one. Washers and dryers are chattel, too. It is confusing that the stove and the built-in dishwasher are real estate.
Chattel that seems like real estate includes large mirrors mounted on a bracket. The bracket is real estate, the mirror is not. Frequently a buyer can’t know how it is mounted. Play sets in the yard are sometimes dug into the ground (real estate) or sit on the surface (chattel.) Then there are curtain rods. The bracket is real estate, but the rod is not. If the rod and the bracket are a matched set, who gets them? ... See what I mean?
Light bulbs are chattel, although sellers generally leave them.
It’s important before you make an offer to get on the same page as the seller about what is included and what is not. The second section of the Offer to Purchase is where you ultimately get on the same page. Sellers can exclude things that are real estate. Buyers can include things that are chattel. Get it written there.
Have you had a chattel-real estate hassle?
