What state will you leave your house in when you sell it?

MaryNB

My sellers were significantly better than some mentioned above. However they left rawl plugs everywhere which was really annoying. Obviously I'm not going to have shelves that fit them exactly. Spent ages removing them and filling in holes before I could paint. My seller was a plasterer, would have been easy for him to sort it.

They also filled up all the bins (contrary to what was explicitly stated in the fixtures and fittings form they signed). I didn't know and they were due to be collected a few days later but I didn't put them out because I hadn't put anything in them. The second lockdown had just ended by then and I went out and bought loads of stuff (moving from a house share so had very little moving in). Had to live with piles of packaging in my kitchen for a fortnight.

They left two chests of drawers and a wardrobe behind which I knew about and figured they'd come in handy. However turns out they're terribly made so now they're just large pieces of junk I have to bring to the tip. 

MalMonroe

I have moved many times over the years and have both owned and rented properties. I've always left each one as I'd like to find mine. And fortunately, have received the same consideration from others. 

I've always scrubbed from top to bottom and would never dream of leaving any kind of mess. I do realise that not everyone has the same standard of cleanliness as me but even so, if people don't want to clean up themselves, they could pay a cleaning firm to come in to do a 'deep clean'. That's what I plan to do whenever I leave the place I'm in now. (I'm a bit held up by coronavirus at the moment) as I'm not getting any younger and big cleans now get to be a bit much.) But I will still make sure the place is spotless.

I've also known vendors to take lightbulbs as well as their light fittings. I never do, that's just mean and petty. If I can leave the fittings too, I will - they'll do until the new person can get round to fixing their own.

It's awful enough when you move (so stressful, all that packing and unpacking to do) without having to start scrubbing the place and moving others' muck (and fleas! ugh) before you can start to move all your things in. 

I'm sorry this has happened to you but once it's all sorted you'll be able to settle down and enjoy living in your nice clean and fresh new home.

badger09

Have to admit, we did leave the black bin full.
But it was due to be collected 2 days after we moved out, and we really couldn't fit in a trip to the tip!
We did leave all the collection schedules very prominently for our buyers - together with Takeaway menus from our favourite local restaurants who deliver 

MaryNB

badger09 said:

Have to admit, we did leave the black bin full.
But it was due to be collected 2 days after we moved out, and we really couldn't fit in a trip to the tip!
We did leave all the collection schedules very prominently for our buyers - together with Takeaway menus from our favourite local restaurants who deliver 

My sellers left the bin collection dates in the kitchen but given I always keep a copy in the kitchen where I'm living I didn't see the significance of it. A little note next to it would have helped! my friend who helped me move commented on how considerate they were to leave a copy, we didn't cop the ulterior motive. The bins were in the side passage and I didnt see they were full until two days after they should have been collected.
Given I gave them until 4pm to move out, they were still here at 5pm and were moving half a mile away I was a little miffed. Wouldn't have been a huge asked to take their rubbish with them (as per the form they signed) or at least to leave a note.

I realise it's a minor thing, and wasn't  as annoying as the living room walls riddled with rawl plugs.

Diabhay15

We recently moved out of our first home and I paid a cleaner to do a deep clean for 4 hours and it was absolutely spotless. She cleaned everything including the oven, and I made sure the integrated fridge freezer was spotless too. Anything we removed from the walls we made sure they were filled and sanded. We were going to paint over but ran out of time as the buyer was pushing to be in before Xmas and I had a newborn and two young children so didn’t have the time in the end! But we left all the original colour paint for each room and labelled them, and also left a note with information about waste collection, local takeaways etc. 

It wasn’t so much for the buyer why we left it in a clean, nice state, but more so because we really loved our home and I couldn’t leave it in a messy state as sad as that sounds! 🙈

Mnoee

I've only bought once, never sold. The place was filthy, screws all over the walls, chunks of plaster missing where they'd just ripped something out of the walls in the living room and a huge white patch where they'd painted around the TV mount. I ended up painting some canvases with splatters in complimentary colours to cover the worst of it as the paint job is fairly recent and is last on our list for redecorating. Cheaper and less hassle than trying to match the paint! 

lillypoo

i am in the process of sellling/buying at the mo.  strangely i have never moved into an empty house that someone else has just moved out of before. ive always joined family or partners who have been living there .

the fixtures and fittings form asks what youre leaving and mentions fixed wall mirrors and shelving etc
and the ta6 asks if the vendor promises to eave it clean

i suppose the 'clean' word is subjective from what ive been reading above. 

 

in_my_wellies

My son bought a house from an elderly woman. She had owned it since new in around 1965 but had updated as necessary. I went on second viewing and she asked if he needed anything. He needed more or less everything so she said she would leave all the basics to start a home but she would send her grandson round with a van after 10 days to collect everything he didn't want.

She was moving into sheltered housing so could only take a few items. There was an agreement to pay £400 for some newish items (electric leather recliner, large TV, new twin beds, etc) We could see everything was clean and tidy so agreed. It helped her and my son. On moving in day it was amazing, spotless! She had sorted every drawer and cupboard - cutlery in sets, all lined up, bottles for cleaning everything under the sink, garden store full of every tool he will ever need all clean. Table mats and cloths freshly laundered, crockery and baking tins all neat. The gardener has been the day before (turned out that was the 92 year old man next door) 

There was nothing for the grandson to collect and 18 months later my son is still using much of the stuff enabling him to take time to decide exactly what he wants. 

So grateful to this 89 year old woman. Shows some people are considerate

badger09

@ in_my_wellies 
That's a great story and proves there are still plenty of decent, kind and considerate people around. Particularly important during the stressful process that is buying and selling your home. 

Bad_Accountant

I'm extremely grateful to our sellers as they left the place mostly spotless. The only bit that was DIRTY was the downstairs loo, which had that unpleasant 'never cleaned' look (cleaned up fine with a bit of a scrub). The cooker hood and tops of the kitchen cupboards were nasty and greasy/dusty. Everything else was pretty clean.

There are lots of screws/nails/fixings in the walls and a few marks on the walls but we knew that, I wouldn't expect someone to make the walls good and repaint.

I think I'd leave a place clean but not sparkling, and certainly wouldn't fix small holes or similar. As long as it's in the same or better condition as it was at exchange and we followed any agreements on fixtures and fittings form, I'd feel like I'd been reasonable.