leaving a sold house in a state

the_salmon

What is the expectation here?


We moved in on Friday to our newly purchased property to find that the house was pretty dirty and that loads of crap had been left (particularly in the garage).


Is there any comeback on that? it wasn't mentioned in the PIF so we wouldn't have expected it to be there?

They also have left a cat as well which is pretty low of them.


I don't think the GF was prepared for what we have encountered, its taken the shine off the excitement of moving in to our first house together.

DaftyDuck

Is it a nice cat?

Sorry, that was the first thing that spang to my mind.....

Notsram

I'm in the process of selling my house, and one of the legal forms that I had to fill in stated that I agreed to leave the house in a reasonable state. Might be worth checking if your seller had agreed to a similar condition.

As for leaving the cat... that's just plain nasty. Dunno how anyone could do that

Baby_Angel

I don't like cats or dogs (Sorry pet lovers). I would have been furious at that.

When we bought our house, we knew there was rubbish in front and back of the property in the garden. We made sure we mentioned this to our solicitors and it was conveyed to the sellers. Before we went to the estate agents to pick up the keys we wanted a glimpse of our home. Was shocked to all the rubbish still there. However the EA confirmed it will be picked up by contractors at a given time later that day and they did come around to clear all the rubbish out.

giraffe69

When we moved our solicitor included in the contract that the loft and garage and any other outbuildings must be cleared. Was this in your contract?

Baby_Angel

Notsram wrote: »

I'm in the process of selling my house, and one of the legal forms that I had to fill in stated that I agreed to leave the house in a reasonable state. Might be worth checking if your seller had agreed to a similar condition.

"Reasonable state" is left open for all kinds of interpretations, isn't it? Our kitchen had to be ripped out and replaced when we bought our house. We were counting on living with it for at least another 2 years. Something we didn't expect and budget for :eek:

Pixie5740

Does the cat definitely belong to the vendors or is it a stray they used to feed? If you don't know who owns the cat it might be worth contacting RSPCA, it could be chipped and if not they, or the Cat Protection League could take the cat away for re-homing. I suppose there's a chance that the cat does belong to the vendors and after moving the cat found its way back home.

The first property I moved in was minging and clearly hadn't been cleaned for months but it was nothing some elbow grease and a Rug Doctor didn't fix.

As for the crap left behind, go back to your solicitor and arrange for the vendor to come and pick it up.

fairy_lights

Was the cat actually locked inside the house or just wandering around outside? Would you consider keeping it?
Abandoning a cat when you move house is pretty despicable so I doubt people who do that would have any qualms at all about leaving the house in a state.

Notsram

Baby_Angel wrote: »

"Reasonable state" is left open for all kinds of interpretations, isn't it? Our kitchen had to be ripped out and replaced when we bought our house. We were counting on living with it for at least another 2 years. Something we didn't expect and budget for :eek:

Very true. The document I had to sign was actually a little more specific than that - but I'm at work and can't remember the exact details. Pretty certain it mentioned all rubbish being removed though.

Missus_Hyde

Notsram wrote: »

I'm in the process of selling my house, and one of the legal forms that I had to fill in stated that I agreed to leave the house in a reasonable state. Might be worth checking if your seller had agreed to a similar condition.

As for leaving the cat... that's just plain nasty. Dunno how anyone could do that

^^^^
As above we're in the process of selling my late mother's house and we've just had a form to fill in about stuff we're leaving/not leaving and also confirming that the house will be left in a good state. (It doesn't really apply in our case, as the house has already been cleared - probate sale - but I wouldn't have dreamed of leaving a lot of rubbish for anyone else to clear.)

That poor cat; how dreadful and it just shows how despicable some people can be. I would have loved to have been left a cat, but my spaniel wouldn't!!

CathA

Apart from the first house I bought years ago, I've never moved into a clean house (well, certainly not to my standards, anyway!) The house we're in now was empty for a while, plenty of time for the owner to clean it up. The completion was delayed for a week so the phone chap turned up two hours after we moved in (pre-booked on the basis we'd have been in for a week and would have been a bit more sorted.) When he pulled the settee away from the wall to connect the broadband, there was a MASSIVE cob web attached between the wall and the settee. As soon as I saw that I knew there was going to be lots of hidden dirt and I was right. What I couldn't understand is that some of the kitchen cupboards were sparkling clean, others....? And don't get me started on the cooker!

All clean now but it's so annoying when I wouldn't dream of leaving any house in the state this one was in.