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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that there's a house selling etiquette?

108 replies

1onelyranger · 01/10/2019 10:48

DP has just bought a house. It's filthy - crumbs in the cupboards, grafted woodwork, claggy oven and hob, the sink , marbles all over the garden path... Oddly the bathroom isn't too bad.

When I sold my previous house DM, nowEx and me cleaned it spotless. We left a bottle of wine and a toilet roll. I think that's just normal.

What have been your house-moving acts of kindness and horror discoveries?

OP posts:

NearlyGranny · 01/10/2019 13:06

I always leave a house spotless! It's easy when you're moving out as you have to have it nice to sell it anyway.

Our last buyers confessed/boasted to DH that they were removing even the lightbulbs from the house they were selling, so I think there is a playbook for nasty people.

We moved into one place where we were going to rip up acres of nasty, musty carpet but I went at them with the wet/dry cleaner and the reassuring smell of wet wool made me reconsider. They came up perfect and lasted the whole 7 years we lived there.

Clean is nice but not guaranteed. I think grunge can be reflected in your offer; think what a cleaning company would charge and drop by x10!

Didthatreallyhappen2 · 01/10/2019 13:06

Second house we moved into was owned by an elderly lady who never went out. We assumed she was a fresh air obsessive as the windows were always open. The first evening we were there we discovered why - the lounge carpet was where her 2 cats would wee - the stench was overpowering. That same evening we chopped large chunks out of the carpet and sat on bare concrete (which was also stained!).

Our current house, however, was so clean that the previous owners had even cleaned behind the radiators! Bliss!

longwayoff · 01/10/2019 13:08

I've always cleaned houses when I move but I'm old and achy now, if I leave here it's going to be a bit grubby I'm afraid.

OtraCosaMariposa · 01/10/2019 13:08

Also fail to see how a few crumbs in a cupboard and marbles on the garden path (?) render a property "filthy".

Filthy to me means serious grime. The sort of grime you could remove with a spatula and which would need heavy duty chemicals to get rid of. Not a few crumbs and marbles.

anyoneseenmykeys · 01/10/2019 13:14

A lovely buyer, you leave the house spotless.

A pain in the arse, you don't bother.

Easy.

But if you read threads of posters mocking someone who spends 1 to 2 hours cleaning and doing chores first thing in the morning, then you can see that some people are grim. It's hardly new.

AntiHop · 01/10/2019 13:20

We left our flat spotless. We were doing cleaning and DIY the day before we left. We even got an electrician to put in a new light fitting.

The place we moved into was pretty dirty. They did apologise though!

Original poster

1onelyranger · 01/10/2019 13:22

One house we sold was very clean when we left but we did end up leaving a few bits of furniture end tables, lamps, as we just had no more room.

Why? Why would you do that?

Also fail to see how a few crumbs in a cupboard and marbles on the garden path (?) render a property "filthy".

Quite. It's almost as if you've only mentioned less than half of my description, isn't it?

OP posts:

LaurieMarlow · 01/10/2019 13:27

but we did end up leaving a few bits of furniture end tables, lamps, as we just had no more room.

This is worse than a bit of dirt.

Take your shit with you when you go. It’s not fair to lumber the buyers with it.

Original poster

1onelyranger · 01/10/2019 13:29

A lovely buyer, you leave the house spotless. A pain in the arse, you don't bother.

I'd still leave it clean for a pain in the arse, because that reflects on me, but wouldn't do the helpful things like instructions or a bottle of wine. DP has been lovely with his vendors, collected the keys from their new house and then returned with the post (an Interflora-type parcel).

OP posts:

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 01/10/2019 13:34

One house was immaculate - but the b*tch vendor had taken down nearly all the curtain rails - which were obv. screwed in and therefore fixtures and fittings which should not be removed except by agreement - when she knew I was moving in on my own with a small baby - dh was working abroad at the time.
And I'd let her stay 4 days after completion, since her new house wasn't ready!

My solicitor had a fit!

Truth was, she was seriously pissed off because dh had beaten her down on the price, but she'd accepted, because she didn't want to lose her next, bigger house.

Philmitchell · 01/10/2019 13:37

@MissRabbitNeedsAHoliday oooooh I want to know who

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 01/10/2019 13:41

Someone I used to know had been a midwife/HV for ten years before having her first baby. And she told me that during her first month with him, she did every single thing she'd spent the last X years telling new mothers not to do. 😄

missmarplesapprentice · 01/10/2019 13:42

Buying a house which had tenants in it, not a problem in itself but we gathered they weren't too happy about moving (whole other story). It was previously the landlords house but they rented it out as they were moving to a different area and wanted to rent there for a little bit there until they were sure where they wanted to settle.

Tenants were told they had to be out by midday as that was when we completed. This wasn't a problem, all agreed in advance and this gave the tenant an extra 48 hours to help move after their lease had ended (at no extra cost to them we were told). We got the keys and went over mid afternoon to get started. Landlords had left a lovely note, bottle of wine, chocolates and the floor was still drying from when they had to clean it. Turns out the tenant didn't have the tool to dismantle their massive dining table (an alan key) and they'd left it right till the last minute but expected extra time so they could take it. Landlord was mortified and said legally they had to be out so dining table was left.
We had a lovely note left saying that we could call them and they'd come and remove it if we wanted. We were first time buyers with no furniture so decided to keep it (after checking with our lawyer who said yes) and let the landlord know who agreed this wasn't a problem and was relieved he didn't have to come get it.
It is a massive, solid wooden table. After some much needed TLC and some hard graft it looks lovely and I'm very proud of it.
Nearly 6 months pass and we get a call from the estate agent to confirm that the tenant would be coming that night to pick it up. They had told the estate agent that they had agreed it with the landlord and us and this was a courtesy call! The only reason the estate agent knew was because they managed the tenants new property.
Estate agent was unimpressed with the tenants as was the landlord who ended up sending a family member over (as they were no longer close) to make sure the tenant didn't turn up and cause us a nuisance. I really appreciated this as DH was away with work! Luckily they didn't as the estate agent warned them not to and that it wasn't on!
If they were so keen on a bloody table why didn't they dismantle it in time and take with them and not wait 6 months to come get it!

CactusAndCacti · 01/10/2019 13:49

According to MN there is no grey just professionally cleaned spotless or grimy pit. Surely most people leave it 'reasonable' that is not disgusting but neither sparkling.

We moved on a very hot day, by the time we had emptied the house and broke a hoover we had lost the will to live. It was clean, that was as good as it got.

Ericaceae · 01/10/2019 13:54

We had the remnants of a cannabis farm in one of the attic rooms - lights, transformers, foil on the walls, vents plugged up...
Rest of the house was pretty clean

Passthecherrycoke · 01/10/2019 13:57

That’s amazing Eric 🤣 what did you do?

TheDragonFromDreams · 01/10/2019 14:01

Woman I bought my last place from was wonderful. Apologised for not being able to clean every window as she couldn’t reach...

Malacath · 01/10/2019 14:02

Have only ever rented, but have at least taken all of our stuff from the house, cupboards, sheds etc. Not hard to do a quick hoover, wipe dust from walls where furniture was, and a courtesy clean of bathroom and kitchen.
Currently living in a housing association property that was fully cleaned and painted by so called professionals before we moved in with a 6 month old. There's hair from paint brushes and bits of plastic tags from clothes stuck in the paint here and there and there were bits of underlay material in the garden where they had thrown the flooring out. No flooring apart from kitchen and bathroom, but at least not as hideous as the first flat we moved into together, which needed a thorough clean.

Rainbowknickers · 01/10/2019 14:09

I’ve always left a house tidy but our old house had students and it was hell
Old road signs/cones under the stairs
A broken window
The floors where so dirty our feet stuck to them
Dirty pots in the sink
Blood up the walls
Leftover roast dinner on the side-had been there a month
Etc
Took a week to clean it all up
The house we’re in now-we found a single grain of rice behind the fridge and that’s been it

KUGA · 01/10/2019 14:17

Many years ago we moved into a lovely detached property.
On closer inspection the previous owners took all light fittings and this was in December so dark as fk and the house was a shit tip and they even left dog mess in the garden.
And what`s even more of a shock is that they were Doctors.

Zeldasmagicwand · 01/10/2019 14:52

I just quickly run the hoover around where the furniture was and that's it. I wouldn't wipe out the cupboards after emptying them or any serious cleaning. That's up to the news owners to sort.
No deep cleaning, cards or bottles of booze.
It's just a business transaction and I'm already living in my new home in my head... Adios.

Fluffsmum · 01/10/2019 14:54

I always try to leave them clean BUT this time there was fuck up on the side of the removal men so we only just moved out on time, so no time to clean. Still left a bottle of wine though.

Bear2014 · 01/10/2019 15:01

We left our flat spotless when we moved out, but it was definitely not when we moved in! I only felt it was clean when we had replaced the floors and painted everything.

The house we are currently in, they were still moving furniture out at 6pm as we sat outside with toddler on lap and a van full, so no it was not clean.

SalmonScale · 01/10/2019 15:04

The only house we ever bought that wasn’t filthy had a loft full of “lost treasure”. We have always left them spotless, with a bottle of fizz and a nice card. I am eternally hopeful for good karma.

BarbariansMum · 01/10/2019 15:07

Everywhere I've ever moved to (rented or bought) has been clean and tidy, and I've always left everything spotless for the next person. Guess I've just been lucky.

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