Moving House - what to leave for new owner

[4forkssake]

Hoping to move house soon. Last time we lived we sold to someone who was renting so it wasn't applicable. What sort of things/info did you find useful that previous owner might have left?

Planning on leaving a bottle of something / flowers & a card, appliance instructions, takeaway menus, window cleaner details, local taxi number.

Anything else that would be useful?

When we moved over the summer our sellers left a couple of loo roll/the almost full bottle of soap/washing up liquid etc
I'm sure other wise they'd have just gone in the bin and was appreciated rather than us needing to start unpacking things or popping to the shop as soon as we walked in the door!

And yes to instruction manuals!

Our sellers also asked if we would like their blinds/wardrobe/tv cabinet as otherwise they were going to the tip - if you've got stuff you'd just be chucking be nice to ask if they'd rather you left it. Saved us a few hundred pounds that we can then replace with nicer bits when we've saved up a bit.

Can you print your new address on some sticky labels? That way if royal mail accidentally doesn't forward your post they can then just whack a sticker on it.

This is our first house together and when we moved in, we found a card, some flowers in a vase, and a bottle of wine (along with all the practical info). It was such a nice start for us and we really appreciated it.

We had most of our belongings in storage overnight so we could clean, so we spent the first night on an air mattress, having pizza, wine in plastic cups, watching a movie on my tablet. It’s a really good memory for us and I still appreciate the gifts they left us.

Any part tins of paint or marching tiles, much nicer if they are labeled. In our case we also left a note with their location as we'd tucked them well out of the way.

Oven shelves... and light bulbs.

Our place was a repossession and we had to replace ALL the lightbulbs... There are a total of 26 of the bastards in our house. Can you tell I'm a little bitter about it 9 years on...

And yes, they took the fucking oven shelves too

If you have a shit funky lighting system like our place which has a short press of light switch for X function and long press of light switch for Y function... a diagram next to each switch of what they do and which press.

We have a particular underfloor heating system that most plumbers are unsure of/won't touch. There's a local company who services all the apartments and this type is their specialty... so again, numbers/contacts for this if applicable.

If you have any instructions for things like the inbuilt washing machine/dishwasher/oven/hob etc....

We didn't leave anything not agreed in the sale. I would happily left some prawns in the curtain hem though.

As you can tell our buyer was a knob!

Like above have said.. bin dates.. meter readings etc etc etc.

But i have to say the most valuable thing our old owners left was downstairs curtains. If youre not planning to keep the same decor/have diff sized windows in your new place or they werent massively expensive etc please leave them. Weve changed them now but when getting deliveries and moving stuff in etc it was so nice to not have people lurking in at what weve purchased.

Oh yeah ours left us labelled paint tins too.. just the last bit that was left over.. was good when the sofa delivery guy scuffed all the hall wall..

And a loo roll!! Even a part one..

You’re nicer than our sellers! We were left with an entire uncleaned house, crumbs on the carpet, bashed plaster, the smell of last nights curry, and their toilet brush

It's lovely of you to feel this way, OP, we left our old house in an immaculate condition, with instructions etc for the new owners.

The house we moved to, however, every light bulb had been removed - I shit you not.

They left a lawn full of dog shit and cleaned nothing from the minute our offer was accepted.

We spent about 20 hours over the course of a week cleaning everything. Scrubbing ingrained piss off both toilet seats was a highlight.

Mean as fuck and no class, so-called professional people who lived like pigs.

A note detailing the quirks of the house, advice on where to park of there isn't allocated parking and the neighbours names and stories are helpful.

If you have cats could be worth mentioning them as they try and make their way back to their old homes sometimes and the new owners could keep a eye out if that happens

Please don't take the shower curtain. After moving all day (in July no less) the lack of shower curtain meant that my desperately wanted shower couldn't take place- I could have cried!

We found it so useful that the people we bought off had a huge folder with all the appliance instructions etc. They also wrote down all the names and brands of paint used in every room which has been great for touch ups. They also left unused cans of paint in the garage which was lovely too.

What everyone suggested and I wouldn't bother with any bottles or gifts other than that. A clean house at the minimum. We have moved into some shit tips. To the point where we've had to walk back out and stay in a hotel for a night or two whilst we cleaned the house.

Interesting to see a lot of people moved into dirty houses.

Tho ours were kind enough to leave curtains and paint.. the place was vile! So dirty.. bits all over the carpet and everything. We got "sorry it's a mess, we cant clean with 4 kids".... all school age kids may i add.

A clean house, we've moved into two houses that were just filthy, boiler instructions, village info pack, a plan of all the plants in the garden (they admitted they weren't very knowledgeable about plants), lightbulbs, empty bins (we took everything to the tip or asked next door neighbours to put them out for us), shower curtain (freshly washed though), clean kitchen floors, curtains that wouldn't fit the new house so they didn't have the faff of trying to hang curtains whilst drowning in boxes, the shed (someone actually took the shed with them )

Great tips, thanks. Interesting (but minging) to hear about the disgusting houses people have moved in to. Definitely not 'that' seller. Also, can't believe (or I probably can) some of the things people have taken with them on moving. Crazy.

Wouldn't occur to me to take 💡 so they'll be staying, along with some spares which won't fit new house. Most of the curtains will be left as they won't fit the new house. We may take a few pairs, like kids bedroom curtains, but haven't measured the new house yet , however, all windows have some type of blinds (including black out in the bedrooms) which will be left.

Good idea about the loo roll/soap.

Good idea about the file with all the appliance etc info.

Wouldn't have thought about paint, so that's great. Also have a few spare bathroom/roof tiles in the garage which we'll see if they want to keep just in case they're ever needed. Planning on getting rid of a few cupboards, old freezer / fridge freezer / bed settee so will ask if they want them keeping or getting rid of.

Should be ok with the post cos we're good friends with one neighbour so will just ask if they'll pass it over to them & we can collect.

I don't think leaving something is a thing but I think it's a nice gesture. Would probably be a bottle rather than flowers for practical reasons. There's a chance when we visit our neighbours after we've moved that we might meet the people who've moved in & it's nice to be nice. Glad some people appreciate the thought . It will however depend on what they're like as vendors, if they're shit, won't be leaving wine.

Will make sure to get rid of the minging bog brush 

No cats to redirect, no dogs to clear up the crap (except the occasional 💩 left in the front lawn by twats taking their dogs out & letting them crap wherever ).

We left chocolates, a bunch of flowers and a teddy bear (they were expecting a baby a month or so later). Also a folder of useful information such as bin day, local shops, the central heating etc.

The people we bought from left us dog poo on the front lawn and the remains of their breakfast in the sink

Paperwork and manuals
Labeled keys
bin day info
a note of meter readings
Sticky address labels with forwarding address
Matching leftover paint & tiles (but not leftovers which don't match!)
All parts for appliances you've agreed to leave/sell.
Fittings and fixtures as agreed, e.g. carpets, curtains, lampshades, but none that wern't agreed.

For bonus points:
light bulbs, loo paper, soap
Contact details for good tradespeople already familiar with the house.

A comprehensive file of information (appliances/utilities/final readings/alarm)
Labelled keys - including keys for the windows (unlike when I bought the house!)
Toilet roll, hand soap in the bathroom and washing up liquid
Plus agreed fixtures and fittings.
I'd also had the house professionally deep cleaned.
I also left them a jar of coffee, some tea bags and a fresh bottle of milk in the fridge - I had a lovely note thanking me for that.

I believe DH left his buyers the meter readings...and they were lucky to get those! My buyers were awesome, his were competing for worst buyers ever.

Details for emptying of septic tank
Boiler service (especially if it is an old oil fired one)
Gas, electricity and water suppliers
Instruction manuals
Window keys
Room keys in each room/with tags
Bin collection
Recycling centre
Local supermarket/shop
Takeaway menus
Stopcock
Toilet roll
Useful paint leftovers and tiles

Also left a bottle of champagne and a couple of glasses on the mantlepiece

When we moved in, our house needed bombing cleaning as like others I think they stopped cleaning as soon as our offer was accepted. But we were also surprised they had left a TV on the wall, this was because they had plastered round it.....they had done this a lot it turns out! Pictures, light fittings, switches.....
They had also only plumbed the cold water tap in the bathroom sink. Cemented the toilet to the floor......the list of botched DIY was endless.
The worst thing though was they left their cat, they were told but they never came back for her, we still have her now x

Apart from our first flat (I can't for the life of me remember what state that was in when we moved so it was either okish or so bad I've blocked it from memory ) we've moved into new builds so thankfully no surprise findings to clean or cats to adopt. Just a list of snagging to try to get the builders to sort out.