We left a bottle of Prosecco in the fridge for them but beyond that, a good cleaning is sufficient in my mind!

A small house warming gift (e.g. a gift basket or a nice bottle of wine/liquor) is certainly a nice token. But personally, the thing that I appreciated most from the sellers was a letter introducing the house to me.

I found it again, after we had already lived in the house for a few years. And it was so much fun to read. The previous owners spelled out all the things that they liked and didn't like about the house. And all the things they had planned to fix and never got around to. When I compared notes, I realized, I had discovered all the same problems ... and in the intervening years, I had fixed all of them myself. Made me feel quite good.

Other than that, while it is a nice gesture, in the end this is a business transaction. You don't actually owe the new owners anything. It's up to you. Also, if you document something in your welcome letter that is an actual real problem, that could conceivably have unfortunate legal consequences. So, do tread carefully.

The sellers of our home left a couple bottles of champagne for us in the fridge. There was a really lovely note expressing their wish for us to experience as many beautiful memories in the home as they did. That was in 2013. I kept the note, but the champagne's long gone!

Like other's said, some alcohol and a note is nice. But the Home Manual of sorts will be the type of gift they'll appreciate most in the long run. Include any and all info you have about the house- when things were replaced, cabinet makers, appliance warranties, any info about the neighbours, etc

Second house, prior owner left a stuffed animal and set of Harry Potter books for my then 5 month old. It was so sweet (and made up for the tub defect she hid under a bath mat). When I resold that house, I meant to do something nice, but life got in the way. I did leave information about the super nice neighbors (including pet names), paint codes for evey color I knew, appliance manuals, a detailed electrical diagram, a detailed irrigation diagram, a photo of the front of the house taken when it was new (1932ish), and contacts for the really good local contractors who specialized on quirky old houses.

I always leave my house binder - contains all the manuals that go with the house. I also leave a list of people who have done work on the house and receipts that I have: roof repairs, handyman, plumber and electrician. I leave a note with anything that is "tricky"... for example, all my bathroom plugs in the house were on the same run. If the basement bathroom tripped, it would trip all the bathroom plugs on basement, 1st floor, and second floor. Took me awhile to find that. If there are any filters for AC or water, I leave them if I have them or I date when last changed and date to be changed.

The more complicated a house is, size, maintenance and such, it is super for buyer to have as much information as possible. I also left my phone number for them to call if any issue.

I have always left a gift basket on the counter. A bottle of bubbly, snacks that don't require refrigeration - kind bars, can of peanut free mixed nuts. Last house we had a fire circle out back and so I left marshmallows and chocolate and graham crackers for smores outside and I set up the fire so all they needed to do was light a match.

Of course, you don't need to do anything, but if you loved your house, it is nice to give the new owners a nice start.

Make sure to leave the manuals that you have for the appliances, HVAC, etc as well as the name of people you work with for maintenance and the last time they came, as well as the paint reference. We had to make some works and it took a while for us to figure out which colors the walls were painted..

If it is an older house, may be a note with the history of the house and, if you have that, older pictures would be great.

I like the idea of a note as well. For the rest, if y ou want to leave a little present, why not, but I am not sure I would leave alcohol. My realtor sent us a basket of chocolate and we really appreciated it.

We purchased our first home 3 years ago and found a very thick folder with all the manuals (fridge, stove, gas fireplace, etc..) and a house note. I think the folder was around for several previous owners. We really appreciated having all the documentation/warranty info and frequently reference the folder. We had the the cell number of the previous owner, which our realtor gave us, so that we could forward important documents and Christmas cards.

When we sold our last home we left it spotless and left manuals, warranty information, and paint brands and colors. We met with our buyers several times and they said they were keeping most of the paint colors, so that’s why we were sure to leave that information. We also stayed in touch with them, and because we’d done a lot of upgrades ourselves we made sure they had our contact information to ask questions... we’ve been gone for 7.5 years now, the first couple of years my hubby would get an email from her hubby every once in a while to ask a maintenance question and hubby would talk him through it. We often exchange Christmas cards still, and my daughters are still Facebook friends with their daughters and we’ve seen even recent pictures and they actually DID keep most of those paint colors! It’s been nice to see the garden I poured my heart into mature through their photos.

Like the previous comments, the sellers left us all the manuals/warranties for appliances, sprinkler system, driveway gate, etc. Having that paperwork has been a real help. Their gardeners had been working for them for over 20 years, so we kept them on. They also left blueprints for all the landscaping they had done. So far, those have just been more interesting to us than helpful. Unfortunately, the actual home owners were elderly and had passed away (withing a week of each other). Their son and his wife were the sellers.

We left a bottle of wine made in our home state.

Like others, in addition to scrubbing everything top to bottom and leaving everything spotless (something we have not have the good fortune to receive from sellers, which is frustrating and super discourteous) we left all of the manuals and important dates/details around the mechanicals and appliances. We also left them a note wishing them well and since the wife was pregnant, a bottle of sparkling cider and champagne glasses instead of real/alcoholic champagne. Our realtor received a very nice note from the buyers’ agent on their behalf expressing their appreciation, which was nice to receive.

If I were your buyer, I would appreciate the appliance manuals and any information on things you'd had done (when did that new roof go in? when was the HVAC last serviced?).

I don't really drink, so I wouldn't care a bit about a bottle of wine. Or any other gift.

When I sold my place - I got a nice accordion folder with all the manuals and contacts as said before. I found out that the person was from out of state so I also included take out menus, a local map, and pamphlets of things to do in the area. I purchased a couple of gift certificates to local eateries, coffee shops and bakery...

I think it is a nice idea to welcome the next person... its good karma!

You are very kind to think of leaving a gift. The last place we sold, I cleaned, then had a pro team come in and clean again, including windows. I left a welcoming note, with all extra keys, and manuals for the appliances. Touchup paint, labeled with name and formula, in the closet.

I am realizing as I am reading this that neither place we bought was anywhere in this league, the first one still had a tenant inside with her belongings and she was smoking a cigarette, they left us lots of treasures aka junk, but they did leave us the extension cords to run the power upstairs lol, and maybe the bucket to flush the upstairs toilet, the second was an old, deceased, lady’s house and we got the cat door knocker on the front door and some cat wallpaper upstairs, a good omen I thought lol, she did leave behind a very tiny antique green vase, maybe as old as the house, and we found 2 pennies from when the house was built in the front door frame which will doubtless go with the house. The other place had some bric a brac left inside the stair framing left by builders presumably, from the turn of the century, I think we put it back. Oh, but we did leave the buyers of the first place our paint cans so they could do touch ups.

When I bought my current house the previous owners left all the appliance, furnace and AC manuals and receipts. They also left all the paperwork on the renovations, landscaping and maintenance as well as extra tiles. It was a real treasure trove. I was able to contact the same services for the house. When I move from this house I'll do the same for the next owners.

Thank you for your great thoughts. I plan on leaving it spotless, with manuals and information about things they'd never know - that there is a light switch deep in the first floor hall closet that turns on and off an electrical outlet on the 2nd level (don't ask why!) They will never figure that one out without being told about it. My husband wants to get rid of the paint, but now I'm leaving it - thank you.

jslazart, the Harry Potter books and stuffed animals are perfect. I'd like to leave something for their young kids. My kids were raised here and I'm so happy the house will have kids again. I hope they love the house as much as we do - I am really going to miss this place!!

J. Williams, you really made me laugh.

M, you are right, this is ultimately a business transaction, but it feels so personal and these people are incredibly nice!!!

Thank you all.

"...but it feels so personal..."

For me, houses can become very personal. As much as I love our current home, I still have dreams about our previous home. Lots of years there and it's where our kids were raised. Yes, personal, for sure, but moving on can be a good thing, too.

Our first house the people left us with a missing dinning room chandelier and several missing bushes. Second house we built. Present house the people left us some scrap building material for us to get rid of and a house that needed cleaned. I would be happy just to move into a clean house. Of course I would clean it all over again anyway.

We left a bottle of wine, all the manuals and receipts.

House plans and landscaping drawings along with manuals and extra supplies where left here for us when we moved in

We left bottled water in the fridge and cookies (grocery bought and sealed still). I had originally planned to leave some menus for nearby restaurants but I learned they were moving within the neighborhood so I skipped that.

How old are the kids? Boy or girl? We might be able to come up with suggestions for a nice gift

We sent a nice fruit basket that was much appreciated and left all the info we had re: manuals and info on which contractors did which work. My husband thought it was pointless to send them something but I wanted to give a nice welcome feel.

I think it’s nice to leave a little something if even just a note wishing them well. Our current house, the sellers (kids of the original owner, estate sale) who had made a big stinking deal during negotiations about how special the house was, left me with nothing but an old sewage back up in the basement they never properly cleaned. So I got to spend the first day bleaching the floor and cleaning bits of TP up. Nice.

In one house, in addition to the previously stated plans/manuals/etc, we left room photos from our time in the house including the listing pictures from when we bought, plus the changes we made. We also left a list of all plants in the garden (there was only grass when we moved in) and their location.

A second house was a custom build and we did the above plus we had a company take photos during several stages of the build from multiple points. This allowed you to see where plumbing, electrical, ductwork, etc were located within the walls. The new buyers loved this.

Thank you, guys, again. I would love gift suggestions for the kids - the have 3, a 1st grade boy, Kindergarten girl and toddler girl.

I'm so mad at myself, because I threw out all the receipts from the kitchen remodel 6 years ago. We built the house too, and somewhere, I have construction pictures. If I run across them, I'll select a few for them.

Chloebud, you made me cry!! My Dove candy wrapper said, "inhale the new, exhale the old."

dmg77, hopefully it was a good kind of crying. ;-)

No. Don't invite an open door for.them to communicate god forbid they find reason to call you about an issue because they did not get an inspection. Do you give the person a gift when they buy your car? Albeit selling a home is an emotional transaction be intellectual about it.

We just purchased a home and the sellers left a $50 gift card to Home Depot and a nice note. It made me tear up. I didn't expect a thing so it felt over the top nice.

Our 1st grader absolutely loved the Fly Guy series of books. When he was a slightly better reader, he inhaled all of the Heroes in Training books. So, either one of these series could be fun. They are not too expensive either, and kids love getting a series. It gives them books in easily digestible small quantities, but then they can keep reading about their heroes the next day.

For older kids, I'd recommend the Amulet series. They come both as chapter books and as graphic novels. That can be a good way to motivate a kid who sometimes is reluctant to read. But it sounds as if the 1st grader would still be too young for this series. It's more target at 2nd grade and up.

For the little girl, I'd consider the Princess In Black series. She is probably still too young to read it by herself. But she'll get there soon enough. And the stories are really fun for kids this age.

For the toddler, stuffed animals are of course always a big hit. All kids love playing with them and according to our kids, you can never have too many.

Or if you want something more "house-related", get them one (or more) kids' sized bean bag chairs.

As a parent, I would appreciate thoughtful gifts for the kids much more than gifts for the adults. But then, maybe that's just me.

Jan, I agree, tread carefully in these waters! Chloe, it was a good cry, so bittersweet. Glo, it would be touching for me, as well and M, thank you. I am looking into all of your suggestions. Think I'll pick up the books & stuffed animal for the kids. Thank you so much.

I have binders of every improvement, update and remodel information we’ve done to the house, inside and out, over the last 30 years. When we ever sell our house, I will leave those binders for the buyer.

I'm a Realtor and find that when the seller provides a folder full of house information, including appliance and other warranties, and a completely squeaky clean house at walk-through and closing, it is appreciated by all, especially the buyers.

One of the most common questions I have seen from the buyers after closing is "What is the paint brand color and specific name?" So having that information is especially thoughtful, even if the buyer is going to completely repaint sometime in the future.

It is a real bonus if you have extra tile or wood/vinyl to leave in case of future spot replacement. All of these are thoughtful gifts that are completely appropriate. If you have made structural changes, permits and plans go a long way too. The letter mentioned up thread about the house quirks is a fabulous idea! Most have to learn the hard way: trial and error. To have a letter that mentions the small things is so helpful IMO.

The gifts for the children are a thoughtful idea. I haven't seen this in my area at all, but I'm sure the kids would appreciate a small book or stuffed toy.

I'm with Jan. Don't leave any contact number. Let it be known that once the house is theirs you don't want to hear about any problems. My MIL house sold "as is ". We told the buyers that the septic system was old and we were not sure of the condition. The buyer did not want an inspection and after buying the house found out that the house needed a new system and wanted us to pay for it. NO WAY. Our first house the buyers lived in apartments their whole life. They would call us with the dumbest questions. "What kind of light bulb goes in the outside light, what do you do with the leaves after they are raked up, and why is there smoke in the house when I light the fireplace " are a few.

The best thing my previous owners left were the old paint cans, all labeled as to which room they were from. They’ve been great to have for touch ups.

There are many nice ideas here, but do you really want to leave booze? It sounds lovely to those of us who don’t have a problem with alcohol, but.... Anyway, I’d leave it to the new homeowners to but their own alcohol.

If you do some kind of gift basket, I'd include a bar of nice soap, a plain dishtowel, and hand lotion. sometimes people forget these things when they begin to move in and would appreciate it immediately.

my previous homeowner left a letter listing a few things about the house (like clever hiding places for valuables), and a list of who the neighbors are. very handy.

some things I wish they left a list of major updates, dates, and who the contractors were.

they also "gifted" us with a few decorative items, which was NOT appreciated. including a giant framed print, freestanding fire pit, and armoire. all were a pain in the ass to get rid of.

i think even a small gesture like a note is so nice! a bottle of champagne, basket of goodies, etc would be even more special. I would definitely do something nice for the buyers since they paid full and made the sale of the house so easy.

Thank you all for such helpful advice. A good point was made about booze - so I'll skip that. Think I'll pick up books for the 2 older children and a stuffed animal for the youngest, as well as nice hand soap, moisturizer and dishtowel for the kitchen. I don't want to go over the top and this shouldn't be much. Yes, they are incredible buyers and shouldn't be treated like as though they bugged us every step of the way, especially because he works in my husband's field and they see each other around town!!! They actually paid above full price. I'm very, very lucky.

We are closing on a house that we bid $10K over asking, and the sellers want to leave all of their furniture because they do not want to have to pay to move it, and it is not worth moving IMO. We agreed to accept the house with whatever they want to abandon. I will be happy if they leave some wine in the wine fridge, but I don't expect that to happen.

I've never had such a gift when moving into a house. One seller left their rickety garage filled with dozens of containers of old paint, solvents, pesticides and other carcinogens and fuels, not to mention the rusted tools and broken crates etc. We had to dispose of it properly. They also left their handyman from hell legacy........kitchen drawer that couldn't open due to interference with oven handle, "fresh paint" right over the shreds and lumps of old wallpaper, kitchen counter with built in crack nearly an inch wide, and hideous light fixtures. There were tough, blackish, furry lumps all over the wooden floors which I assumed were some kind of Satanic chewing gum....until while removing them I realized they were water-soluble and filled with strawberry seeds and pulp. That's right....the kids and/or adults had flung numerous blobs of strawberry jam that had obviously stuck and remained for years, accumulating dirt and pet hair and semi-polymerizing into place. Nobody had ever even wiped them with a damp paper towel because that's all it took.

So.........you leave the place clean and with all trash removed, you are a saintly seller as far as I am concerned.

It's awful what some people do. I don't know why they have to behave like that. If they were unhappy with the price, don't accept it. It's terrible to put out such bad karma. It really spoils what should be an exciting experience for the buyers. Mean people really do suck!

qam99, that's quite a story! I have to agree clean and uncluttered can certainly be saintly enough.

We once bought a rental property where the owner had passed away. Long story but the condo had been vacant for a very long time and was full of most of the deceased owner's belongings, including furniture, clothing, linens, dishware, etc. He had one surviving relative who only wanted the property (and everything in it) sold, period. Some of the items we discovered were umpteen emptied prescription bottles full of money. It wasn't a bad profit between the cash we found and sale of some of the furniture to an auction house.

So many good comments, and I love a "dilemma" that has to do with generosity and decorum. Warnings about the protocol between buyer and seller and any future impact are of course warranted. I've bought and sold 8 homes over my many years and the transactions and relations were often different (but fortunately never bad). They were either "expected", or beyond what was expected. I never balked at the expected, but smiled with the unexpected. When we downsized a few years ago we left historical history/photos/blueprints, small supplies of all tiles, paint marked for each area, extra custom cabinet shelves, all appliance/fixture docs and maintenance schedule with contractor/repair specialist info., fixture pieces and parts (marked in boxes). The "extra" gift from us was born from an inquiry in the process about a "tree swing" in the front of the house that we politely explained (with photos and stories about it's meaning to our family) could not be included. It was an old swing, hung from what we called "The talking tree", that was quite frankly not in the best of shape, but nonetheless, too meaningful to our family to leave behind. We decided as a family that we would purchase a new one and hang it (big project that our boys took on) for the new owners. This was also a way for our family to pass the torch. Our boys spent a day before the move hanging the new swing on the talking tree, and they placed a big bow on it (wish I had that pic). New owners were genuinely moved.

I love the swing, too!! What a beautiful gift.

Not to get too zen here, but I believe (and have experienced) that when someone genuinely gives to help another, there's a hidden gift for the giver that gets discovered.

We just sold our previous house. The realtor is paying to have a professional cleaning. She paid for a cleaning of the next house we purchased, too. We've bought and sold nine homes and lived in a few rentals. Moving into a spotlessly fresh, nice smelling home was a huge treat. While I know she made good money off of us, this gift was highly appreciated.

I didn't leave anything for the new buyers in the way of parting gifts. But, I did give them detailed lists of workmen, utilities and paint colors. When we bought the house, there were no manuals or records. The home had been a short sale. So, the manual idea is was out and I explained that.

We had had an icemaker leak accident one week prior to closing. The inspections had already been done. The buyers weren't moving in for a month. At least we were able to give them newly refinished wood floors throughout the first level. While it was my insurance claim, I had the purchaser's select the stain and finish of the floors. They are moving into a mechanically sound home with newly finished floors. That's enough.

We also left binders with all manuals, receipts for most recent maintenance on furnace, etc., dates/receipts for all updates made to the home since our original custom build including window blinds, etc., blueprints & other references for the original custom build, landscape plan & updates including sprinkler system vendor, leftover touch-up paints & stains, leftover carpet & tiles, shingles from reroof, etc - all the stuff we no longer had use for moving to another state & climate & constantly referenced while we lived there.. For welcome, we outfitted bathrooms with TP, paper towels, & soaps and cleanser & paper cups in the kitchen - the practical stuff one often misses on a busy moving day!