Buying a house! Who to tip?

[gamecock43]

Hey guys,
My husband and I are in the process of buying our first house!! (Pictures in my blog...go look...I love it) We have the inspection on Tuesday...which leads me to a few financial questions.

Who do we tip? Do we tip?
We will be dealing with an inspector on Tuesday, then an appraiser is coming out, and we will have a real estate lawyer...I don't know the tipping etiquette.

Then there will be moving guys....do we tip them each after they load our stuff into the truck to "bribe" them to unload carefully...or tip after everything is unloaded so they dont think they got their tip and then unload badly...or tip after the load/unload...but then they might think I am a lousy tipper since I will be diving the tip in half. How much to tip anyways?

...this whole tipping thing drives me nuts. I wish I could hire someone to perform a service and then pay them for the service and send them on their way.

[disneysteve]

The only person/people you should consider tipping are the movers. Professionals - appraisers, inspectors, lawyers - don't get tips.

I wouldn't tip the movers until the job was completed to my satisfaction.

[MiikeB]

No one needs to be tipped when buying a house. You could tip the moving people I guess, I would tell them "be careful with the stuff and there might be something extra in it for you at the end." If they do a good job I would then tip like $10 each, but again, not required or expected from anyone imo. It also depends if they are simply putting things inside or if they will move/somewhat position furniture to the appropriate place.

[Gjowers]

I didn't tip anyone when I bought mine. The movers would probably appreciate sodas and snacks though. Buy them a dozen donuts.

[Snave]

Movers only. They bust their rears. We had 3 from a moving company and got them pizza for lunch and then gave each an additional $25 each. If I was in that back-breaking job, I would appreciate it.

[gamecock43]

oh thank god I don't need to tip the typical 15%!! We are anticipating the movers to cost around 3 grand.

[jIM_Ohio]

Movers definitely.

I would o the following:
If they are there first thing, have some breakfast waiting (doughnuts, bagels or similar. Coffee and juice too).
Offer to buy them lunch in middle of day. Take their order and bring it to them.
At end of day have a six pack for them when done
then tip as appropriate.

I did all of the above when we moved and not one scratch on anything.

If they work for a company (ours worked for Mayflower) it's possible the movers don't show up (our original movers did not)... so plan accordingly.

[Investing First Steps]

I strongly recommend ONLY tipping the movers if they are good and do everything to your satisfaction. I have had nothing but bad experiences with movers.

[segmond]

I agree, in these hard times, I am not TIPPING anyone, I won't even tip the movers, however, what I will do is order some pizza and some cold drinks, help them move instead of just sitting and watching them.

[disneysteve]

I agree, in these hard times, I am not TIPPING anyone, I won't even tip the movers, however, what I will do is order some pizza and some cold drinks, help them move instead of just sitting and watching them.

I think buying lunch is the same as giving a tip. Either way they are getting a bonus for doing the job, so that's fine.

As for helping them, I think you should ask first. Professional movers usually have their own routine and you could get in the way. They also probably won't let you on the truck for insurance reasons. Besides, it they are being paid by the hour and you help, you make the job go faster which takes money from them.

[MoneyTrev]

I remember my parents tipping movers although my parents helped out too! If you give them some incentive to do a better job, they'll do it!

[maat55]

The only person/people you should consider tipping are the movers. Professionals - appraisers, inspectors, lawyers - don't get tips.

I wouldn't tip the movers until the job was completed to my satisfaction.

I second this.

[creditcardfree]

Honestly, I didn't tip my movers. I just didn't think about it at the time...since there is so many other things going on.

There were about 7 guys for loading and only 3 for unloading. I figured they are getting paid by the moving company. I did say thank you numerous times and let them use the restroom when needed. They did a really great job!

[Caoineag]

We moved ourselves but I gave a thank you gift to my realtor. Something about 7am, freezing rain and cutting security bars off my windows for a couple of hours so I can close on time inspires my gratitude! Especially since we kind of let our realtor do all the heavy lifting with our less than helpful mortgage person. Normally though I wouldn't since they get a commission (and normally people buy much more expensive houses than we did). What's really funny is she got us a thank you gift to Home Depot I still feel a little bad that if you do the math, I cost more than my realtor did but we have been trying to make it up to her by referring everyone else to her

[segmond]

Honestly, I didn't tip my movers. I just didn't think about it at the time...since there is so many other things going on.

There were about 7 guys for loading and only 3 for unloading. I figured they are getting paid by the moving company. I did say thank you numerous times and let them use the restroom when needed. They did a really great job!

10 guys in total? I wouldn't tip em either, if you tipped each one $5, you do be out of $50. However, am sure you can get 2 large pizzas for far less plust some drinks.