To NOT want to clean my house in order to sell it

[NorksAreMessy]

we have been renting since November. We thought it was a long let, but in January, our landlord decided to put the house on the market, having failed to sell it last year. Three months, we had been here, and now who knows what will happen.
There are several problems with the house. The shower has never worked, the front door glass is cracked and could easily be pushed in or shatter, the central heating is rubbish, the under sink pipe is wrongly comnected..loads and loads of other problems NONE of which have been solved, despite phoning the agent LOADS of times.

We now have a letter saying that before we have a viewing, we should clean the windows, clear crumbs off the counters, empty bins, not feed the cat smelly food etc etc etc.

I am a bit pissed off about this, but I thought the MN jury could advise me. Obv. I will clean to a certain level, out of courtesy, but windows? Normal children's nonsense?

They are trying to sell our home out from under us, and want us to help, yet will do nothing to make the house gorgeous for us, or potential buyer.

AIBU?

Unless you are a really dirty cow surely the house will be reasonably clean & tidy anyway. If he wants it really spick & span tell him to pay for a cleaner to come round-well it's his house that he wants to sell after all....

Put masking tape around windows, to make it seem like you need to keep draft out.....

Hang wet laundry to dry, with windows closed, to ensure condensation forming on window panes.....

The request that you clean up and don't feed the cat smelly food (!) is outrageous. It's amazing what LLs/agaencies think they can get away with.

If you are worried about not getting your deposit back when you move just withold the equal amount of rent. I rented a top floor flat in a building with a roof that leaked. The landlord owned the whole building and wouldn't pay to have the roof fixed properly. After months of having a bucket sitting in the middle of the bedroom floor I just stopped paying rent. I did this for a few months (outstripping the deposit I'd paid) until I moved cos I'd bought a flat! Unsurprisingly, he didn't track me down for the outstanding rent. I should've stopped paying sooner. Don't pay the rent when problems you have reported haven't been fixed.

Low wattage bulbs = genius
Reclutter= genius
Drawn curtains and gloomy rooms = genius

Plus if it is raining, the noise on the crappy conservatory roof is deafening

midlands that is my view. We are mostly tidy, but with occasional teenageryness. That is the way we live.
I agree, the LL should pay for the extra 'selling the house from under these really good tenants' clean up

floyjoy... 'withold that amount of rent' = genius
THANK YOU

i Love MN

You're welcome! Make sure that when you leave you're in profit!

celadon

right, get lots of parcel tape over that glass panel.

clear the way to the under sink cupboard... empy its contents onto the floor, lay a wet cloth just in front of the cupboard.

put parcel tape over the nob of the shower so your dc's don't forget it's broken and try to electrocute themselves

get some yogurt on an old cloth, this goes mouldy really quickly and will make the place stink of mould. you can keep it in a tub at the bottom of the garden til you need it.

blackeyedsusan I like the way you are thinking. More please

what are the other problems?

the trick is to higlight any problem there is, in a way that could be completely innocent...if any of the radiators are seeping, tape over them and put margarine tubs underneath, or large brightly coloured cat litter trays that you can't help fall over.

Central heating doesn't work in DD's bedroom...miserable in winter, not noticeable now.

cellar really damp

No double glazing, so really cold

Shower tray coming away from wall
Loo coming away from wall

Outside waste pipe from washing machine freezes in cold weather, causing flood in utility room

Outside down pipe come away from wall

E-Fucking-NORMOUS conifer outside sitting room window. LL has said he will have it cut down. He hasn't.

Waste pipe from kitchen sink is the wrong attachment...held together with plumber's tape, so floods sometimes

Put teatowels on the windowsills to imply that they leak/rattle on the wind.

do you have any windows that dont shut properly? tie them closed with string or tape over thee handles.. if there are any mouldy walls, try to move furniture away from the mouldy bits so they are obvious...

a margarine tub under the back of the toilet would freak out any buyer, even if it is only there to hold your.. cleaning cloth that you have used to clean the bathroom.

portable heater in dds room, displayed prominently in front of radiator (borrow)

borrow a dehumidifyer and leave it just inside her bedroom door so that the viewers fall over it...

tape around the edge of the shower tray

tape the loo to the wall....

leave the cellar door open the night before viewings, waft that damp smell up those stairs...

stick large pieces of folded up card into the windows to hold them shut....

band q used to sell bright orange buckets for a pound... make sure you leave your stuff in fromnt of the cupboard door so that the estate agent can't shut it.

if the ll says any thing, tell him you were cleaning up when you found the cupboard had leaked again...

Sounds to me like they have let the house to you, sop you can act as some kind of live in cleaner/caretaker!

Cheeky buggers. Another here for doing as little as possible.

Do you have a notice board in clear view?

Get an A4 piece of paper, write on it in BIG letters

Things to discuss with LL

And list all then problems...people viewing you house won't be able to not look,...too nosey!

Sorry I think you are being unreasonable not to clean ( although I agree smelly cat food is rather unreasonable.)

The fact is as you have pointed out its the Landlords property (which is why he is responsible for repairs) and as its the landlords property he is perfectly entitled to sell it if he wishes.

He is not infact trying to sell your home he is trying to sell HIS property.

If you want to live in a place where all repairs are done and you wont be kicked out I would suggest you buy your own place- and if you do and then want to sell it I guarantee you will be on your hands and knees scrubbing the place before every viewing.

If the place has all the problems you have stated why on earth did you rent it in the first place

Ooh, islandlady I would love to buy my own house and when I can afford one I will, and yes if I want to sell MY house, I will clean it sparkly shiny clean before every viewing. That will be because it is MY house that I am trying to sell, not someone else's. He is welcome to get down on his hands and knees and scrub the floor if he thinks that is what is required

As you say yourself 'he is trying to sell HIS property', well, no actually, he is trying to get ME to 'sell' his property by making it look unnnaturally gorgeous.

Yes, I know it is his property, but it is also my HOME and I thought I was going to live here for quite a while, have unpacked, made curtains, made it look homely. We were given the impression that this would be a long term rental.

Finally, we rented it because it is in a brilliant position, it is a lovely house and most of the problems were not visible. When we asked about the problems we could see, the estate agent said 'don't worry, those will be fixed'

We are looking for another place, but the rental market is a bit thin.mpeople round here are putting their houses on the market to sell at the moment. We are expecting the rental market to free up in the autumn, when houses have NOT sold.

I have only read your first post, but my response was I wouldn't bother doing I usually do. Not your responsibility.

*anything I don't usually do.