House move - to clean or not to clean?

Clean! When we bought our house, it looked like the owners had neglected the house since we made the offer. It was filthy. The joy of moving into a new home was definitely muted because of it. Ths hob was caked in dried food, splashes of sauce all over the backsplash, the bathroom most definitely not been cleaned. The carpets were covered in crumbs. There wa also a ton of crap all shoved into one cupboard. We cleaned for hours that day. Galling especially as we'd left our house house pristine.

By the night before we moved everything g had been pack and dismantled. We slept on mattresses on the floor that night. So on moving morning all we needed was a quick shower, Macdonald's for breakfast, pick up the van, pack the van and give the house a quick Hoover. We didnt end up getting the keys until mid afternoon so we had a ton of time to hang about but it was in reality all done with the expectation of key collection at 12pm.

By all means get a professional cleaner I once you're packed but please have the house clean so the new owners dont need to spend time cleaning instead of unpacking. It's pretty selfish.

When I sold my house I cleaned it thoroughly myself, I didn't get professionals in because they told me they were going to be getting the builders in right away to knock the downstairs rooms into one and so on. But I cannot leave a house in a state. it was neat, tidy and clean.
When I moved into this house which I bought from an older single man it was in a filthy and disgusting state, I could have wept because I was so tired having moved 300 miles all aone, I just wanted to crash out for the night.
But it was so dirty that I couldn't touch anything. It took me 2 weeks to get the place into an evern vaguely habitable state, I had to get an electrician in to change all the plug fronts because they were encased in grime from unwashed hands, all the carpets had to be cleaned, the walls washed down, there was nothing clean.
The bathroom was horrific.
I sat down and wept on the first night. I had lost my husband, my job, my lovely home and moved 300 to this place.
Since then I've had plasterers in, am gradually painting all of the rooms but there is nothing the previous owner hasn't bodged or left hanging off.
I would hate anyone else to have to go through this. There was no excuse for it, he had lived here for 20 years without a woman and just sat and smoked and let the grime build up. He probably never "saw" the dirt.

We packed most of our belongings the weeks leading up to the move and put anything non essential in the outhouse (shed)

All bigger items we then moved into the bottom floor into one room and then cleaned every room from top to bottom.

It was hell. We moved just before lockdown so had no idea of we'd be allowed to even move and even with a license to occupy for a few more days we really struggled to move everything as it turned out we have far far too much stuff.

We left it sparkling clean as we didn't want to be 'those people' who left a house in a shit state, although the house we moved into had no flooring or turf, the garden was just a huge mud pit so we had a massive job on at both ends.

Years ago however, when I sold my first house, we were young and niaive and were bullied into moving out by the buyers the week before Christmas, so I do recall the house wasn't left in the best condition. Partly because we physically couldn't get everything out and clean in time but also because we were fuming and didn't care either way. thankfully I've grown up since!

Pack in advance, everything that it don't essentially need. Hire a cleaner. We couldn't because of bloody Corona..

My house was filthy when I moved in. Quite demoralising. Oven was too filthy to use, same with the fridge freezer. But I wasn't surprised, the owners were still packing up an hour after completion. Please clean it as best you can.

We cleaned as we packed, then s final vacuum, damp wipe round as each room was emptied into the van. The house we moved into was a symphony of grease, nicotine and empty gin bottles ( probate purchase). Horrible, and it took us several weeks of hard work, cleaning, painting and all new flooring to get it livable.

Absolutely clean it. Grim to leave a dirty house.

Treat others as you would want to be treated. There is certain amount you can do before hand but I would reserve a spot in car for hoover, moo and cleaning supplies.

Also box with kettle, tea, coffee, sugar, biscuits and cups. Both you and removers will appreciate at other end that you can access this straight away.

Kitchen, bathroom and cleared rooms we cleaned prior to moving day and gave the house a once over once boxes were out of the way. The last house we bought was filthy when we moved in including dog excrement. They had been awkward throughout the sale and knew this would be their parting gift so expected it.

I've moved loads and usually into lovely clean houses. Only the most recent house we moved into a nightmare with dog turds in garden and rotten chicken meat in fridge and rubbish in bins. They'd clearly just walked out and left everything. Completely disgusting. This was our most expensive house in a lovely area, so clearly not that they couldn't afford a professional

It's made me feel different about this house to start with, so I'd always always leave it nice. The best experience was when we found a bottle of bubbly with two glasses, and a lovely card with a list of local tips for take away, pubs, restaurants, quirky shops etc!

We got our house professionally cleaned on move day. I had spoken to the movers beforehand to check which time we should have the cleaner come in. They came in an armada of 7! The house was spotless when we handed the keys to the agent. We had the oven professionally cleaned the week before.
Unfortunately the vendors of our new house weren't so conscientious. They did a lot of the move themselves, were way later than completion time and when we moved in they had only done a very basic cleaning job. We ended up having to clean the insides of the kitchen cupboards, the stove and had to get the professional oven cleaners come in.o

I think it should be written into the contract to have the house professionally cleaned. Maybe with Covid this is already happening.
We were pretty annoyed about the state of our new house..

We had little ones so paid for professionals while I dealt with kids and rang utility/insurance companies

Definitely clean it. We got our new house keys and discovered it was filthy, right down to someone not flushing the toilet. It had been a ‘naive’ family who owned it but the sale process had been difficult (wholly their fault) so I assume it was their parting blow. Fortunately we were in a rental property and weren’t planning to move in for a couple of days so had the time to clean it but I was so cross. It really spoiled that first walking into the house experience.

We've always cleaned but moved into dirty houses. As I empty a cupboard I clean it then as a room is emptied give it a quick once over.

We cleaned our house when we moved.

I am hoping to move soon and will clean (actually will get a cleaner in) before we leave. However I have always previously left a bottle of wine or something in the fridge for them but won't be doing this time. IF the sale goes through with our buyers I won't be leaving anything, I am half tempted to leave them a letter saying how difficult they have been. I won't of course, but they have been absolutely hideous and still are being. They've asked for so many additional tests it's ridiculous. It's a very nice, bog standard, four bedroom Victorian house but apparently where they come from they wouldn't buy a house over 30 years old so they think it's falling down when there's nothing wrong with it. They refuse to speak to anyone except through their solicitor too so communication is very very slow.

We bought in January and the house was spotless when we moved in, we did buy from family however the house would’ve been spotless whoever would’ve bought the place.

When we moved previously out of two rental properties I packed and cleaned as I went and then did a final wipe down just before inspection, both flats left in a much better condition then we we moved in, both had been empty for around 4 months prior to us moving in and it was gutting to arrive and then have to start cleaning everything despite an apparent professional clean

Yes you should leave the place clean. We started packing weeks earlier, and used half of a bedroom to stack all the boxes in. As we packed we dismantled bookcases etc and added them to the bedroom. As we unearthed space, we cleaned it.

A few days before moving we deep cleaned the bathroom and kitchen so they only needed a wipe over on the last day.

I kept the vacuum and mop and some cleaning materials to hand on the last day and as the truck left, I went through the house vacuuming and mopping my way out then dumped it all in my car and followed the van down. Dh went ahead in the van.

We cleaned ours as we went so it might not have got a clean the day we moved out but everywhere was thoroughly cleaned in the days before. I think it's just courteous tbh.

We moved into our new house which was a deceased estate and the family hasn't bothered to whip a vac around and left loads of their possessions like shoes etc which was just weird and a bar of soap still in the bath 🤢

When we sold a deceased family members house we paid a cleaner as we didn't have time but it just rude otherwise I think.

A wipe down, nothing more is needed. When I moved in to my house I had it cleaned- whether someone else had or not would be inconsequential to me, I'm not going to rely on that being done by someone else:

Kitchen and bathroom can be cleaned prior to moving day ( other than floors). Parts of other rooms can be cleaned in advance too eg windows. Then one person can stay behind after the furniture has been taken away and give the floors etc a clean
It’s a nice thing to do and its more likely that the new owners will be happy to forward mail etc ( even if you redirect there might be a mistake or parcels if you forget to change your delivery address on a website) if the house is clean and tidy when they arrive.

definitely leave it sparkling! i was still mopping floors after we technically didn't own it and the EA was chasing for keys as wanted it to be in good nick

I cleaned the house myself when we last moved, not to pristine standards but as the furniture was removed from each room I would vacuum, wipe down surfaces, give bathrooms a good clean etc. It doesn't actually take that long if the room is empty (I didn't wash windows). The house we moved into was cleaned to a similar standard.
But we only had one 10 year old child ... it would be harder if you had young children/pets etc then you might need to try and get someone to help.

I've personally never experienced it but you do hear some horror stories about people moving into filthy houses.

We got a professional in who came on moving day. She worked behind the removal guys, cleaning each room as they emptied it. Then she returned the keys to the estate agent. She was brilliant!

And I agree with others that in terms of logistics you should clean as much as you can in the run-up; then it should be a case of hoovering/wiping as the removal company moves stuff out.

Personally i think you should clean it upon leaving, either yourself or employ a company.