Accepted an offer - pratical help needed!

babyb06

We have accepted an offer on our property :j

it's taken a while, so fingers crossed everything goes to plan for the buyer with mortgages etc.

But I have a few practical questions as I have never sold a property before and bought this place at auction so sold as seen:

1) I understand that we have to make sure the property is in the same condition at completion date as it was on exchance (there will be a delay of around 6-8 weeks between exchange and completion)

a) what happens if an appliance breaks down in the interim (say fridge or washing machine) - I know I am a worrier but best to know what we face!

b) what happens if on moving day we knock plaster off the wall removing our furniture or we have a party and something is spilt on carpets (included in sale)?

2) in terms of leaving the property on the day

a) do we need to clean it? (our house is not dirty and I could never leave it in a mess - but does it need to be professionally clean - tops of cupboards, oven etc?)

b) do we have to fill any holes caused by picture hooks? and if so do we then need to paint the wall or can we leave the unsightly mess as filler would be different colour to paint.


Thank you!

cattie

Congratulations on your offer & hope the sale completes speedily & problem free.

If an appliance breaks down and you have agreed to leave it for buyers then best thing to do is contact them & explain the situation.

If something spills on carpets, then hire a carpet cleaner to remove the stain. Always best to leave a property in the same condition you would like to find the next one you purchase in.

Yes, clean the house on day of move, but no need to get professional cleaners in, again just a case of leaving it as you would like to find it.

Some people don't fill in holes left when pictures etc are taken down, but I always do. If you haven't got paint to cover it, then just leave it as is once filled. I believe in leaving property in the best condition I can after a sale.

I always leave a welcome to your new home card & a bottle of wine for buyers too, which I think makes them feel really welcome and is always a nice surprise for them.

Lovelyjoolz

babyb06 wrote: »

1) I understand that we have to make sure the property is in the same condition at completion date as it was on exchance (there will be a delay of around 6-8 weeks between exchange and completion) - Yes, that's correct. So don't knock any walls down / build an extension or rip out the kitchen

a) what happens if an appliance breaks down in the interim (say fridge or washing machine) - I know I am a worrier but best to know what we face! - Umm, are you not taking your appliances with you? I don't know may people who would want someones secondhand fridge or washing machine left behind. This sort of thing is negotiated before exchange of contracts and you might find that they don't want your applicances anyway, so no worries there.

b) what happens if on moving day we knock plaster off the wall removing our furniture or we have a party and something is spilt on carpets (included in sale)? - try not to! But you'll need to clean any spills up or repair damage.

2) in terms of leaving the property on the day

a) do we need to clean it? (our house is not dirty and I could never leave it in a mess - but does it need to be professionally clean - tops of cupboards, oven etc?) - a professional clean is not necessary, but it would be nice if you left it reasonably nice.

b) do we have to fill any holes caused by picture hooks? and if so do we then need to paint the wall or can we leave the unsightly mess as filler would be different colour to paint. - yes, or perhaps just take the pictures and leave the hooks in so that the wall is undamaged.

See above.
In terms of cleaning though, the first house I bought was absolutely filthy when I got the keys. Seriously grubby - it took my and my mum two days to scrub it. There were globs of ketchup in the kitchen cupboards, the bath was filthy - honestly, it was vile. And my latest house wasn't perfectly clean either. Perhaps my standards are just higher than other peoples, but I took a day to clean up before moving anything in. It's a nice thing to do to leave it reasonable for the new owners.

Essentially, think about how you would like to find the house on moving day if you were in their shoes, and try and be nice

Lovelyjoolz

cattie wrote: »

I always leave a welcome to your new home card & a bottle of wine for buyers too, which I think makes them feel really welcome and is always a nice surprise for them.

Oooh no! Don't do that - someone did it to me once and it was horrid. Very creepy. An unpleasant reminder that it was someone else's home before today. As if the dog fur everywhere and toast crumbs in the kitchen wasn't enough!

Sorry cattie - I don't mean to offend, but I'm probably not the only one to hate that. Recovering alcoholics might struggle with it too!! :rotfl:

jackomdj

Lovelyjoolz wrote: »

Oooh no! Don't do that - someone did it to me once and it was horrid. Very creepy. An unpleasant reminder that it was someone else's home before today. As if the dog fur everywhere and toast crumbs in the kitchen wasn't enough!

Sorry cattie - I don't mean to offend, but I'm probably not the only one to hate that. Recovering alcoholics might struggle with it too!! :rotfl:

See I am the opposite, I love it and do it myself, one house the lady left us a pot plant which was lovely to.

mumto2loves

I think it slightly depends on your house, If you leave in a bright white white minimalistic perfect pad then you'd need to be more **** than if you live in a 'normal' family home. If it looked 'lived in' when they viewed they can't (shouldn't?) expect newly decorated when moving in. It should I think be clean though.
Like someone else has said have they negotiated to buy with al the appliances? If so they should be working - if you have said they do.

I was devastated the day I moved into my house i'm in now.
I'd spent all morning with my mum cleaning the old flat so it sparkled - tops of cupboards, windows everything.
Then walked into a disgusting **** hole.
Actual poo in the toilet,Thick pubic hair trimmings in the bath, the remains of last nights chinese on the kitchen side - cartons and all and just filth everywhere. I honestly don't think she had cleaned since we'd looked around at all. I just cried. She didn't seem to redirect any of her mail, and I didn't forward it it went straight in the bin.

phoebe1989seb

We have always left our houses clean, but not hired professional cleaners.......in our last house sale (last May) we had a bit of an issue over the Rangemaster range cooker that our dozy EA ha mistakenly confused with our Aga so that the buyers thought that the Rangemaster (as well as the Aga) were included in the sale. In the end, to avoid them pulling out we agreed to leave it.......but it wasn't particularly clean inside (not filthy, but we didn't bother to clean it after the last time we used it as were were pretty peed off) and I know for a fact our buyers got it professionally cleaned themselves shortly after completion.

Most of the properties we have bought have tended to be renovation projects, so we've expected them to be in a bit of a state tbh......the current house was sold to us as an 'unfinished project' so was pretty dirty/shabby inside - the only redeeming feature being an immaculately manicured garden as the vendor had spent 20 years working on the house whilst his wife had devoted her efforts to the garden

The worst house we ever bought had been converted to four flats - three of which were ok, but the downstairs flat had been left with a brown stained bath (meant to be a delightful shade of yellow!) as well as what appeared to be the empty tube of every loo roll the tenant had ever used and noodles plastered all over the walls and door in the kitchen There were also in excess of 50 pieces of furniture left in the house that the previous owner expected us to clear :eek: Suffice to say we had to live in the upstairs three flats whilst renovating the downstairs one and converting it back to one house........

Better_Days

I would always leave a house clean, as I would like to find it. In the past I have done this myself, but this time I will have to ask my cleaner to do this for me as I am too poorly. I wouldn't lose any sleep about dust on the top of the kitchen cupboards though.

Our current house was pretty grubby when we moved in as it was empty and belonged to an old lady who had gone into a residential home. So we knew what we were getting. Funnily enough the vendors son mowed the lawn and cut the hedge but didn't touch the house. I didn't mind though as we got it for a good price. He also left us a welcome to your new home card, which I thought was a nice touch. We didn't leave anything for our buyers as they were a nightmare. I did clean before we left although the way they behaved they didn't deserve it. And I didn't fill in any holes in the walls

babyb06

Thanks guys! So the consensus is clean - which I hope my home is usually-OH has OCD! But no need to go to n extra special effort and get professional clean!

LovelyJoolz - the appliances (fridge, washing machine, dishwasher) are all built in so are included in sale

Cattle/LovelyJoolz/Jackomdj - I had thought of leaving a welcome gift - thought it would be appreciated, didn't thnk some people would prefer not to think that it has been someone elses home first

Major worry was holes in walls from pictures (there are LOTS!) but most people on here seem more preoccupied with cleanliness

Thanks for responses

Joface_2

I spent hours making sure we left our previous house spotless and I am glad I did as the couple who moved in have been fantastic at forwarding our mail. They actually hand deliver the mail to our new home. ( Royal mail post forwarding doesn't work that well ).
Fortunately our new home was equally spotless when we moved in, it was much appreciated and made me not mind the fact that the previous owners left some junk in the garden.
I would not be a fan of the wine and card plan either. I think I would rather maintain a very businesslike relationship with the seller/buyer.
I think it would be nice to find picture nail holes hole filled and painted but I would only do it if I had the time - its not a biggie either way.

Gromitt

Didn't have card or wine, but did get a nice welcome pack which included where the local shops/etc, were, the keys to the windows, alarm code and how to alter it, etc. Even the size of the old washing machine they took out so we could check before buying our own (although did double check just to be on the safe side!)

One nice thing we didn't notice was that the boiler had a "Water stop" device fitted - should it leak, the water to it got cut off and the mains removed from the boiler automatically. Probably would never had noticed had they not left that note!