Buying an House - Does it include Appliances in your area?

[Monoriu]

If you buy directly from a developer, it generally comes with all the kitchen appliances and air-con.  This is sort of a bundling tactic, because a lot of developers are also conglomerates that sell electronic appliances.  Think of it as if you are forced to buy from them. 

If you buy from just another citizen, it most likely will not come with appliances.  Most people will remove the valuable stuff, and leave behind the crap. 

Generally, nobody really cares if the flat comes with appliances in Hong Kong.  Electronic appliances are cheap here, and the flat extremely expensive.  The cost of the appliances is negligible compared with the flat.

This is true even for a lot of rentals.  I've helped a few expats find rental homes in HK, and most of them are shocked that they don't come with any sort of appliance or furniture.

[Grey Fox]

In Quebec, that's the norm. Comes empty, no appliances & no furniture.

[sbr]

AFAIk around here the sink, stove and dishwasher are considered part of the house.  When I bought my house I threw in an extra $500 for the guy to leave his refrigerator behind for me.

Here is an article about a guy who is being charged for  "aggravated theft" for stripping his just foreclosed house.

http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2009/08/next_home_in_damascus_foreclos.html

DAMASCUS -- After stripping his foreclosed home of everything from the air conditioning system to the kitchen sink, Grigoriy Bogoslavets was convicted of a crime that is often witnessed but rarely reported.

The 33-year-old electrician pleaded no contest last month to aggravated theft after stealing more than $50,000 of property attached to his former Damascus home, one of the few such cases in Oregon or across the country to result in prosecution. He will be sentenced Sept. 22.

After foreclosure, the kitchen was stripped of nearly everything that could be removed, including the kitchen sink and cabinets.

Prosecutor Bryan Brock, who is handling the case for the Clackamas County district attorney's office, said he has never seen a similar indictment. Detective Jim Strovink of the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office called it a "very isolated case."

Departing homeowners' taking off with fixtures that are legally part of the house -- generally anything attached or installed -- is nothing new to real estate brokers. What's changing, especially in the nation's worst housing markets, is the recognition that such acts can be criminal.

Banks, which usually can recoup losses from insurance claims, rarely take the time and effort to report theft of home fixtures. But law enforcement officials say nearby residents, eager to preserve their own home values, are starting to turn in their former neighbors.

That's what happened in the Bogoslavets case. Neighbors tipped off police when they saw Bogoslavets return to his former home with a van after vacating the premises. Investigators discovered Bogoslavets had taken nearly everything he could remove, including the kitchen island, fireplace, bathtubs, the doorbell and electrical outlets.

In Phoenix, where average home values in some areas have dropped more than 50 percent since their 2006 high, the FBI has intervened. In April, members of the FBI's Mortgage Fraud Task Force arrested five people accused of stripping their foreclosed homes. Some of them advertised foreclosure sales on Craigslist, according to Julie Halferty, the task force supervisor.

Some local Arizona law enforcement agencies are also taking more of a hard line. The Surprise, Ariz., Police Department arrested a former homeowner who took items estimated at $20,000.

"If it's $100,000 or $15,000, it doesn't matter," Sgt. Mark Ortega said. "If we have proof that it was committed ... it's pretty simple."

In Oregon, stripping foreclosed homes down to the walls is becoming more of an issue just by virtue of increased foreclosures, said Carl Iams, the real estate broker who was assigned to the Bogoslavets' home.

Brock did not speculate on whether Oregon will see more of these arrests. But if Clackamas County law enforcement brings forward more strong cases, he said, the district attorney's office will prosecute them.

"It's a question of reporting it," Brock said. "In the past, we have not said no to these cases, we've just not had them reported."

In some cases, it can be difficult to prove a crime has occurred, such as when a homeowner removes fixtures after receiving a notice of default but before officially losing ownership to a bank or mortgage company. Under Oregon law, amenities secured to the home, such as toilets and fireplaces, are the property of the titleholder.

Bogoslavets was an exceptional case because of the amount he took, as well as his additional criminal charges. As part of a plea bargain, he pleaded no contest to four counts of first-degree aggravated theft for fraudulent dealings with an electrical contractor company. Prosecutors plan to recommend a sentence of nearly four years in prison.

Iams said he hopes that Bogoslavets' conviction will serve as a symbol for the thousands of Oregonians who could lose their homes this year.

"People knowing that criminal charges can be filed will hopefully serve as a deterrent," he said.

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[Ed Anger]

My last one came with everything, including TV's (woohoo! flat screens!) and a partially stocked wine cellar. The old people owners were really desperate to get the fuck out of dodge.

[Caliga]

I miss my wine cellar.   I have no place to easily homebrew now.

[Ed Anger]

I miss my wine cellar.   I have no place to easily homebrew now.

Great place to hide from kids. 

[Valmy]

In Massachusetts, it's illegal to sell a home without a stove (as well as some other more basic shit, like at least one toilet, etc.)  When we bought our house up there, we did buy a washer and dryer, microwave and fridge as the previous owners had totally emptied the house.

Down here there is no such law,

It is kind of funny, in Texas the laws are very pro-buyer and pro-renter.  In some ways we are very left-wing (well populist) when it comes to our laws.