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Original poster

How much cleaning do you do before you move out? (when selling)

50 replies

tory79 · 05/06/2013 22:10

We have just sold our house (stc) This is the first house we have owned, so previously our only experience of moving has been between rented properties, and obviously we did lots of cleaning to make sure we got our deposit back!

When we moved in to our current house it wasn't that clean, and I can 100% guarantee that the house we are buying won't be cleaned at all! But I have no idea if thats normal? It would feel weird to me to not leave my house clean for the buyers (not that it is dirty now, but you know what I mean!) On the other hand, at least it would be one less thing to think about

OP posts:

wildstrawberryplace · 06/06/2013 13:35

When I took possession of my first house, it was gross. Dried pee stains on the loo, crud in the sink etc, masses of dust and pubes on bathroom floors. It was really depressing.

I wouldn't inflict that feeling on anyone. I have always got my houses professionally deep cleaned on moving out, I wouldn't dream of leaving it less than spotless.

CunningAtBothEnds · 06/06/2013 13:44

We have been given notice on our rental as it has major damp. Major building work will follow our departure. Is it worth me cleaning? I will hoover but beyond that? Not cleaning the mould off the walls as they tend to crumble...

wheredidiputit · 06/06/2013 13:48

I would and did clean the house we sold.

I was mighty pissed off that I had to spend hours cleaning this house when we moved in.

mrsyattering · 06/06/2013 13:51

I cleaned the whole place from top to bottom, went to our news place was fithy!! absolutely disgusting, was shocked that someone would leave it like that

chickabilla · 06/06/2013 14:29

As clean as possible. Didn't get round to weeding the garden but did now. The house moved into was spotless except some of the kitchen cupboards which they obviously ran out of time for, which was fair enough.

Ezza1 · 06/06/2013 15:06

Quick hijack - what do you all do about outdoor bins? I've read on here and it says in contract of sale to not leave dustbins with rubbish in them - we have 5 bloody bins/recycling boxes and we are a family of 5. Do we have to take rubbish to tip/with us?

Windingdown · 06/06/2013 15:21

We always leave a house spotless. And always move into shit pits - in the worst one there were sheep bones in the dish washer and a pair of ladies size 22 shat pants under the bath.

soontobeslendergirl · 06/06/2013 16:16

re Rubbish bins - I guess it depends on when pick up is? I've never made any particular arrangements other than to make sure that there is room in the bin for the people moving in and that they know when the bin day is. When there has been a gap and we weren't sure whether we would get back to put the bin out and back in, then we have taken the rubbish with us and put it in our own (new house) bin.

Trills · 06/06/2013 16:21

I would be impressed if you did much more than take everything out of the house, wipe and hoover, TBH.

MultumInParvo · 06/06/2013 16:40

I'm moving next week and am in the process of cleaning now. Im shocked at how dirty my cupboards are!! I can't reach up to the top shelves so have generally avoided them

At least it'll be clean for Hebrew people. I would die if they talked about what a dirty cow I am to the neighbours!

MultumInParvo · 06/06/2013 16:42

New!! Not Hebrew!

soverylucky · 06/06/2013 17:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Jan49 · 06/06/2013 20:04

I just tried to leave it clean, not spotless. I'd say just try to leave it reasonably clean and don't leave junk in the garage, loft or shed.

I did a lot of extra cleaning before marketing the house - things like washing paintwork and tiles. When packing I moved furniture that could never normally be moved and vacuumed and cleaned behind it. I didn't bother to wash out fitted cupboards, just dusted and wiped off any obvious marks, partly because I expected the buyer to rip it all out immediately. In the run up to the move I vacuumed each floor, cleaned bathroom, etc. After the removers had gone, I borrowed someone's vacuum cleaner and just vacuumed the bits that needed it. By the time the new owners moved in it had been empty for over 2 months so probably wasn't great.

Bins - I just left them in the usual place and asked a neighbour to put them out the next week for emptying and put them back afterwards, but the house was still for sale at that point. I don't see how they can expect you to empty the bin out before leaving if it's a council bin that belongs to the house.

Each house I've bought has been OK when we bought it. But each time we've had work done before moving in including rewiring so that made a lot of mess.

JulieAnderton · 06/06/2013 21:30

Those of you who have moved into real shockers, what was the house like when you viewed it?

MrsMargoLeadbetter · 06/06/2013 21:39

We have typically cleaned the bathroom and kitchen the day before and the ran the hoover and duster around once everything is packed.

I have always leave a box of chocs or bottle of wine to wish them luck in the house. Karma and all that.

Latest house we moved into wasn't as clean as it appeared to be when viewing. However, on reflection we think that when we viewed the numerous air freshners (which we found on moving in) created an impression of cleanliness.

soontobeslendergirl · 06/06/2013 22:18

Ours was okay when we viewed it - but we viewed and bought it about 6 months before we actually moved in and I don't think they bothered to do any cleaning after they sold. Strangely enough the actual toilets were pretty clean but the rest was horrid.

wheredidiputit · 07/06/2013 16:26

Julie the bits you could see at the viewing were clean.

The kitchen cupboards/oven, inside of the fridge where you don't look was revolting and considering the house we bought was built in 1999 and we moved in Feb 2002. I don't think the previous owner cleaned them at all.

GibberTheMonkey · 07/06/2013 17:20

Ours was pretty clean and tidy before move
Then we vacuumed as leaving
A few days later our cleaner went in to get it spotless
We were renting after though so had that time available

I would hate to leave a house as a pit

WireCat · 07/06/2013 17:23

I'd be ashamed to leave mine dirty.

I hope mine will be clean when I move in. Judging by the owners, it will be.

BigBoobiedBertha · 07/06/2013 17:33

I clean thoroughly from top to bottom - I couldn't not leave it any other way. The last time we moved the new owners were amazed at how clean it was although I only left it how I would expect to find it. Nobody wants to have to hoover before they move their stuff in, let alone clean the kitchen and loo before their first use.

On the other hand, I couldn't not clean the kitchen and loo myself even though this house was pretty clean. The house before had been empty for a year though so it was horribly grimy. The one before that they were quite clean too if I remember. I just want to make sure that all traces of the previous owners were properly erased.

Just wish I was so thorough about cleaning whilst we live in these places.

Sjs1983 · 05/08/2023 07:55

We're moving into a house that is vacant. It's got a large garden and I think it will be very overgrown since we first viewed it. Does the seller have an obligation to hand it over in a tidy state? I'm not sure if it's worth the hassle of asking the estate agent, only to get frustrated when they don't do it. But, I don't want to move into knee high grass.

Twiglets1 · 05/08/2023 08:04

Sjs1983 · 05/08/2023 07:55

No they don't have an obligation.

But if you want the garden mowed before Exchange of contracts then you can request that via the EA you are buying from. Say you expect to see the grass mowed before you visit the property again just before Exchange. The owners can employ a gardening service to do that if they can't do it themselves. You can threaten not to exchange contracts until you have seen the evidence that they have sorted out their garden.

Karmatime · 05/08/2023 09:11

The place we’ve just moved into was lovely and clean, it was such a relief. I’ve always left the place spotless. I’ve been lucky to have always had lovely buyers who have been excited to move in and I would have hated to disappoint them.
I clean as I’m packing so that on move out day all that’s needed is a vacuum and floor mop and a quick wipe of skirting boards behind heavy furniture.
I did move into one place that looked as if it had been freshly painted on viewing but when the furniture was moved out it transpired they had painted around freestanding bookcases and wardrobes.

echt · 05/08/2023 09:53

Spotless. And the three properties I've purchased over the years have been so too. Two of them had a welcoming bottle of wine.🍾

MidlandCatGirl · 05/08/2023 16:01

I cleaned everything that didn’t move in my house as soon as I was given a vague exchange date.

On moving day it was absolutely belting down with rain so the floor tiles downstairs floors got filthy - I left behind a brand new mop head and mop, bucket and disinfectant and a note apologising for the messy floor. The bathroom was cleaned til it gleamed and I gave the toilet bowl a liberal squirt of blue toilet duck just before I locked up the front door for the last time.

Got to the new house to be faced with toilets out of Trainspotting and a cooker that had to be cleaned 4 times before it could be used without setting the smoke alarms off. Oh, and when I hoovered behind where previous owner (male, single, recently dumped) had the sofa there was lots of rattling. I checked and it was lots of chew-off-and-spit-it finger nail edges. 🤮

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