When you bought that sleek, deluxe stainless steel refrigerator, you may never have expected you’d be moving or maybe you purposely purchased it to spruce up your home in preparation for resale. Unfortunately, now you’re absolutely in love with the refrigerator that fits so perfectly in your kitchen and realizes parting from that beautiful fridge may be such sweet sorrow. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to bring it with you to your next home? Sure, it would, but is it a practical, smart or economical decision? Below are the reasons why you should NOT take your fridge with you on your next move.
Moving Pains
Major appliances are large, cumbersome, and awkward to transport once they’re already installed even for master movers like FlatRate. A professional or someone experienced in dissembling appliances should be hired to perform the task. It’s possible that by moving the appliance you may damage the floor beneath it or disrupt the area surrounding it. Also, your beloved appliance could suffer damage during the move.
Is It Worth It?
The whole production of dissembling, moving, and then transporting the appliance either around the corner or across the country could be expensive. Weigh the cost of hiring a professional to uninstall it and the cost to move it by buying a new appliance. Could it be that buying a new appliance for your new home is ultimately cheaper?
The Perfect Fit
Before you purchased the new appliance for your home, you carefully selected the one with the best features in color and style that complimented your present décor and a unit that physically fits into the available space. If it ain’t broke, why fix or change it? Leave the unit where it belongs and choose a new one if necessary that best blends into your new kitchen and its décor. How aggravating would it be if you brought the appliance along, and it didn’t fit into the open space even if you measured it!
You’re the One that I Want
When prospective buyers search for a home, they’re not only looking at the location and price, they’re looking at other features like the state of your appliances. First-time homebuyers are hoping to buy a fully loaded home, especially when they don’t own appliances. Immediately installing a new unit when you’ve just moved in can be another expense and delay in making your house into a home. Buyers will remember that your house was the one with the six-burner stove and wine cellar they liked and be more likely to return – maybe even with an offer in hand!
It’s a Done Deal
Before pricing your home, your realtor will assess its value by many factors including how new your appliances are. This adds or detracts from your sale price and, hopefully, will net a sizable amount of return on your investment. When negotiating with the future buyers of your home, you can also use the new appliance you bought as a bargaining chip. Remember that you cannot switch out the appliances if the sale is contingent upon what they negotiated on and saw. It’s not fair or legal. If you need to replace them or want to upgrade them, you must discuss this with and/or inform your buyers that you plan to do this.
Did you take any appliances with you when you moved?