What level of “making good” for the new owners when you move out?

Irishpearce26

Everyone will have different views on this subject. As a minimum make sure it is clean and again different views but floors vacuumed and no rubbish left in the house. I always check with the seller to see if they want me to fill any holes in as per some of the above experiences. Remember if you leave the plug/fixing then don't fill it in as they may want to use it. Leaving a card with some key info is always helpful, we left a bottle of wine as well. 

maisie_cat

Leaving the house clean makes a lot of difference, when we moved here it had been empty for 10 months and although it smelled very damp it also smelled of bleach where it has been cleaned extremely thoroughly.
The previous move was left in a terrible state, the guy had been widowed the previous year and hadn't cleaned in that time, the kitchen was so bad I ripped it out the following week.

LAD917

"Paperwork" has gone mostly digital, but I leave whatever I have in terms of manuals, warranties, receipts, model numbers, etc.  Plus any extra tiles, floorboards, touch-up paint, etc.

It's usually better to leave nails / hooks in the wall than it is to remove them and attempt to touch-up.  When sellers have done this for me, it resulted in more work.

[Deleted User]

ss2020jd said:

I would be interested to know what others have done and what people think would be expected. 

Our buyers have so far been brilliant so I want to make sure they are happy when they move in. Apart from a deep clean and not leaving holes in the walls, we are going to touch up a few minor bits and pieces we have spotted. 

The buyers were happy with the survey but there are some hairline plaster expansion cracks that I’m sure they and their surveyor would have seen. I would prefer to have them filled but my husband says that’s going too far as we’d have to get paint to touch up the walls etc and they’ll probably just want to repaint when they move in anyway. I also saw a thread here where a buyer had seen cracks in the survey photos and then when they moved out they were filled and then they were worried about it.

Any opinions or experiences gratefully received. 

This is so lovely to read! It's heartening to know that there are people who will go above and beyond to ensure others are content moving into a new home. When I moved into my current rented place, I had to scrub shaved beard hairs from the bathroom walls and there were crumbs in the cupboards. Kudos to you for asking the question and going the extra mile for the buyers.

Justonemorecupoftea

We are going to clean thoroughly and fill/sand screw holes, but probably not paint (it'll never match and they'll likely want to redecorate anyway).

Leave the wheelie bins empty (or mostly).

We've already gathered manuals etc. which will go in a folder and have a small collection of spare tiles which we will leave somewhere obvious.

And I'm planning to type up gas/electric providers, bin day and the numbers of people we have used to do work on the property e.g. our boiler man, builder etc. so they have someone trustworthy to call in if needed.

Also leave something alcoholic, some snacks, flowers and a card. Oh and some loo rolls!

...Although... we're not at that stage yet, so if they are pains in the bum I won't leave them anything!!

ss2020jd

Thanks everyone for the replies and great suggestions and tips. That’s really helpful. 

Definitely something alcoholic too after the buying and selling experience!  

I just have to get to that day now! 

ss2020jd

Deleted_User said:

ss2020jd said:

I would be interested to know what others have done and what people think would be expected. 

Our buyers have so far been brilliant so I want to make sure they are happy when they move in. Apart from a deep clean and not leaving holes in the walls, we are going to touch up a few minor bits and pieces we have spotted. 

The buyers were happy with the survey but there are some hairline plaster expansion cracks that I’m sure they and their surveyor would have seen. I would prefer to have them filled but my husband says that’s going too far as we’d have to get paint to touch up the walls etc and they’ll probably just want to repaint when they move in anyway. I also saw a thread here where a buyer had seen cracks in the survey photos and then when they moved out they were filled and then they were worried about it.

Any opinions or experiences gratefully received. 

This is so lovely to read! It's heartening to know that there are people who will go above and beyond to ensure others are content moving into a new home. When I moved into my current rented place, I had to scrub shaved beard hairs from the bathroom walls and there were crumbs in the cupboards. Kudos to you for asking the question and going the extra mile for the buyers.

Thank you! 

That sounds disgusting!  I have read some really horrible states that people have left things in. That must be so awful. As if the stress of buying wasn’t already enough. 

Irishpearce26

I don't get the obsession about not having an empty wheelie bin when you buy a house? You've paid the c-tax up to the day of completion and you will likely be getting rid of stuff its just part of the way it is. I saw a post on here where someone was wanting to claim the cost of a skip because the wheelie bin was full for 3 days before it was emptied. 

Also people leaving old tins of paint and flooring, in reality no one wants it as they want their own style so its more hassle having to get rid of it. My previous house loft was full of it and most of it was spoiled as it was months/years old.

sleepyjones

Make sure the place is clean, cut the grass, trim the hedge, clean the windows ... that kind of thing is fine, but I wouldn't go as far as painting or filling in cracks.  They'll want to stamp their own identity on it so it's pointless painting or putting in fancy cornice's or any of that kinda stuff.

You can also leave a wee note about local stuff that they might not know : walking routes, parks, the best pub, the best chippy etc.

If you wanted to do a bit more, get them a gift voucher for your favourite local takeaway (They probably won't do gift vouchers but if you speak to them you can probably work something out) so they've got wine, 2 glasses and a takeaway sorted for their first night, plus loads of local reading and gossip that you've left them.

Irishpearce26

sleepyjones said:

Make sure the place is clean, cut the grass, trim the hedge, clean the windows ... that kind of thing is fine, but I wouldn't go as far as painting or filling in cracks.  They'll want to stamp their own identity on it so it's pointless painting or putting in fancy cornice's or any of that kinda stuff.

You can also leave a wee note about local stuff that they might not know : walking routes, parks, the best pub, the best chippy etc.

If you wanted to do a bit more, get them a gift voucher for your favourite local takeaway (They probably won't do gift vouchers but if you speak to them you can probably work something out) so they've got wine, 2 glasses and a takeaway sorted for their first night, plus loads of local reading and gossip that you've left them.

Do what you can manage! You get less from a holiday cottage. This is unrealistic in my opinion. Leave the place respectively clean, no junk and if you have time a bottle of wine or equivalent however there is no expectation other than clean and any fixtures that were removed were made good.