Realtor full of smoke?

[bluedogz]

So, house is for sale,and I'm looking to pull out and sell whatever appliances I can, including my NC 30.

Realtor is insisting that if I do this, my flue must be "inspected and capped off by a professional." He Insisted that I am not able to simply buy a cap at the stove store and do it myself, that "only certified chimney sweeps can do that."

I am all in favor of hiring professionals at the right time. However, this doesn't seem to me to be a job that requires such a service call. Am I being too much Bob the Builder?

 

[Chimney Smoke]

I agree with you, this is a perfect time to use one of the stamped metal caps with a piece of decorative trim. If the flue is unused why should it need to be inspected? Sometimes realtors like to be pushy to tell you what you "have" to do and in reality it's just their own opinion. If the flue is disclosed as unused, condition unknown you should be all set.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

Unless it's a shared flu I can't see any reason why you can't do it.
Every state has different laws though.

 

[begreen]

If it's a shared flue, that's a whole nuther problem. Otherwise I would just cap it and say no more. If the realtor wants better see if they will take the cost out of their commission. Be sure the realtor is working for you and not the buyer.

 

[peakbagger]

I have run into the same request long ago. I generally regard realtors as used car salesman so take anything they say with grain of salt. What could be happening is his past experience with home inspector on another sale led him to believe that this was required and he is trying to avoid a potential issue he has run into in the past.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Unless you are sure you are going to lose your shirt in the sale, why not leave the stove in the house? It sure would look much nicer when showing the home. Are you talking about after the home is sold?

 

[electrathon]

Are you talking about after the home is sold?

This is the only way it would make sense. It is your house, you are allowed to work on your own house. If the house is sold, it is no longer yours and you re not allowed to work on it unless you are a legal contractor.

 

[sportbikerider78]

What I'm saying is that you want to show the home with everything in it...without appliances removed. Easier to sell a home that way.
Furnished homes sell more quickly...just note what is not included in sale.

It would be a poor decision to remove anything that could negatively change the buyers perception of the home being "move in ready".

 

[mitchell721]

I agree with the above. Unless it's shared just put a cap on it. If wood heat it's prominent in your area maybe he wants to use that as a selling point that it's inspected and just put stove in and go so to speak but that's really something you can worked out with the sale.

 

[heavy hammer]

You should be able to find out if anyone can just cap it off. As said above it is your house. Just wondering why not leave it in, might help with the sale. Could always tell realtor if new owners don't want it you will remove it. Just a thought.

 

[MarylandGuy]

Blows my mind, but in my area a woodstove could be a negative in selling a house. Now if it were a fireplace, it would be fine.

Same goes with a stack of wood. If there is a woodstove, the realtor wants the wood removed from the property. If there is a fireplace, it can be left provided it's stacked neat.

I have a friend that will be selling his house this spring. He has two modern woodstoves and probably 15 cord of wood in the yard. He plans to leave the wood for the new owner. Wants to be kind. I told him the realtor will probably suggest he remove the wood before listing. He looked at me like I was crazy. He feels certain the stoves and the wood will be a selling point. Sadly it won't.

 

[3650]

I'd tell that realtor I'm going to find a certified realtor.

 

[begreen]

Blows my mind, but in my area a woodstove could be a negative in selling a house. Now if it were a fireplace, it would be fine.

Same goes with a stack of wood. If there is a woodstove, the realtor wants the wood removed from the property. If there is a fireplace, it can be left provided it's stacked neat.

I have a friend that will be selling his house this spring. He has two modern woodstoves and probably 15 cord of wood in the yard. He plans to leave the wood for the new owner. Wants to be kind. I told him the realtor will probably suggest he remove the wood before listing. He looked at me like I was crazy. He feels certain the stoves and the wood will be a selling point. Sadly it won't.

Realtors here say that a stove or insert is considered a liability as well and recommend removing it before the sale. This may be a generality, but definitely true if the stove is pre-EPA phase 2.

 

[kennyp2339]

I would leave the NC30, it will be going on sale at home depot in the next few weeks for $599.99, plus the feds are offering a $300.00 rebate for the 2016 tax season, so you can get a brand new nc30 for $300.00, as far as the realtor giving you a problem, just concede and say your going to leave everything as it. I personally think the culture of wood burning on the east coast is changing, I think more people (especially younger buyers) want more options for basic things like heating in the event of an emergency, or incase of a fuel shortage, plus younger people are more sold (if that's a good way on explaining it) for greener technology (wood stoves) vs using fossil fuels

 

[bluedogz]

Unless you are sure you are going to lose your shirt in the sale, why not leave the stove in the house? It sure would look much nicer when showing the home. Are you talking about after the home is sold?

Nah, we are getting our butts handed to us at the six-figure level. The housing crash murdered us. That's why I'm strangling every nickel out.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Sorry for that man. I too have lost money when I moved from my condo. Sucked.

 

[vasten]

My advice would be if you haven't signed the contract with that Realtor yet... get a second opinion. If the next Realtor agrees than maybe this is something unique to your area. If it is then I would suggest leaving the stove vs the expense of having it professionally capped and inspected. I understand your point regarding the housing market. But is it really worth removing the stove when you could potentially replace it for $300.00?

Depending on your situation, you may be able to make that $300 back from saving on one or two mortgage payments too right? who knows unless the Realtor is asking you to remove it, it could be a selling point to expedite the sale.

 

[Chimney Smoke]

Nah, we are getting our butts handed to us at the six-figure level. The housing crash murdered us. That's why I'm strangling every nickel out.

Not stove related but in general if you're removing all appliances you're probably going to get less for the house than if they were all installed. More work and hassle for less money. I know if I was to make an offer on a house with no appliances vs. one with all the appliances the difference in offers would definitely cover the cost for new ones.

 

[begreen]

Yes, I would want at least a refrigerator and range in place.

 

[Sprinter]

Generally, buyers want a house that is as "turn-key" as possible, including appliances. I think you may be shooting yourself in the foot that way. However, I've heard the same advice around here regarding wood stoves. Many buyers just wouldn't want one although a few would. But if the house already has one installed, that means in most cases there will be a hearth of varying degrees of attrativeness, a ceiling box, etc. So I think I would be inclined to leave the stove installed unless you want to remove the whole installation as if it had never been there, depending on the individual situation.

 

[Squisher]

Sound advice imo. If there is a hearth/chimney or whatnot it would seem odd to me to not leave/have a stove in place.

 

[BrotherBart]

Idiot realtors are my friend. "Get that thing out of here," has so far gotten me a hardly used four thousand dollar stair lift and a seven hundred dollar never used bath lift for my handicapped wife for five hundred bucks total.

And I have advised for years here that great deals on great wood stoves are made available by real estate peddlers that say to get the wood stove out of the house.

Tell them no. And wait to see what the potential buyers say.

 

[Sprinter]

Real estate agents are all over the place as regards to good advice and experience. You need to be in charge of your own dealings. It's your money. I've bought and sold maybe nine houses in my somewhat mobile career and you need to interview agents to find one you are comfortable with and to get a consensus about matters like this. It's okay to talk to several agents. It really is.

I still think you should leave as much stuff there as possible to make the place look immediately livable, though...

 

[BrotherBart]

One of them just talked my neighbor into spending a ton of cash to have his gorgeous in ground pool ripped out. Which only created a space next to the house that is gonna sink like a rock when all of that fill dirt he paid for when we get a rainstorm.

 

[Sprinter]

One of them just talked my neighbor into spending a ton of cash to have his gorgeous in ground pool ripped out. Which only created a space next to the house that is gonna sink like a rock when all of that fill dirt he paid for when we get a rainstorm.

Sounds like Southern Cal. I have some experience down there in the LA area, and most in-ground pools are now great big planters.