Selling a house with a tank ?

[cjrudy]

My wife and I are relocating to Tampa Florida next year and plan on putting our house on the market early next year. I have a 90 gallon mixed reef with a basement sump and I am wondering whether to keep it up while showing the house, or tear it down prior.

I am sure lots of reefers out there have been in the same situation, what did everyone do ?

 

[tudamxm]

Try selling it via craigslist while you are showing the house (or before if you can have it gone before showing starts)

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Mike in CT]

If the tank looks good I would leave it up. The only concern I would have is if people would be freaked out by the basement
sump...maybe wondering how the house would look after all the equipment was removed. I guess also it depends on how quickly houses
are selling in the area. If they are selling quickly, maybe it would be better to break it down before hand so it's one less thing
to worry about, but if houses are taking a long to sell it would stink to be without a tank for a long time. Are you going to try to transfer
your livestock to your new place....or are you going to start over? I guess that is part of the equation too. Probably would not hurt
to talk to a real estate agent to get their input.

My 1 1/2 cents....good luck!

 

[mfinn]

I would take it down.
Everybody that has ever come into my house that has never had a fish tank will eventually ask about water damage to the flooring or mold in the house.
They always wonder.

 

[ReefMadScientist]

Take it down.

Leaving it up will only put doubts into the potential buyers minds regarding maintenance.

 

[cjrudy]

Thanks for the input everyone, I think we are leaning toward taking it down. As a few have said , it will raise too many questions.

No the question is how many month do I need to sell the coral fish, then tear down and sell everything. We plan to have the house on the market by March 1st 2015

 

[Alyxx]

Have an early welcome to Tampa, I work at a LFS down here I may see you around lol

 

[reeffirstaid]

I sold real estate several years ago, and my advice, would be to remove the tank. Anything that puts up any flags in a buyer's mind is a no-no. Unless you had a hardcore reefer come through, to look at your place, most likely the only reaction you would get, from potential buyers, is the risk of corrosion and damage, had the tank ever flooded.

 

[cjrudy]

Have an early welcome to Tampa, I work at a LFS down here I may see you around lol

Thanks, its a year away and I am already envisioning the new tank setup.

 

[FL_Reefer]

Congrats on moving to Tampa, you will love it here! Plus one of the best LFS in the world, the coral corral!!

 

[cjrudy]

Congrats on moving to Tampa, you will love it here! Plus one of the best LFS in the world, the coral corral!!

Thanks, the wife and I cant wait. And out daughter is on board too, she is checking out colleges in Florida for 2015-2016

 

[castires]

Very cool. Florida is great, you'll love the weather

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

My first thought was "It would be a great selling point, leave it up, make it look nice"...but I think I agree with the other members in that it's more than likely most potential buyers would probably not be fish enthusiasts, and would panic about structural problems and water damage.
Good luck, it's too bad that you have to tear down your tank.

 

[TrishW]

When I listed my house (which was under contract on the 31st day) I left my tank up. The realtor said everyone that viewed the house stood and stared at the tank and no one ever asked about damage. Maybe I just got lucky but I really think that the overall condition of the home is why no one questioned damage from my tank. The fact that it was on hardwoods and they hide NOTHING may have also helped, lol. I was required to patch the hole to the remote sump with fire rated drywall since it was in the garage.

 

[SantaMonicaHelp]

Guess my first instinct was correct, then :] That's good that it didn't affect the sale

 

[Daniel@R2R]

The only thing that comes to mind for me is that (at least in Virginia) anything that is attached to the wall is considered part of the house and included in the sale. You might want to ask your real estate agent about that if you don't plan on selling the tank and livestock with the house. It's definitely something you'll need to clarify.

 

[TrishW]

The only thing that comes to mind for me is that (at least in Virginia) anything that is attached to the wall is considered part of the house and included in the sale. You might want to ask your real estate agent about that if you don't plan on selling the tank and livestock with the house. It's definitely something you'll need to clarify.

I have moved a lot and sold houses in three states in the last seven years. The only place I have sold where things were automatically included was in Minnesota. There the refrigerator, washer, dryer and even a cheap little counter top microwave stays with the house.

Actually the house that we had the tank set up in was in Virginia, and was just sold in 2012. The tank wasn't a built in so it wasn't attached to the wall, but the plasma television in the master was on a wall mount and it did not have to be specified as not included in the sale. We also had a fair amount of art on the walls that we kept. When we purchased in Virginia we were surprised that most sellers didn't even leave the window treatments.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I have moved a lot and sold houses in three states in the last seven years. The only place I have sold where things were automatically included was in Minnesota. There the refrigerator, washer, dryer and even a cheap little counter top microwave stays with the house.

Actually the house that we had the tank set up in was in Virginia, and was just sold in 2012. The tank wasn't a built in so it wasn't attached to the wall, but the plasma television in the master was on a wall mount and it did not have to be specified as not included in the sale. We also had a fair amount of art on the walls that we kept. When we purchased in Virginia we were surprised that most sellers didn't even leave the window treatments.

Strange. When we purchased our home, there was a big issue because the window a/c units were removed by the seller. (It was a pretty big deal to us bc there was no central a/c in the house...we installed that after moving in.) The agent told us that bc those were fixtures attached to the house, they were required to be left for us. He contacted the seller's agent who had to either bring them back or replace them (he brought them back). This was in 2009. The same thing was true of tv mounts (not the tv set, but the mount).

Not sure why my experience was different from yours...of course, we did live in Charlottesville...which seems to be different than everywhere else. LOL Who knows...maybe it was a local thing. In the end, I still think it's a question worth asking (it's definitely one I'll be asking any time I sell or buy property anywhere). I'd just make sure the tank isn't seen as part of the structure of the home.

Another thought is that even if it's not "required" to be left, it would probably be good for any buyer to know if it won't be.

 

[reeffirstaid]

I think you got lucky TrishW. In Maryland where I am at, the market has become a buyer's market. When I was still selling, people expected extreme amounts off list price, even though list price was already reduced. Any little thing, that caught their attention, became a sticking point. Although in reality, most sales are after a home inspection and if the inspection goes well, most buyers are satisfied.

 

[TrishW]

We left the wall mount for the television and actually sold the buyer the television. They did write into the contract that I would leave the saddle stools at the kitchen island .