Take the Curtains or Not

If you bought the curtains, then they are yours. The HARDWARE needs to stay, but the material, if you bought it, is yours.

We left ours, since our sales contract specified "window treatments". Window treatments includes curtains. What does your sales contract say?

Page 1 of your contract when you sell will state the provisions:

2. PROPERTY:
A. LAND: Lot Block ,
Addition, City of , County of ,
Texas, known as
(address/zip code), or as described on attached exhibit.
B. IMPROVEMENTS: The house, garage and all other fixtures and improvements attached to the
above-described real property, including without limitation, the following permanently
installed and built-in items, if any: all equipment and appliances, valances, screens,
shutters, awnings, wall-to-wall carpeting, mirrors, ceiling fans, attic fans, mail boxes,
television antennas and satellite dish system and equipment, mounts and brackets for
televisions and speakers, heating and air-conditioning units, security and fire detection
equipment, wiring, plumbing and lighting fixtures, chandeliers, water softener system,
kitchen equipment, garage door openers, cleaning equipment, shrubbery, landscaping,
outdoor cooking equipment, and all other property owned by Seller and attached to the
above described real property.
C. ACCESSORIES: The following described related accessories, if any: window air conditioning
units, stove, fireplace screens, curtains and rods, blinds, window shades, draperies and rods,
door keys, mailbox keys, above ground pool, swimming pool equipment and maintenance
accessories, artificial fireplace logs, and controls for: (i) satellite dish systems, (ii) garage
doors, (iii) entry gates, and (iv) other improvements and accessories.
D. EXCLUSIONS: The following improvements and accessories will be retained by Seller and
must be removed prior to delivery of possession:
.

If you don't include the curtains and rods in the contract, the buyers will assume they are part of the house they purchased.

Take the curtains, leave the cannoli.

You can have them altered to match the windows in your new home, if you want.

I'd take them if you're leaving the wood blinds. fabric is not part of the house. i'd only leave them if i couldnt or wouldnt use them in the new house. i would think even if your contract said window treatments it would mean the blinds, plasitc or wood...I've never heard of fabric curtains being included, thats merely decoration.

See Rebecca F.'s post below. You may state explicitly in your sales contract that you are taking the curtains. I've moved loads of times (military family) and this is a normal exclusion to make. Few buyers would expect you to leave the curtains.

We left curtains one time, and we asked the buyer before doing so (large windows in a great room - we couldn't have used them in the new place). And once we asked a seller to leave us curtains in one room because they had been chosen particularly to coordinate with the custom wallpaper. If the sellers had said no, it would not have been a deal breaker.

The main thing is, reach an agreement with your buyer, and put the exclusion of your curtains in the sales contract.

Good luck with your impending move.

I wouldn't want someone else's curtains in my house - I would insist that the seller take them or remove them before I moved in.

ETA: Rebecca - none of that was in the contract when I bought my house, and quite frankly, I would have been shocked if it were.
Some of it I can see but appliances (the seller left the stove, but I would have been okay with it if they wanted to take it - we bought our own fridge), valances, mirrors, attic fans, mail boxes, television antennas and satellite dish system and equipment (I don't use those, so why would I want them taknig up space on my house?), mounts and brackets for
televisions and speakers (why would I want those if I don't hang my tv and speakers on the walls), security and fire detection equipment (if the alarm system is wired into the house, I can see leaving it even if I choose not to use it, but battery operated smoke detectors?), cleaning equipment (why would I want someone else's old vaccuum cleaner?), outdoor cooking equipment (why would I want someone else's grill?)
Fireplace screen and tools (I have my own, thanks), artificial fireplace logs (I don't burn those, only real wood, so why wuold I want them left behind?)

You can always ask your agent to ask the new owners if they care.

If you bought the curtains you take the curtains. If they were there when you moved into the house then you leave them.
(this is a rental house, right?)
L.
Well then I change my answer! Take them with you. They are yours.

Well J., as you know I have moved about 37 times in my life.

If you want to take your matching curtains, then by all means, take them. You just have to make an addendum to the sales agreement that you will be removing the curtains. What about the rods? Do you want them as well? Then the new, empty screw holes have to be patched and re-painted. But since the rods are attached, they might be able to say no at this point in the sale. An experienced realtor would have reviewed these specific items with you in your contract.

Be very specific and clear. I think the new owners will completely understand that you want these items, unless they bought the home because of your curtains?

I don't understand why you would want to take them. Does your next house have the same measurements, etc so they can be used?

I personally would not do that. My suggestion would be to ask the buyers if you can have them. Who knows, the buyers might not prefer them and would gladly let them go.

I remember the first house we bought... the owners took everything, including the light bulbs from all the fixtures. Tacky.

Curtains are yours to take, the rods are affixed to the property and should stay unless otherwise stated in the contract. In real estate, if its NOT in writing it doesn't exist.

Depends on what it says in your purchase agreement.

I was seriously annoyed when we specified in our purchase agreement that we WANTED the curtains... and the previous owners took them. I had to buy ALL NEW curtains for the WHOLE house. Not something I had budgeted for...

And, nobody was living in this house when we bought it - they were just plain brown (not expensive) curtains used for staging. Seemed petty for them to take them to me.

The curtains are yours. Take them with you.

We sold our house last summer and were told we had to leave the curtains as they were considered window treatments. I also know that the new owners took them down so it's really kinda dumb to me to have to leave them. I would just ask the new buyers if you can have them.

Take the curtains. Sometimes people leave them if they know they will not fit or match their new home. It is not required that you leave them unless specifically stated in the contract

leave the curtians. most likey the new home wont be able to match the dementions of the old curtians. i would leave them and apperciate if they were left for me. its something easy enough to leave and if they dont like them they can change them .realizing they picked your home there is a good chance they would have the same taste in drapes.

The curtains are yours to take. Only leave them if you are not planning to use them. It's a nice gesture.

Blinds/shutters should stay. They won't fit in your new house anyway - windows are all different sizes. But you wouldn't take them even if they did fit unless you told the new owners.

I took the rose curtains that matched the throw pillows on my couch. They were a wedding present. When the buyers did the final walk through (ie boxes were packed and loaded) the wife noticed and said 'i had wanted those'. the hubby said i had to produce them or the sale was off for breach of contract. Are you kidding? I was able to talk them out of it, as they were wedding gifts.

Your best bet would be to ask the realtor, or at least pack them in an easy access location in case there is a problem.

Turns out tho that when I got to my new house, the room I needed them for had two small windows instead of one large bay, and I couldn't use them...

When we sold our first house, I had Anthropologie drapes that I absolutely loved. I had to tell our agent that I wanted to take them; she had to alter the agreement in some form to let the seller know. So I would imagine that in general, one would assume the curtains stay w/ the house unless otherwise qualified.

Leave the blinds/shutters. Take the curtains.

I think the curtains are expected to stay, so I wouldn't just take them. However you might ask the buyer if they care. If they don't want them or don't care, then you're free to take them. My mom sold a house to a lady 10+ years ago who loved her bedroom decor so much, she asked my mom to leave the bedding set as well since it matched the curtains and paint, etc. We thought that was a little weird, but you never know what a buyer is thinking. In fact, my mom bought new curtains a couple of years ago, but hadn't hung them, and then decided to move. I told her, don't hang those new curtains, you might have to leave them behind. So she left the old ones up, and left them behind. LOL

I think that it's rude for somebody to demand that the curtains remain. That's like demanding that you leave your bed because it fits perfectly in the master suite. I know that this is just an opinion, and the final answer might depend on your contract, but I just wanted to put that out there. I wouldn't even want somebody else's old curtains, unless they were paying to have them deep-cleaned and rehung.

Check your sales contract - on ours, there was a list of items that either stay or go, including window treatments. It was checked off by our buyers, so we had to leave them all.

Take the curtains. If you have installed blinds/shutters, then you have provided adequate window coverings. Take them down now, list the blinds and shutters in the agreement. If the curtains are not specifically listed in the selling contract, then you can take them with you - no harm no foul.

Really, the next owner is going to hang their own curtains to match their decor. I don't remember all of this, leave everything notion when I did real estate two decades ago. Then everyone was just happy if the appliances stayed with the house. Window coverings, or any kind, were a happy bonus :)

Take the curtains, but leave the rods.

We didn't keep ANY of the curtains the last owners left behind. We Freecycled everything.

You need to check with the realtor. I know my mom was pissed when she bought a house. She LOVED the curtains, they were some kind of flower print that would match her furniture, but they were custom done by the prior owner. The owner asked if she HAD to leave them and was told yes, because they were "attached" to the house. Low and behold, when my mom moved in, they were NOT the flowered ones she loved, but solid green that matched the carpet. She didn't persue it but could have. So if I were you, I would check.

I would call my realtor and have them contact the buyer's realtor just to make sure. I suspect the buyer won't care but it's a kind gesture to check first.

I'd feel comfortable taking the curtains as long as they'll fit windows in your new house.

If they are not yours, don't take them. It's stealing. If you want them, ask the landlord if you can purchase them from him.

Yes ma'am the curtains should go. They are an accessory and definitely wouldn't be considered as part of the package unless you just wanted to leave them behind. If there are custom windows that are hard to dress and these are not standard size, etc., you could try to include them and see what happens.

I would take the curtains, they match your decor. At least you're leaving the blinds. Whenever we've moved into a home we had to cover all that.

We left ours. They were custom fit. When we moved into our rental, the landlords lived here prior and took them. We never put anything up. I do know that when we were house hunting, we specifically asked if the treatments were staying, if they weren't we added the costs of new window treatments into our offer. Just something to think about.

We took ours, I agree that is something that unless asked for should go with you. just like your decorative pictures etc
When we moved to our new house the owners stated all over the place that the curtains did not stay.....which was pretty funny because they were lime green and brown jungle animals in the nursery. Besides sheer drapes in the bedroom there were nother curtains in the entire house.
I say take them!

Curtains go with the seller unless specifically requested by the buyer and agreed to by the seller

Our contract had a section where we could exclude things from the sale. I thought about excluding our curtains but did not. I have regretted it since, especially the curtains in one of the bedrooms which went with the bedset we had. Coincidentally, the house recently went back on the market, and I noticed that the curtains I wish I had kept are gone. So we probably should have taken them with us after all!

If they were made to fit those windows then I would leave them and let the new owner decide. Most special made to fit things like curtains should stay because you probably won’t use them at your new home (they won’t fit). If they are store bought and you think they will work in your new home then take them with you, but fix any holes left behind from the curtain rods.

You are supposed to take them if you want them. A lot of times they will not fit the windows at your new house. I took mine and have been unable to use them. BUT they are yours. The new people will want their own anyway and will probably pitch yours.

Some people leave curtains when moving out and some don't.
What decides it?
Will the old curtain fit the windows in your new house?
If they won't fit - there's no point in taking them to the new house.
(In a pinch, some sheets or towels tacked up over windows will work just fine until you can get some new curtains.)

Our seller left most of the curtains, because the size and shape of the windows in her new apartment were not the same as the windows in this house. So she had no use for them.

When we moved in I took them down, washed them and put them back up. We still use them to this day, 10 years later. :-)

Curtains don't tend to be one of those items that stays with the house. Blinds, yes, curtains, no.
If you like the curtains, take them with you. If you don't, leave them.