A beautiful photograph may show furniture, appliances and decorative pieces that will not all stay with the property. If you are preparing a Sint Maarten home for sale, an inclusions inventory can prevent the photograph from becoming an accidental promise. The inventory is your proposed marketing reference, not the final contractual agreement. Your agent and legal adviser should help ensure the eventual transaction documents say what the parties intend. Begin by recording the items buyers are most likely to notice. Then separate what you plan to include, exclude or discuss. This small preparation task can make viewings clearer and reduce the need to correct assumptions later.
Check the inventory again before accepting final marketing wording. Owners sometimes change their plans after photographs are taken. A brief dated review can catch that change and prevent the agent from continuing to describe an item according to an earlier intention.
Start with what the buyer can see
Move through each room and identify major appliances, furniture and visible equipment. Include outside areas where a buyer may notice furnishings or other items. Avoid a single phrase such as “fully furnished” until the intended scope has been explained and reviewed.
Do not assume an item’s legal treatment from its appearance. Whether something is fixed, movable or dealt with differently in the agreement is a question for the relevant adviser. Your initial task is simply to identify it accurately and state your intention.
Create three clear inventory categories
- Proposed inclusion: an item you currently intend to leave.
- Proposed exclusion: an item you intend to remove.
- To be discussed: an item whose treatment is not settled.
For every entry, add the room, a simple description, the date checked and an optional reference photo. For example: “Living room; blue sofa shown in photo 12; proposed exclusion.” This is more useful than “some furniture excluded,” which leaves the buyer to guess which pieces you mean.
Keep condition and ownership questions separate
An inventory does not certify that equipment works, carries a transferable warranty or belongs to the seller without restriction. Record relevant questions separately and locate available receipts or manuals. If you cannot support a performance claim, do not make it in the listing.
The government’s storm preparation guidance recommends detailed home photographs and videos for insurance documentation. A sale inventory has a different purpose, but keeping clear dated photographs can also support your own organizational process. Neither set of images replaces agreed transaction wording.
Check the photographs against your intentions
Review the proposed listing presentation with the inventory beside it. Where a prominent item will be removed, discuss whether the description needs clarification or the photograph should be updated. Do not digitally hide a material condition issue or imply that excluded equipment forms part of the offer.
Keep one controlled copy and update it when your intentions change. A clear inventory helps everyone ask better questions, but it remains a proposal until the relevant agreement is settled. Contact IRE Team to coordinate the marketing language and viewing information. Ask your legal adviser to confirm how inclusions and exclusions should be reflected in the final documents, especially where an item’s status or ownership needs clarification.
