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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think if you know people are going to view your house

57 replies

NotSoChicAfterAll · 21/02/2014 13:57

You should at least tidy up a little before they come.
I've just been to view a rental, it looked lovely in the photos, all brand new inside, and it's not cheap.

When I first walked in it stank of sweatyness, there was junk everywhere!
there was dirty knickers and socks on the floor, ice cream wrappers in the bathroom, some kind of weird comic/animation naked lady pictures up.
The estate agent who showed me round and apologised for the mess, and said the guy who lives there with his mrs had just left and had tidied up before he'd gone and it was a lot worse before

Aibu to think that if you should at least tidy up things off the floor if you know people are coming to view your house? Especially if it's rental as it's not even your house!

OP posts:

gamerchick · 21/02/2014 13:59

Sounds like he doesn't really want to move out so doesn't care what it looks like.

Joysmum · 21/02/2014 14:01

If it was the owner trying to sell then you'd have more of a point but the person living there you said was renting so why would they?

diddl · 21/02/2014 14:02

Well I would, but tbh, if it's a rental, there's nothing in it for him is there?

And if you are interested, it's possible to see past mess.

Thumbcat · 21/02/2014 14:03

I once viewed a house where there was a huge poo floating in the toilet [lowers tone of thread and slopes off]

Mintyy · 21/02/2014 14:03

I don't agree. The tenant has no vested interest in letting the flat. He is already inconvenienced by having people traipsing through his home for no benefit to him.

I find it odd that you can't see this.

ShadowFall · 21/02/2014 14:04

Totally agree that people should make an effort to tidy if people are coming to view their house.

However... you do mention it's a rental. Do you know why the current tenants are going?

Just wondering, as when DH & I were renting, we twice got evicted because the landlord wanted to sell the property and thought it would be easier without tenants in. Both times, there were viewings before we'd left. We did tidy, but honestly, I really didn't feel terribly motivated about it, given that we'd been good tenants, and now had all the hassle of finding a new property to live in. Although of course that's no excuse for leaving the place a pig-sty for a viewing.

pluCaChange · 21/02/2014 14:09

There's not exactly a direct conflict of interests between LL and tenant, but their interests aren't aligned, so YABU to be surprised and judgemental.

Lots of things could have been going on here, not limited to relationship problems between the tenants, which have taken up their attention, lack of notice by LL/ estate agent, and general can't-be-arsed-for-someone-else's-benefit-ness.

Surely, as a prospective tenant, you should know all this?

Saucia · 21/02/2014 14:16

Well, in our last rental the LL was lovely and it was our decision to leave, so I did make the house immaculate for viewings to help him shift it. So if I went to view a.rental which was scruffy, I’d think the tenant had no interest in helping the LL because the LL is kicking them out or has been.useless during their tenancy, so no.way I’d rent from them. The tenant probably doesn’t want to leave.

Stinklebell · 21/02/2014 14:17

If I was selling my own home, then yes, I'd spend hours decluttering and cleaning and tidying.

As a tenant? Not so much, nothing over and above my usual level of tidiness and cleanliness (although there aren't any ice cream wrappers on my bathroom floor). I wouldn't be changing my pictures or wall art either - weird comics and naked lady art isn't to my taste but I still wouldn't be taking down the stuff I have up

Surely you can see past all this stuff though? The property will be cleaned and empty by the time you move in, their furniture, wall art, dirty knickers and ice cream wrappers will have long gone. Were the rooms of a good size? Good location? Big garden? White goods included? Surely that's more important than dirty pants

Original poster

NotSoChicAfterAll · 21/02/2014 14:24

I am surprised that people would leave it in such a way, just something I wouldn't do but I suppose if the LL is chucking them out they don't care anyway

OP posts:

specialsubject · 21/02/2014 14:27

it sounds like the tenant has already left, and abandoned all his crap. If you want to take the place, make sure you get it agreed that it will be emptied and cleaned before you move in. This is standard but check before you sign the tenancy. As it sounds like he wasn't big on washing, you should ask for the carpets and curtains to be cleaned.

this is just in case it is a dodgy landlord rather than a slobby tenant. But people are allowed to live like slobs if they want.

exexpat · 21/02/2014 14:30

The people living there are not the ones trying to rent it out, so why should they be bothered?

I rented a house for a few months when I moved back to the UK, before I could buy a house. Once I had given notice, the agents brought a few people round to look at it, and then complained to me that there were toys on the floor, washing up that hadn't been done, and piles of laundry waiting to be sorted - they wanted me to have everything perfectly neat and tidy for viewing at all times.

I said that was not possible: I was in the middle of organising building works at the house I had just bought before I could move in to it, DD had just started reception so was in that awful 'settling in' phase of doing random mornings and afternoons, which meant I had to be back and forth to school three times a day for her and DS, and I was also recently widowed and having to deal with solicitors meetings for probate etc. Keeping the rented house neat and tidy for prospective new tenants did not even feature on my list of priorities.

The agents decided not to show anyone else around until after I had moved out. FWIW, when I had viewed the house it was occupied by a family with twin toddlers and it certainly wasn't perfectly clean and tidy either - didn't bother me.

DealForTheKids · 21/02/2014 15:00

Also, you don't even necessarily know that the LL has told the tenant exactly when the viewing will be. I've had LLs before who have sold and they've simply alerted me to the fact that there may be viewings between the hours of 9 - 5 in the week. Obviously, I'm at work so it doesn't affect me.

If I was told "there's a viewing at 4 on Tuesday" I'd naturally tidy up on Monday night so it looked good (just because I'd hate others to think I lived in a tip, even strangers I'll never meet!) but if it was that kind of open-ended slot I don't think I would live like I was in a showhouse until the LL got an offer IYSWIM.

Unexpected · 21/02/2014 15:05

You are naive to expect that tenants will bother tidying up for viewings, why on earth would they? The landlord may not be chucking them out, they may be leaving voluntarily but regardless they don't care in the slightest who buys/if the flat sells. You need to be able to see past the easily fixable stuff like mess, pet smells and dodgy decor in lots of properties or your search is going to be a long one. Over the years, I've looked at lots of houses and flats and some tenanted ones are immaculate and some owner-occupied are filthy. Most fall in the middle of the two ranges, rented or owned, empty or occupied.

daphnehoneybutt · 21/02/2014 15:13

I had two viewings of our house last night and I ask DH to run around with the hoover tidied up because I wouldn't want people to think I was a slattern.... I certainly would give a lot more of a toss if it was my house though, I would have baked fresh bread and shit.

Poor man is obviously having a bad time in his life I'm sure helping his landlord make a buck is not top of his priority list.

sparechange · 21/02/2014 16:32

Why would they?
If the landlord had ramped up the rent and forced them to leave, what incentive do they have for waking up an hour earlier than usual to tidy up?
So some total strangers don't think they are slatterns?

Even if they aren't being kicked out, the landlord still has no right to dictate how they spend their time, as long as the property isn't being damaged by their standard of living. If they are happy with clothes on the floor, the landlord can't really force anything else, especially as it is only for their financial benefit.

The photos will have been taken between tenancies, btw, which is why everything looked new and clean

Pumpkinpositive · 21/02/2014 16:39

Why would the tenant give a shit about the place looking pristine for prospective viewers? I certainly didn't

blondefriend · 21/02/2014 16:42

Even when I was selling my own house the most I did was tidy up a bit and run a hoover round - I was pregnant with a 18 month old, 2 dogs and worked full time - viewing made me very stressed.

I have looked round a house with tenants. It was 11am, the mum was still in bed (smoking), the 4 year old opened the door and the toddler was standing in the cot screaming. The house was a tip. I actually quite liked the place, it had big rooms and a garden with lots of potential. I spent about 30mins discussing with the little girl all the nice things she liked about the house.

StarGazeyPond · 21/02/2014 16:45

Mintyy said - I don't agree. The tenant has no vested interest in letting the flat. He is already inconvenienced by having people traipsing through his home for no benefit to him.

This ^^.

StarGazeyPond · 21/02/2014 16:46

I was pregnant with a 18 month old, 2 dogs and working full time

My God, you must have been enormous blonde

RiverTam · 21/02/2014 16:48

it's a rental so why should they care? The LL has probably just pulled the rug from under them, telling them he's going to sell so off you pop - they're hardly going to bother to make it easy for him (or her)!

Oneglassandpuzzled · 21/02/2014 16:49

Slightly tangentially, I don't understand the MN fascination for showing houses for sale in a state that suggests nobody has ever ever lived in them.

Clean and tidy, yes. COmplete minimalism with all signs that a human being has ever set foot inside, no.

Whenever I have bought houses I have never expected people to expunge all traces of them from the place before I visit.

HmmAnOxfordComma · 21/02/2014 16:55

Well my houses are always immaculately clean and tidy and we don't really do nick nacks and lots of personal possessions/photos (though I think they're stylish and immaculate, not bland and immaculate, iyswim) and I've sold 5 houses on the first day of showing, 3 of those in the middle of really slow markets/recession.

So it's how I like to live and obviously appeals to others, too.

Can see why this bloke didn't clean up, though. It's not his house.

RenterNomad · 21/02/2014 18:26

Following on from oneglassandpuzzled's commenr about evidence of life, I must say, one incentive we had for tidying for viewings was to remove our private documents and family photos from view or reach.

Oneglassandpuzzled · 21/02/2014 18:27

Yes, clean and tidy is one thing, but no possessions on show. No items on display anywhere. No kitchen equipment visible in kitchen, etc? No fridge magnets, etc?

When did all that start? Is it the TV house programmes? It wasn't like that when I was house-hunting before, and, if we can believe what we read, people are even more desperate for family-sized houses than they were years ago. When we were looking I don't think people's ornaments would have been a consideration. Or whether I liked their pot plants.

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