These are simple things your agent should be able to clear up for you. I'm sorry these things have turned into a frustration for you.

Fridges plug in, seen as personal, and not needed for the loan so that is why it was omitted from the appraisal. If the contract includes it you get it.

Typically here for utilities the seller does not need to shut them off. The buyer calls on closing day (or the day decided one) and switches them into their name. Your agent or the local utilities company should know what is standard.

As for the security system if you want to continue call them and set up service. I assume it's like service for a mobile phone. They gave you the equipment not the service.

Here either the buyer or the seller can contact the utility and ask for the service to be switched. Depending on the utility they may require a physical reading, water department here, or simply schedule a button to be switched on the day of the transfer. Would not even come up in closing. It will be up to the utility when they switch after the request and not the seller.

Unless the refrigerator is gone the appraiser would have no way of knowing. Look at the report to see if the refrigerator was there when inspected. If not there contact your realtor. If you are using a title company as is normal here contact them if realtor does not get back to you.

You will have to contact the security company about the transfer the same as any utilities. Depending on the system you may or may not want to continue what the current owners have. These are things you need to do not your realtor.

Thanks, aziline. I think you're right about the fridge not being a fixture, so not included in the appraisal. I think it comes down to us not wanting be without a fridge in the first few days. We'll deal with it either way.

Thanks, maifleur03. I'm not expecting the realtor to any of this on our behalf. I just want clarity on the state of these things so I'm not blocked or at least know what to expect. I've already confirmed that several of the utilities require the seller to issue a disconnect request before we can set up service and this hasn't been done yet.

Day of closing you notify utility companies to put utilities in your name. Ignore what the sellers do. You set up your own accounts. Call the utilities a few days before closing to see if you can get account set up prior and only need activation on closing date.

You'll need clarification on the security system, because in some areas that could be construed as not being included with the sale. Homeowner should be calling to disconnect utility service, as is required in many areas of the U.S..

Thanks ceilsan32. The system is included—we know that. We just want to understand what exactly that means.

You could call the security system vendor and find out what is involved in switching the unit over to you.

Switching over utilities is usually just a phone call to a local office. If you don't have any credit history with them you may have to pay a deposit.

Refrigerator being included with the house is a regional thing. When we rented in Texas they usually did not provide a refrigerator, but I'm not sure about purchasing.

We have a security system installed in our old house (in Texas), and it can be operated as a local-only alarm system with no monitoring. You can still arm the system and the alarm siren will only go off in the house.

If we have the system monitored and set it up for them to call the police after the alarm is tripped, we need to apply for an alarm permit with the city first. The city added the permit requirement because there are so many false alarms from cleaning services and other workmen who are given access but don't understand how to shut off the alarm. IIRC, if you have two or more false alarms within a certain period the city imposes a fine.

Bruce

Hey y'all! I took kempek's advice and reached out one last time. After 24 hours came and went, I decided to call the broker office directly. The head honcho was not available, but I did get a very informative and apologetic call back from the realtor within minutes. After he gave me the updates, I thanked him and then spoke my peace. I was firm, but polite, highlighted the areas where he excelled, but I reminded him that I had set expectations early on regarding communications cadence. I think we're at an understanding finally. I hated having to go over his head, but sadly I feel it was the only thing that would have worked at this juncture. The good news is everything is moving along as expected now. The seller has requested we meet with them after closing for a proper "insider's tour" of the house and will go over things like the security system. Thanks for the advice, y'all!