First, I don’t think this is an “impulse” on Dave’s part. This is very thoughtful consideration. So your premise would be inaccurate. Dave has spent an awful lot of time thinking about this, so can’t say any of this is impulsive. And, the assumption that some prospective buyer would view this as crazy is surmise at best. I would say many prospective buyers would welcome the removal of what is usually perceived as high maintenance, high cost landscaping that the majority of homeowners don’t know how to take care of, and don’t want to.
Secondly, not sure Dave appreciates being called “crazy” or “unethical”. Let’s be careful about casting personal dispersions on the list. Currently, these trees are Dave’s property and he may do whatever he wishes with them, including digging them up and taking them with him because he worked very hard to be able to both afford and find these special trees. Dave can certainly leave his property “better off” by replacing those special fruit trees with other lovely landscaping options. No one said he was going to leave the property less better off. Who’s to say what the new owner would have planted? My sister, who has been a real estate agent for about 30 some years has already warned me to remove the vast majority of my fruit trees prior to ever putting my home on the market, as it would scare off the majority of potential buyers. Which I will, and replace with nice, water-wise landscaping options.
And our “karma” is up to us, good or bad. Not passing judgement on our fellow human beings, I would say.
Lastly, don’t think Dave said anything about making mistakes. In fact, the entire reason Dave would like to takes his trees is because he did not make any mistakes - these are the trees he searched for,want, and may have difficulties finding, again, in the future.
Let’s be kind, let’s not make accusations, and let’s offer helpful, constructive suggestions for Dave. We’ve had lots of good advice and suggestions, and we need to remember what Scott has asked us - not to allow criticism to slip into the “personal realm”.
There is an ethical consideration, but in this case I think the more ethical course of action is to remove them. That way, you won’t be creating a pest haven when the new home owners neglect the trees.
Around here, the ideal plant to leave for a new homeowner is a blueberry. If they want to protect it, great. If not, the birds will eat them and even non-gardeners will probably not object to having a bird-feeding plant. I believe that SWD likes blueberries (though not as much as raspberries and blackberries), but I doubt that it can act as a bug reservoir if the birds eat them all.
I don’t think it is a crazy idea at all, but I do agree that many buyers may think it is. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t go forward with the purchase, but why add one more thing to a process that can break for any number of reasons (leaving you with double mortgages until you can find another buyer). That’s why I would say to remove them now before putting it on the market, even if it isn’t the optimal time. It also gives you a chance to craft the landscaping to be more visually appealing (as opposed to useful, which I prefer).
A lot of good suggestions are offered by everyone. One way or another you will be able to move the trees to your new place, and I think you should. Most likely, These trees mean a lot more to you than they do to the new owner.
One drawback of putting a clause in the contract to retrieve the trees later is that you may run into some buyer that use the clause as bargaining chip.
I would chance it and dig them and move them now. Trees can be replaced. People can be goofy when it comes to these sort of things (coming back months later to dig out trees).
Dig them up now and put them in root pouches. This is the route I would go.
Put something in the contract. Our realtor last year made it very clear that you can put essentially anything into a contract and that he’s seen it all. Personally it sounds too complicated for the value of the trees, but if you don’t like option 1 then I think going back and digging them up is fine.
If it were me… I’d put the multi grafts in pots now and leave the rest behind. Like Richard said, some 3 month old trees compared to a house are nothing. We’re thinking of moving next year and I’ve already decided I’m leaving everything behind.
I may be under a slight disadvantage commenting on this subject because I only have 30 years experience praticing law primarily in residential real estate matters.
Nevertheless, I can say with a reasonable degree of legal certainty that I could draft contract language allowing for the removal of almost one year old fruit trees without having to worry about an ethics review by the local bar association.
