From the moment we made an offer, the process of purchasing our new home wasn’t easy. The sellers weren’t as kind & welcoming as we would have hoped, but that just made me more anxious to wash the walls clean with white. I wanted to restore some of the homes original charm adding in traditional English elements, while making it brighter and airier then I was feeling inside. I can’t wait to show you the progress {& see it myself} next week!
For now, as I watch our belongings being packed, I’m spending my energy on welcoming the buyers of our home through a welcome letter & housewarming gift. I want to make their transition as effortless & fun as possible.
What to Include:
Welcome Letter: I started by writing them a welcome letter. Just a line or two with a list of resources & our favorite activities that we enjoyed in our backyard & neighborhood. It’s simple, but I’m offering it as a free printable should you choose to do the same when selling your home! I shared tips like how to access the creek & the “secret trail” that lies beyond it. This is also a great place to share things like how to care for countertops, garage door codes {so they can easily reset them}, etc. Sandy, of the Reluctant Entertainer created an adorable DIY map if the buyers are moving from out of town.
The basics: Keys & garage door openers. It seems so simple {& is usually required by contract}, but in the hustle & bustle of packing, don’t forget to set them aside.
Paint: I listed all of the paint colors in our welcome letter, but Jen of iheart organizing has a great printable paint chart as well! When possible, I think it’s kind to leave behind the paint, but listing paint colors & sheen can prevent buyers from having to repaint an entire space.
Instructions & Warranties: Warranties are often transferrable. If you had a new roof or just installed new appliances, make sure to leave the details of those warranties with the buyers. Instructions for things like how to operate the sprinkler system can eliminate guesswork & added stress.
Supplies: Leave a roll of toilet paper, hand soap & a roll of paper towels for their convenience & a few bottles of water.
Extras: Is there something that adds a little to your home that you don’t necessarily need at your next home? Leave it for the home buyers {after checking with your realtor}. I have opted to leave the patio lights, lavender planters on our front porch & mirror in the walk-in closet.
Welcome Gift: Our realtor told us that the buyers have 2 girls around 7 years old. While moving is exciting, it can also be a difficult transition for children. To keep them occupied & excited about exploring their new home, I put together a welcome gift {coming soon}.
Do you have any additional suggestions? Have you left a housewarming gift to buyers before?
We had this house built when I was pregnant. After 11 amazing years, we have sold our home and will be building again. I am super emotional about leaving our “home” but I want the new owners to love this house as much as we do. I am so grateful that I found your blog. I truly thought I was strange for wanting to leave something special for the buyers. I was so happy to see that I am not alone. You have amazing ideas. We purchased a gallon of every color paint in our house. We will not need that when we move so we are leaving all of the paint here. I love the idea of labeling and having a paint reference sheet. Thank you for your resources. You are amazing!
Thank you for your kind words! Best wishes on your transition and congratulations on your happy new home!
My wife and I will leave a welcome mat at front door and will also leave a bible verse in a picture frame blessing this home and all who will live in it.
What a thoughtful idea!
Such a great ideas! We are in the process of selling our home, just meet the buyers they are such a nice couple I definetlly want to leave something nice for them! Thank you for all the tips!
We are closing on the sale of our house tomorrow and also on the new house we are buying. I don’t know much about the buyers of our little house, just their last name… Last week I ordered a monogrammed serving tray with their last name initial. It was under $25 and it’s gorgeous, better than what showed on the picture online. I am using your idea of the letter, water bottles (nice touch), paper towels, toilet paper and dish soap. It always nice to treat others as you would like to be treated. I hope they like and appreciate the gesture.
So fun! The previous owners of our lake house did the same and it made the transition so warm, friendly and easy. That’s very kind of you and I’m sure they too will appreciate it!
We just sold our home and are bringing a s’mores gift basket for the new homeowners at closing (the house has a fire pit). I am also going to leave a welcome note, a bouquet of flowers and a welcome home sign on the front door. 🙂
So sweet, what a warm welcome!
We are in the process of selling our home and a quick Google search brought me to your blog as I thought how nice it would be to leave a gift basket for the new owners! Great ideas and even though we have a small town and not even a local bakery, I’m still looking forward to putting together a gift basket with some herbal tea, local honey, and a some nice coffee mugs for a cozy first night in, since we are selling mid-winter. I’ll add a bit of hot cocoa in case they have littles and I think it’ll be super fun! ❤
My sellers left me a Duraflame log in the fireplace and champers in the fridge. I’m about to leave after 23 years and plan to pay it forward along with a hand knitted toy for their baby. They are new to this area. I like the idea of leaving them a short list of “best of” for our community.
That’s so thoughtful of you!
Julie, I love these ideas! I did a couple searches in Google and your blog post came up. I tried searching within your blog, but didn’t find the follow up. Did you end up leaving a small gift behind for the children? I believe our buyer has a child. Thank you!
I did! I ended up doing inexpensive totes filled with activity books, a butterfly catcher and other outdoor activities that would keep them occupied on moving day.
We left the letter and one-offs list as well as two bottles of champagne on was non-alcoholic just in case.
We just moved out of our townhouse we bought new in ’08. We wrote a welcome note to the new owner detailing the lovely memories we had in the house. It was bittersweet because we were leaving our first home and the home our son learned to crawl, walk, etc. They buyer seemed to appreciate that.
That is so thoughtful of you. Congratulations on your new adventures and memories to be made.
I am looking for a welcoming basket for the time our home is for sale. I have brochures from near by eatieries and coffee shops but I think it would be inviting to put some items in the basket, which hopefully don’t travel, like a bag of starbuck’s coffee or other items that reflect the icon of food and fun to people. Ideas?
Sweets from a local bakery! It would help them connect with the community.
Wow
Cool housewarming gifts ideas. I found your blog on Google. That pot plant is delightful!
Sorry your sellers are so “stiff.” When we bought our home, the former owners threw us a housewarming party in the house about 2-3 weeks prior to closing. They invited all the neighbors to come meet us in our soon-to-be house. It was amazing as I already had names, faces, and phone numbers before we even moved in. Our next-door neighbors just did the same thing for the new family that just bought their home. It is the extra touches that really make a difference when you are moving into an established neighborhood. I liked your idea of gifts for the children.
Deanna, that is such an incredible idea! Not only is it a great way to get to know neighbors, but also the history of the home. What a warm & unique welcome to the neighborhood!
This is so sweet! I had the same buying experience as you and was happy to wash the walls white. I’ll keep this in mind whenever I sell!
I love this idea! When we bought our home the sellers were far from easy…in fact we had about 4 hours left in the day before our 10 day inspection period ended and they finally told their realtor they wanted to add an extra day to go over our requests before submitting their final offer. And our house had been on the market at that point for 6 months so you would have thought they’d be quick to close… We will definitely be doing something like this if we ever have to move.
It can be so frustrating, can’t it Ashley? I liken it to paying it forward! Best wishes in your home!
So thoughtful.
Love it! Got me thinking, if u had an old house maybe list some of the history of it that you know
That’s a great idea, Audrielle! I love it!
That is such a sweet idea! I would be thrilled to receive a welcome package like this. Moving, buying, and selling are all so stressful. This is a wonderful way to put everyone at ease and make the process a little easier!
What a thoughtful and kind thing to do! As we enter into this process of getting our house on the market and sold, I’m adding this to the end of my list of things to do. Thanks for sharing this idea!