To Clean Or Not To Clean?

Contains_Mild_Peril

I'd be pleased if someone left me their "junk" when they moved house - I'm sure a lot of it would need to be dumped, but I love old bric-a-brac, and some would be saleable. Quite a few things on Antiques Roadshow were freebies which came with old houses!
I hate it when I see abandoned furniture that someone's left in an empty house getting broken up and put in a skip - especially if it's better than my furniture!

*Louise* wrote:

My sister was in a rented flat, and their contract stated they had to re-paint all the walls in magnolia before they left or they would lose their £500 deposit. I think that is a bit extreme.

Yuck! I suppose it's considered the "safe" decorating option since few people actually actively dislike magnolia walls, but if I went to see a house with all the rooms painted the same, I'd immediately think "This place needs decorating".
The floors and toilet in my council house were filthy when I moved in. I was later blamed for the state they were in, even though they were cleaner than when I got here.

missk_ensington

Sorry I cant be bothered reading 10 pages of this and this point might already be made, but are we talking rental property or your own home? If its rental you definately must clean it, a) because you might want a reference in the future b) your bond may depend on it (My mum has a rental property company and if its dirty on vacationm, she takes money from the bond to hire cleaners to clean it up at a cost of about £150)and c) if you live in a small vilage/town its probably best not to be known as a scruffy b itch!
If its a house youre selling, I'd just ensure your cupboards are totally empty and that its had a quick hoover and polish.

missk_ensington

PS. Warning to tentants. Always clean before having workmen round if the workmen are sent by the landlord/agent as they are likely to be told to 'spy' and make sure its clean. (My mum does it all the time, if a workman comes back and says 'what a pigsty' my mum will then write and demand her own inspection)

The bottom line is, a lot of people are untidy, scruffy gets who are just lazy and don't respect a proprty that the owner may have spent a lot of money doing-up. Its not about being a horrid landlord, how would you like to spend thousands buying nice furniture for a rental property and find it 6 months later filthy with spills on it and fag burns and the carpets stained!

Wickedkitten

I have yet to see a landlord that has spent thousands on furniture.

puffinmuffin

We are cleaning our rented flat before we move to our new bought property. We are doing the cleaning partly for the deposit but partly because our landlord has been good to us. He is letting us pay weekly rent until we complete our purchase. The house we are buying is empty but clean, i m really glad about this as i don't want to have to clean the flat we are leaving followed by the new house, i am sure i am already being slowly poisoned by a variety of chemicals...

missk_ensington

I agree there arent many, but my mum has a philosophy with her rental business, a sort of tagline "If I wouldn't live in it myself, I wouldn't expect someone else to" Hers are F.F right down the Royal Doulton cutlery, and the unique thing about my mums renatsl are that they cost no more than other flats that are dumps. Her theory is, Id rather charge say £400pcm and rent it out straight away, that try and get £500pcm and have it stood empty losing revenue for 2-3 months. Its 6 and one and half a dozen of the other! You still end up with the same money!

EagerLearner

I go with everyone else on this one - we will hopefully be moving out of our rented flat in around 5 weeks to our own flat (mortgaged). We will clean every inch of the flat because the landlady is great; we wouldn't want the new people moving into a nasty flat and we want our deposit back from the lease agent... I'm guessing with all these replies you get the general picture...! See the 'thrift' board for cheap cleaning stuff so that at least it's not too expensive for you and definately do it once all furniture is out of there, much easier - enjoy!

Eagerlearner

Vital_Spark_2

haveitall wrote:

My mother was horrified when I told her that I do not intend to clean our house before we move out.

I know I'm going to have to clean the one we move into, so why should I do this one as well, for someone elses benefit?

Am I being really unkind - what does everyone else think?

I couldn't leave a place dirty. My pride and self esteem wouldn't allow it. AND, regardless of how clean the previous occupier had left it, I would still clean any place into which I moved.

Dirt would put me off bying or renting a place: at very least, I'd expect a reduction in price.

Go on, do your self a favour and have a good work out, Nothing wrong with being a scrubber sometimes. Really brings the stress levels down while promoting good, sound, beneficial sleep.

More productive and satifying as well as better and cheaper than the gym. Don't waste that elbow grease and use non chemical cleaners while you're at it.

Guess I'm in your mum's age group. LOL

BACKFRMTHEEDGE

OMG can't believe this thresd is still going.

helen81_2

crazy innit!!!!