Did you leave anything for the new home owners when you moved out (e.g., things that were not already negotiated for)?
I guess I'm mostly curious about leaving them some paint for any touch ups they may need in the future. Or, should I assume that they are probably just repainting and won't need it?
pomelo / 5129 posts
We left paint. It'd be nice to at least leave a can if you have one. We've had a hell of a time trying to match paint in our new house.
Also leave behind any manuals/codes they might need. We haven't been able to figure out how to change the code on our garage yet (we could probably google it, but haven't)
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
I really wish our previous owner had left the paint! We've had some paint peel off (toddler shook the baby gate too hard!) and can't match the color. We are going to have to paint an entire wall because of a two inch spot. So yes leave the paint. They can always throw it away if they re paint anyway.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
Oh and we haven't sold a place yet, but in our condo that we bought he left all the manuals, info about a warrantee that was still current. But we were renting before we bought it so he had given us most of that as renters.
pear / 1593 posts
We left paint and manuals. And at our first house we left a bookshelf that at last minute just would not fit into the movie truck.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
Yea I would leave paint or any extra house materials like bricks, etc.
persimmon / 1364 posts
the prior owners left leftover pieces of flooring and tile as well as random paint. We repainted the entire house so didn't use the paint but we used the flooring.
pomelo / 5573 posts
Our previous owners left a bunch of garbage and a wheelbarrow. 6 months later one of them let himself into our backyard and took the wheelbarrow like we were a sort of storage unit. I'm still mad about it.
eggplant / 11824 posts
I have always left paint, and paint has always been left when we bought. 1) I don't want to lug around half empty paint cans, 2) disposing of paint can be a PITA (at least where we live) and 3) it's really, really nice to know exactly what colors the walls and trim are. I don't ever really expect to use the paint that's left (it gets old, whatnot), but having the cans there so I know the exact brand and shade has been a lifesaver.
pomegranate / 3779 posts
Ours left the paint and that was really helpful because we only repainted a few rooms.
What they did not leave, and we really wish they had, were the remotes to neighborhood gate and the fireplace. We had to purchase new ones for the gates and the fireplace one is $125, so we haven't gotten a new one.
ETA - they also left some bricks that match the house which is nice if we ever have to replace a portion of the wall or something.
pear / 1593 posts
@Meowkers: yep we also left about 1.5 boxes of hardwood flooring leftover from the living room.
grapefruit / 4988 posts
The previous owner of our house left paint, manuals for the kitchen appliances, and contact info of her handyman (which I would have appreciated if he wasn't an obvious hack).
grapefruit / 4584 posts
@erinbaderin: that's obnoxious...hello, trespassing?!
I'd say it's courteous to leave paint/flooring/tile "extras", as well as all parts to appliances (like remotes). As a buyer I'd probably ask about those things (particularly A/C remotes, less so paint/tile), and expect to have them accounted for.
persimmon / 1385 posts
I'm leaving behind an accordion file with any manuals/warranties/contractor contacts/notes for anything that we've done in the house. I also made a spreadsheet of all the pant colors used.
nectarine / 2951 posts
When we moved in the previous owners left a wheelbarrow. It was a nice little bonus.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
Im leaving a list of vendors, paint info by room and we paid HOA dues for the year. We aren't allowed to leave open paint cans behind, but our handyman is going to patch up and touch up holes for us.
pomegranate / 3350 posts
We left some paint, appliance manuals, and information on annual maintenance provided by the plumber that did some work for us.
The previous owners of our current house left us extra drawer pulls and knobs which was actually useful because not all the kitchen drawers had them. And what we thought was really awesome, some pictures of the house from the owners before them.
persimmon / 1427 posts
I leave paint, flooring remnants, manuals, remotes, and anything really specific to the house (extra landscape lighting bulbs, etc).
persimmon / 1367 posts
The previous owners left flooring tiles and extra sheets of the exterior vinyl siding, which have both been very helpful to have. They also left the garage full of randomly sized wood, which my husband has put to good use.
BUT, they also left broken furniture, non-functioning appliances (air conditioner, dehumidifier) and a fridge full of old food. I made their realtor clean out the fridge during the walk through - I wasn't touching that crap!
clementine / 806 posts
when we moved in, the backyard storage shed was full of tiles, paint, door knobs, an old faucet...basically a bunch of stuff from when they made improvements over the years. About half was total junk, and half was stuff we could have used. They also left a box on the kitchen counter full of all the manuals, keys, garage door openers, etc... Both were hugely helpful, even though we threw out 90% of what was in the shed.
We plan to do the same when we move out next month. I will also include a list of current vendors (cleaning lady, lawn guys, pest control, a/c company) in case she wants to maintain those relationships. Also, our buyer has been an absolute pleasure to work with, so I will probably leave a bottle of champagne in the fridge for her (she is keeping our fridge). It seems silly, and my husband will object, but I really want to wish her well in the house and thank her for making this such an easy process.
honeydew / 7303 posts
We are leaving paint, some new light bulbs that fit fixtures in the house, a water filter for the fridge (new in pack) and our outside garbage can because we have nothing to do with it.
cherry / 116 posts
The previous owners left us paint ( not helpful for us because we repainted everything, but it could be helpful), manuals to the kitchen appliances, extra tile and laminate. Oh, and 2 garage door openers.
pomegranate / 3032 posts
As I painted each room over the years, I filled little touch up jars full of paint and labeled them with paint info and room. I'll be leaving all of those plus cans of the paint the main floor is painted. We tossed the bedroom paint cans. They're buying a wardrobe in the basement, our kitchen table and chairs, 3 bar stools, the kegorator and mini fridge. I have a packet with all the manuals and the permits we took out when we added the addition. Remotes for a fan and ac unit. I'll probably pick up a bottle of champagne or wine for them.
pomelo / 5220 posts
We left paint, extra tiles and manuals. I should have left them champagne, we are still neighbors with them so it would have been nice to get to know them.
apricot / 461 posts
The old owners of our house left us:
Paint
Flooring tiles
manuals for appliances
a garbage can in the kitchen
a brand new in box swiffer wet jet
(up to this point we liked the items)
a ton of dust/dirt/grime
random crap they didn't have time to pack up
moldy shower curtains,
tons of crap in the rafters of the garage
a headache
Needless to say, our home buying experience wasn't so good. At the time of our walk through (30 minutes before closing), they had just started throwing things in their uhaul.
I think its great to leave paint. They didn't patch or repair any of their holes in the walls- so it was super helpful to fix those and any new ones we caused.
honeydew / 7283 posts
The previous owners of our house left paint and some extra tiles.
They also left us a nice note with a stuffed animal for DD and a bottle of champagne in the fridge! They were awesome 
pear / 1737 posts
We left everything at went with the house because it was a new build we had extra pieces of floor tile and hardwood. We left the original paint and any colours we had used so they could touch up if they wanted, but they said they were probably going to repainted anyway. We had a few funky colours.
Our house sellers left us a huge bucket of dog poo in their back yard (they had s very big dog) and poo sprinkled throughout the yard also. They also left random garbage from stuff they had been using for touch ups and a teeny bit of garbage, but they had did us a favour by closing in a month so we didn't sweat it.
pomegranate / 3809 posts
Any home upgrade/repair items that you dont want will probably be useful. The guy we bought the house from left paint (interior was just one color so that was easy - a huge 5 gallon bucket, and exterior house and trim color), stain for the deck, polyurethane, primer, interior stain colors, tons of little sample colors that they must have used. They also left manuals and air filters. We've been able to make use of about half of the stuff they left, which is nice and saved us a few bucks.
watermelon / 14467 posts
The previous owners left us:
- Paint
- Garage door opener
- Lots of dirt
- A hole in the wall that was duct taped and then painted.
- A bad taste in our mouths when we had to chase down the key to the house (we ended up threatening to take our escrow money to change every single lock in the house).
nectarine / 2641 posts
I was running late (solo with a 2 year old and a 2 month old at the time) and didn't get out before they came in for their final walk-through and as I was trying desperately to get out the door, their realtor said "oh, just stay." So then we became friends. I asked if they wanted our (really big and hard to move) desk, the curtains (I figured they'd replace, but they could use them in the meantime...they didn't fit anything in the new house), and something else, but I can't remember what. Maybe some garage shelving?
I probably would only have left the curtains if I hadn't run into them.
ETA: I remember! When we had our floors put in, we had more wood than we needed. Not a ton, but enough to do the stairs or something. So we left that.
nectarine / 2148 posts
Our house they left us:
- manuals for appliances
- second refrigerator
- 5 a/c units
- 2 dressers
- extra roof shingles
- paint
- painting supplies
- bed frame
- lawn mower
... And best part is they left a pool table.
pomelo / 5607 posts
Definitely leave paint! Ours also left curtains. Which was kind of weird but the ones in the living room happened to match our decor, so they're still up! The rest are not, though we kept the ones we liked for future use.
coconut / 8430 posts
The previous owner of my house kept meticulous records of all home improvements and many of the major appliances. They left us a giant binder with all of that so we have receipts for warranty work and we know when things were last maintained or installed. We were left all of the paint which we used to touch up almost every room. We removed the popcorn ceiling and just needed to paint the top 1" of each wall. It would have been really expensive to repaint the entire house so I'm glad they left us the paint.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
The previous owners left us a bunch of stuff...
outdoor garbage cans, which were surprisingly useful and are still used
tile and grout
paint, which we've only used in the playroom since we painted the rest of the house
pool equipment, which we've slowly been replacing for better stuff
gardening tools, which I am glad to have for small projects
honeydew / 7504 posts
If you leave paint, please, for the love of all things holy, label the paint cans with color and/or what room they go with! Our previous owner left TONS of paint, but she had painted all the rooms in similar colors with similar accent walls, and we had a hell of a time matching the right cans to the right room!
She also left pots (for plants), some tools and random home repair stuff, a cutting board, and some other random stuff I'm forgetting. She was weird.
When we moved out of our house, we left paint (labeled!), a houseplant, the garage door opener and keys, appliance manuals, and a note welcoming them to their new home!
pomelo / 5720 posts
@winter_wonder: the previous owners of our home left paint and, though we didn't use it, we were able to use it to color match when we wanted to repaint a few rooms. They also left us a roof rake (much needed in New England), recycling bins, and some miscellaneous outdoor tools.
apricot / 461 posts
@avivoca: We changed every lock in the house the day after we bought ours. Even though they gave us a key, I didn't trust them to not keeps a copy for themselves and let themselves back in.
watermelon / 14467 posts
@Dr. Pepper: We ended up changing our locks too, but this was the day the keys were supposed to be turned over (two days after closing) and they weren't where they said they were. We had to wait an hour and a half for their agent to locate them and tell them that if they didn't produce the key in 30 minutes, they were going to lose their escrow money.
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