To want to cry re new house?

[meow1989]

Or more like, wibu to expect seller to be a decent human being?

Completed on our dream forever home end of August. We left our house spotless, left flowers and advice re local area plus my number in case new people needed anything. Our seller however left us with the following issues:

• tonnes of rubbish including a double garage door, building materials and granite slabs behind outbuilding. His response was (not true) that most of it had been there when he moved in so it wasn't his problem to sort.
• missing plants dug up and taken
• rubbish in house - so far I'm up to 7 different types of tiles in boxes plus skirting boards, flooring, insulation etc
• Windows that don't lock from the outside and don't close properly (costing 4k to replace, we did know they were misted and would need doing equally but not straight away)
• bodge job building bits (he is a builder!) Like fist sized holes where blinds had been installed, a broken TV bracket installed into the wall rather than on to, paint on floor and windows
• broken blinds, broken bathroom cabinets
• a boiler that I've just found out has been leaking for quite some time (noted by plumber who is fixing leak in ceiling which also seems to have been bodged and covered up from previous leaks)

Aibu or is this par for the course? We hadn't budgeted for a fixer Upper!

We moved last year into our 'forever house'. The previous owner walked out leaving everything. He took the sheets from the bed, (but left the bed), there were still towels on the towel rail, and all the pots, pans, (I gained five frying pans), knives, forks, crockery quite a lot of furniture etc. He emigrated.

The week after we moved the aga ceased working, I shrugged and organised for it to be serviced. The boilerman took one look and said, "It's obsolete, we can't get the parts, and even if we could it's been tiled in." He opened the boiler door, "It's been mended with mastic and cement. Oh and the oil valve has been taken out, so if there's a fire (which given the state of the 'repair' was not totally unlikely) all the oil in the tank would pump straight in." A mere £5000 later we had a new boiler and a space in the kitchen where the aga had been. Luckily there was a hob we could use.

He had also rejigged the plumbing in the attic, without any sort of fixings, so the pipes came apart. and the heavens descended.. Oh and he installed an instant electric water system, with no valve, so if it overheated it would effectively be a bomb. Sorting that lot out cost about £2500.

The latest is that I fell through the floor of the kitchen. He had replaced some ceramic tiles with cement without putting any membrane down, so the moisture from the cement rotted the floorboards. The whole lot was covered with very thick, good quality vinyl, so it was masked. We have to remove all the kitchen units to replace the floor, and as they are fairly old we'll have to have a whole new kitchen.

We still love the house, but finances mean we're unable to do nearly as much as we planned.

Sorry to here about this OP.

Yes sellers can be crap.

In our previous house we were left quite a bit but all ultimately useful over time so it wasn't really rubbish - just things we didn't really want.

In our current house, which we bought as probate, there was tonnes of stuff in the house and garden when we viewed the property. As a stipulation of sale we said the executors had to get rid of EVERYTHING in the house and garden.

On moving in day, they had done a pretty good job in the house but there was still tonnes of stuff left in the garden. We got on to our solicitor who told the vendors to sort it - it took 8 skips to clear it!!

I now tell everyone to have this clause in their house buying contract - it's very useful!

Interested in all the people who think there is nothing you can do!!This is all covered in legal paperwork of sale. Contact your solicitor.

Ohhh I feel for you! This happened to us. I left the old house spotless, empty and even had a bottle of wine on the floor in the hallway to welcome the new owners. In my new house… maggots in the kitchen, a loft chock full of rubbish and old furniture, filthy everywhere. I just sat down and cried. We tried to get something done through the solicitor as they had signed something agreeing to leave it empty and clean, but even so there was still nothing that could be done. It was vile and very very upsetting. It apparently means nothing to sign that paper!

Why is everyone talking about how they left the house they sold? It’s completely irrelevant. I’ve never moved into a clean house and learnt a long time ago that a survey isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, nor is the clause that stipulates removal of rubbish. It’s always going to cost more to enforce than to just get rid of it.

People like this are just plain scum. So awful for you. I just don't know what to say and it is seldom I am lost for words. I believe in karma and I hope you do too.

Our house is full of hidden broken things.
Don’t tread on particular floor boards, don’t open certain cupboards, flush the toilet this way, don’t open that window... etc It’s a nightmare. Not sure who holds responsibility for pointing all this out.
If it’s us, our viewings are going to be interesting!

The last people I bought off did this too. The house was so filthy I had to throw away the toilet seats, they had urine ingrained into them they were cleaned so rarely. Every wall had blood and snot wiped on it.

My stomach turned, just reading that. I would have been sick, viewing the house. I couldn't buy a house if I saw that.

@Blossomtoes

Why is everyone talking about how they left the house they sold? It’s completely irrelevant. I’ve never moved into a clean house and learnt a long time ago that a survey isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, nor is the clause that stipulates removal of rubbish. It’s always going to cost more to enforce than to just get rid of it.

I have to agree with you. The survey for our last house didn’t mention the dangerous boiler, lack of hot water, broken shower, rotten windows, broken locks and subsidence cracks. It was a total waste of money imho.

Problem is you are a decent human being and he's a tw*t. Just ask you conveyancing solicitor for advice and go from there.

@SunShinesBrightly

Our house is full of hidden broken things. Don’t tread on particular floor boards, don’t open certain cupboards, flush the toilet this way, don’t open that window... etc It’s a nightmare. Not sure who holds responsibility for pointing all this out. If it’s us, our viewings are going to be interesting!

if you are selling your house, i would say to get these minor issues sorted now, they migh t only be minor things but add them all together and you will loose a sale all for a weekends work, is it worth that? nope

Rubbish - speak to your solicitor and bill the seller for their removal
Plants - unless you have detailed photos of the garden from the estate agent advert then not much you can do
Windows - your problem if you did not spot this
Blodge jobs - as per the windows
Boiler - as per bodge jobs

Just to give the other side. When dh sold his (dead) parents house he paid a lot of month - thousands - to house clearers to clear it completely. When the people moved in he got an angry letter to the solicitor passed on to him detailing things that had been left behind that they had had to deal with. It really wasn’t dh’s fault and we decided that if the buyers (who had a bloody good deal and a few weeks pre sale decided to lower their offer and got away with it ffs) sued for costs we would have to sue the house clearers which was daunting as dh had already spent a lot of time and emotion on all this. Anyway they didn’t pursue so we didn’t. But it really wasn’t his fault. I know situation is different, it just thought I would give perspective from other side

Had similar when i moved recently, paperwork all signed saying holes filled in ect, nothing had been done loft full of rubbish.
Took 2 skips at my expense to remove.
Contacted my solicitor who contacted them, they denied leaving stuff and lies on forms.
I could of sued but at my cost until it got to court.
Solicitor advised to let it go.
Like you i left champagne list of local stuff.

It would have been the contract that he gives vacant possession meaning that he can't leave his crap in the property that it has to be empty! Also the fixtures and fittings form is usually attached to the contract and states that where fixtures and fittings are removed any damage caused by this must be made good prior to completion! The gas you can't do anything about as you would usually have to get this checked at your own expense prior to exchange. Did your solicitors not ask for a recent gas safety check as they should have done - go back to them re; this and the contract terms!!

If you are selling your house, i would say to get these minor issues sorted now, they migh t only be minor things but add them all together and you will loose a sale all for a weekends work, is it worth that? nope

Depends how much the house is being sold for and whether it is marketed as ‘immaculate show-home condition’ or not doesn’t it?
A realistically priced and accurately marketed house isn’t really a problem.

@Brefugee

didn't you do any kind of survey?

Exactly

I feel your pain OP. We had a very similar situation. We left ours spotless and moved into a shithole. All looked great when we viewed, three times!
When they left, they ripped cupboards off walls, left bare wires , loads of rubbish oun the driveway, all bins were also stuffed full of rubbish and there were three binbags full of dogshit under the bushes at the front. Every where was filthy. Everything we've moved or tried to sort we have found holes and random crap everywhere. I cried a lot, but then had to appear happy in front of our three DCs as we didn't want them to be sad. They had obviously known about both bathrooms leaking, but simply painted over water stains and left them leaking.
Our conveyancing solicitors said we had a case and could sue, but we decided against it as we didn't want any backlash. It was a massive kick in the teeth, and a massive learning curve too. I was so naïve thinking people were generally decent. Feel sorry for you xx

It is true a vendor is allowed to remove things like plants, light fittings, etc., but they should indicate on the vendor's questionnaire that they are doing this. If he hadn't done this, then he did not have the right to take them.

Typical solicitors - once they have their money they are not especially interested, though they are probably right that to go to the small claims court would be a lot of hassle and might not yield much in the way of recompense.

It is very hurtful to have made an effort to pass on your previous house in a clean and well maintained condition, only to be greeted with all these issues in your new home. I am so sorry you have had such a shock and such disappointment. Hopefully, in time you will be able to get your house ship shape and start to enjoy it.

Your Solicitor should not be shrugging this off, you have legal rights. I wonder if your “Solicitor” is actually a Solicitir or a “conveyancing clerk” which is often the case with conveyancing transactions, in order to keep the costs competitive in an ever less profitable market. Firstly, anything taken by the Vendor (Seller) that is marked as being left on your Fixtures and Fittings form should actually be left and you can make a claim against the Vendor for their value. Secondly, the Property must be left clean and free of rubbish, again you can. Maim for the cost of cleaning by a professional cleaning company and removal of rubbish. Thirdly, the Vendor must reveal to you anything that it would be reasonable for a purchaser to expect to know. This would cover windows that are not fit for purpose and leaking boiler. You can take a claim in the Smail Claims Court. List each claim on the particulars separately to allow the Court some discretion. The cleaning, rubbish and plants are not ambiguous claims and you should be granted the order against the Vendor. The boiler and windows are a little more questionable as it is dealing with the question what is “reasonable”. You can use an online Claim Form - it is very straightforward. Your claim doesn’t need to be all legal terminology. Just produce a copy of your F&F form and pictures of the missing plants! It may be difficult however to prove the plants were actually in situ before unless the F&F form details them, or you have a picture of the garden prior to the removal. Is there a photo of the garden from the Particulars of Sale? With regard to the rubbish photos will suffice. Difficulty to prove cleaning unless you have photos you took on day you moved in. With regard to the Boiler, a report from your plumber and some photos should suffice.

Bear in mind a CCJ isn’t guarantee of payment, although it is in the Vendor’s interest to “not” have one against his name for a relatively small amount of money. A letter before action may help to encourage the Vendor to pay up. Before you do anything I would contact the CAB in your area as they will be able to give you more advice and maybe a standard letter before again. I give this advice freely, but without liability and not as your legal representative! Good luck!

On a non-legal note. We had the same position with our last home. We have disposed of the rubbish, cleaned, repaired faulty bodge jobs in plumbing and wiring. We didn’t claim against the Vendor as we just worked through the issues as they arose so did t really have a massive claim until it was all done and by then the heat had gone out of our anger. However, the untaxed Jaguar car that was left on our drive and the enormous church organ in the garage we did act on. We contacted the Solicitors for the Vendor and informed them we would be bring an action in the local Small Claims Court. They informed their client and hey presto the organ and the car were removed!

My SIL spent 2 days cleaning their house from top to bottom when they moved out, including shampooing the carpets,

The house was practically a new build as they'd massively extended a tiny house into a huge one, it had only been finished a year and they always kept it immaculate and spotless anyway.

They moved into a rented property, which was surprisingly grotty given that it was supposed to have been professionally cleaned. I daresay that it'll be handed back in a much better state than they got it!

So depressing when this happens. All the looking forward and excitement of a new home vanishing with that sinking feeling of a long 'to do' list and the expense of dealing with it. And that's before managing to source tradespeople when you're in a new area!

We bought a strange mixture of a house - we sold a 17th century cottage which we'd upgraded to a good standard, but being so old, while it was clean when we left, and my husband got the paintbrush out for various bits of the wall, it probably didn't look that great to our buyers once all our furniture and stuff was out. Fast forward to our new house - a modern four bed family house - I blithely said to my husband before we moved in 'at least there won't be anything for you to do here'!!!!! Of course that tempted fate!!!! It looked immaculate when we viewed it -and when we moved in it was immaculately clean in terms of all the bathrooms, and kitchen. Thankfully it had Karndean flooring and tiles throughout the downstairs, because the stair and landing carpet was absolutely filthy. Curtain poles had been ripped out and holes left, there was a constantly running toilet cistern, faulty tap, and goodness knows what had happened to the very high stairwell - it had been painted over with what looked like a broom - and huge jagged edges left around the ceiling. Outside they seemed to have removed huge amounts of slate chippings to such a depth that drainage covers were exposed. It looked terrible. But, in the end minor irritations - we chose our own curtain poles, so problem sorted, a plumber sorted the tap and cistern fairly cheaply. We've been in two years now and still need to get a decorator to sort the wall of the stairwell and a new staircarpet. My husband got the worst of the stains off and I bought some of those cheap kelim type rugs to cover up the worst on the landing. Outside we've dug out loads of the municipal type membrane and remaining slate chippings and planted lovely borders. It's all the process of changing it from someone else's vision to one's own.

It's very stressful moving and you so want it to be perfect - but it rarely is.

@lemondrops99

This happened to us to OP and it was devastating.

For us it was left rubbish, broken items, disgustingly dirty (I can not describe how bad), kitchen cupboards left full, dishwasher left full, garage full.

And then bizzare botch jobs the surveyor couldn't possibly have found.

It was awful and we had to extend our rental by a month just to make it habitable.

We tried to contact the solicitors multiple times but never got a response. We could try small claims court but we were only asking for £800 to cover skip and house clearance and its just not worth the hassle.

Same here, really can’t believe that people are happy to leave houses like that,, our vendors were moving abroad at short notice but was surprised that they didn’t even bother to empty kitchen cupboards or fridge and apologise for any stuff left in shed!

Am having building work done now after living in the house over six years. Leaks, black mould and unearthed lights in bathrooms are some of the issues that have been found among many many more!!!! A saniflow toilet was held up by cable ties and the back of an actual wardrobe was nailed to the floor in the bedroom!! WTAF!! The list goes on and on! I believe the people that we bought the house from has a property management company WITH MAINTENANCE!!!