Provide buyer with a "house manual"? (property, contractors, kitchen)

[kletter1mann]

Does a seller ever provide the buyer with a "house manual?" What I'm envisioning is a list of information that would probably be useful to a new buyer, instructions on non-obvious stuff, some service providers, etc. Examples (some specific to my house)

• location of well and buried pipe junctions
• septic location, service company, pumping history
• using remote control lighting (I have an extensive system of programmable exterior floodlights, their use would not be easy to just figure out)
• contact info for remodelers, contractors
• location of drainage outlets (some gutter drains are buried. The outlets are hidden but need to be cleaned yearly)
• typical exterior maintainable cycle (gutter cleaning, etc)

If I had known this stuff when I bought it would have made my life a lot easier.

Also - I have a small stock of stuff like replacement tiles and paint (for touch-ups). Should that be kept or disposed of cause it's "old clutter"?

It seems like this would be a common practice by a thoughtful seller, but I've never heard of it. Comments welcome, thanks.

[Ohiogirl81]

You can do whatever you want. There are no rules.

I left the keys and all the instruction manuals that I could find. That was more than I've usually been given.

[kww]

I've had old sellers leave behind a 3ring binder of stuff. It's always been appreciated by my clients.

I'd also leave any leftover paint/tiles/etc in the basement/garage. May come in handy for the new buyer to match colors at the store.

I'd see nothing detrimental to leaving that type of stuff.

[495neighbor]

Originally Posted by kletter1mann

Does a seller ever provide the buyer with a "house manual?" What I'm envisioning is a list of information that would probably be useful to a new buyer, instructions on non-obvious stuff, some service providers, etc. Examples (some specific to my house)

• location of well and buried pipe junctions
• septic location, service company, pumping history
• using remote control lighting (I have an extensive system of programmable exterior floodlights, their use would not be easy to just figure out)
• contact info for remodelers, contractors
• location of drainage outlets (some gutter drains are buried. The outlets are hidden but need to be cleaned yearly)
• typical exterior maintainable cycle (gutter cleaning, etc)

If I had known this stuff when I bought it would have made my life a lot easier.

Also - I have a small stock of stuff like replacement tiles and paint (for touch-ups). Should that be kept or disposed of cause it's "old clutter"?

It seems like this would be a common practice by a thoughtful seller, but I've never heard of it. Comments welcome, thanks.

I plan to do this for my buyer when I sell. I have spare tiles from redoing my kitchen floor, paint.

I wish the person I purchased from had done this for me. They newly tiled the bathroom floor and didn't leave any spares. When i went to replace an electric basement a few years later, I had to frantically run from tile store to tile store to find a match for the existing tile as the new baseboard was a different size than the old one.

[DMenscha]

I've had a couple of sellers who provided that information. One OCD seller, left behind 2 file boxes full of binders full of information. Useful stuff like the receipt for concrete used on the patio.

The other only left behind 6, 3 inch binders. Oh and 5 CD's full of data including the CAD drawings for the house which the seller designed and built.

[jackmichigan]

Originally Posted by kletter1mann

Does a seller ever provide the buyer with a "house manual?"

It's a courteous thing to do. With thoughtless Sellers, a Buyer should ask for one.

[Ted Bear]

I have done the same.....Owners Manuals for appliances, names and phone numbers for Utility providers, various helpful services that I have used over the years, etc.

I always try to do a walk through with the buyers, pointing out things which a 'living' house and property need to thrive.

It constantly amazes me the number of people who decline such invitation ("I know everything about owning a house; I have owned one before") or simply are indifferent to the information which you can provide to avoid or face the usual challenges down the road.

I had one house where it was very important to keep the gutters and downspouts free of ice and snow in the winter, else the water accumulated and ran into the basement.

In the dead of winter I get the phone call..."there are puddles in my basement"...."Did you clean the gutters and down spouts?" "No..it was cold on my hands......"

You just cant help some people.

And in spite of putting yourself at risk "(You said...") I think it is a gracious and helpful thing to do.

[Blondy]

Our buyer requested to meet with us and go over all the stuff they needed to know.

We accommodated them. I had typed up things beforehand to keep us(mainly my husband) on track. They had never lived in a house and were very anxious and unaware of some pretty basic things.

We gave them the maintenance schedule for everything and names of people we use.

We left tiles/flooring/extra paint and paint names by room. Also, any manuals we had.

[Elke Mariotti]

Originally Posted by kletter1mann

Does a seller ever provide the buyer with a "house manual?" What I'm envisioning is a list of information that would probably be useful to a new buyer, instructions on non-obvious stuff, some service providers, etc. Examples (some specific to my house)

• location of well and buried pipe junctions
• septic location, service company, pumping history
• using remote control lighting (I have an extensive system of programmable exterior floodlights, their use would not be easy to just figure out)
• contact info for remodelers, contractors
• location of drainage outlets (some gutter drains are buried. The outlets are hidden but need to be cleaned yearly)
• typical exterior maintainable cycle (gutter cleaning, etc)

If I had known this stuff when I bought it would have made my life a lot easier.

Also - I have a small stock of stuff like replacement tiles and paint (for touch-ups). Should that be kept or disposed of cause it's "old clutter"?

It seems like this would be a common practice by a thoughtful seller, but I've never heard of it. Comments welcome, thanks.

How considerate!
Wish more sellers were inclined to do that for the new family buying their home!! And for those buyers who aren't interested, they can just ignore/discard it.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I leave information. Owner's manuals, directions on where to find sewer clean-outs and water shut-offs. Extra paint and tiles for repairs. Paint colors. A map of where the fruit trees are and what variety they are. How to find the mail box.