house needs clean etc before we move in

80schild

Hi all
We are in the process of selling our house (to property investors) and buying another.
The house we are buying, although it is habitable, needs to have a good clean and paint job really before we move in our furniture.
I was wondering how this works if completion for both the house we are selling and buying take place on the same day?

G_M

If you're moving in on the same day you move out of the old place you'll need to either
a) clean it once you are in or
b) get professional cleaners arranged to do the job as soon as you get the keys or
c) ask the vendors to agree to give you access in advance of Completion for the purpose of cleaning

Ignite

Option d) Get a removal company to put your stuff into storage for a few days

terryw

G_M wrote: »

c) ask the vendors to agree to give you access in advance of Completion for the purpose of cleaning

This option is actually quite common.

tbs624

That option is fine if the vendor has already moved out but few would agree to a buyer sweeping round their feet as they clear the last of their worldlies in to the removal van.........

Just move in and stack your stuff in one room, or in the middle of each room, and cover with decorator's cloths. it's what you would do if the property needed decorating and you were already there...........

80schild

It is an empty house so there is no one living there! I will see if we can get the keys prior to completion or if not will just pile things into the middle of the room.

G_M

80schild wrote: »

It is an empty house so there is no one living there! I will see if we can get the keys prior to completion or if not will just pile things into the middle of the room.

I bought a BTL from a LL who had had his property trashed by tenants and wanted out. Got it at a bargain price.

He allowed access during the month following Exchange and I took a gamble. Installed new kitchen, painted throughout, serviced the boiler, installed double glazing throughout. Carpets went down on the day of Completion and I had new tenants in a pristine house a week later.

The only stipulation was I couldn't live/sleep there (didn't want to) and had to return the keys each evening to his agents.

Of course if Completion hadn't happened for some reason I'd've been well out of pocket but there are only a few threads on here where that's happened!

jcr16

when we bought our first place with was awful. the guy was a heavy smoker. we were able to have the keys two days before and give it a very good clean. we knew the guy we were buying from anyway.

but i'd say if you wanna paint and clean etc and you can't do it before completion. put your stuff in storage for a couple of days.

azkaban420

Hi, if you can't get access prior to completion, I would definitely go with piling everything into the middle of a room and/or garage if you have one (or a friend's/family's), and just going round and cleaning/redecorating each room as quick as you can. It may be a bit of a hassle initially, but you can work at a pace that suits you rather than rushing around like mad trying to get things done on a tight timeline.

Good luck,

Az

Geenie

Goodness. The first place OH and I bought was a complete dive, but we moved in and and gradually bought it up to standard. Is this not the norm now?!!:o

We didn't have a proper kitchen for 2 years, as could only afford to buy one unit every few months. We kept stuff in one room whils't we decorated the others. Didn't do us any harm. Expectations are certainly different today.

LilacPixie

our house was just needing a good clean. I rounded up all the help i could, sent movers and stuff away on an hours break ( in actual fact they had sandwiches in the van on the drive) and we gutted livingroom and 1 bedroom. then movers put bedroom stuff in the bedroom and downstair stuff in livingroom while we leaned other rooms. 8 of us, 4 hoovers it took about 2 hours.