Selling a house - how clean should we leave it?

[Rizzlekicks]

We have finally exchanged on our house and have a completion date. We move out on completion and hand in the keys that day. The buyer will be renting out the house. How clean are we expected to leave it? Should we get in professional cleaners or is that up to the buyer, considering we will have such a small window from when the removal company comes in and when we are out? We did ask for an extra day but the buyer is keen to move tenants in the day after completion.

What does your contract of sale say?

I have always got in professional cleaners including window cleaners - it's worth every cent as always exhausted following the move and on to the next house anyway - the unpacking etc. I leave the house immaculate and hope that the house I've bought is the same! Mostly has worked that way.... You could probably get most of the windows done before the move, the oven....maybe some of the bathrooms??

I would only ever leave a house immaculate. I like to think the people moving in could just make up their beds as soon as they arrive and start to settle in.

It doesnt matter if tenants are moving in.

How the house is left says a lot about the person moving out.

Leave it how you would like to find it

The house we bought was left in a filthy state. I couldn't lower myself to behave like that and as newpup says "leave it how you would like to find it"

After all the selling costs, I couldn't afford a professional clean of my old house so I did it myself. Washed down most walls, hoovered every last inch, cleaned some of the windows and dusted.

It was soul-destroying scrubbing the kitchen knowing they were going to rip it out as soon as they moved in, but I did it anyway.

It doesn't take long.

I would leave it very clean but I wouldn't pay for a professional deep clean. I would leave it how I would hope to find it though.

A lot of people will have it cleaned themselves, even if you have left it spotless. Its psychological, I suppose, the feeling that something is only clean if you've done it/supervised it yourself.

At the very least make sure that there is no poo on the toilet seats or a wet pissy carpet. We had that delight when we moved to this house.
The house looked like it hadn't been cleaned since our offer was accepted either.

As well as poo on the toilet seat we had a black mould filled fridge to deal with.

I cried that day especially since our previous house I cleaned from top to bottom before leaving.

I would say leave it as you would like to find.

It doesn't matter though because whoever moves in always says what scruffy bastards the people before where.

Depends on how the buyer behaved throught the sale.

Our buyer was an arse, so minimum cleaning was done and the lightbulbs taken

As previous posters have said, as you would expect to find it. I think it is really poor form to leave a house dirty. I couldn't imagine doing that. It may be that there are mix ups with post, a relative sends a child's present to your old address rather than a new one, you want to call round for it. Am sure its better to have at least a civil relationship with buyers / vendors and you're not going to have that if you don't clean the house properly.

Agree with the above. One Oman at work leaves champagne as well which I thought was a bit over the top but apparently in some areas it's the fine thing for everyone in the chain to do for each other.

I did things like cleaning windows/paintwork/skirtings over a few days before we moved and deep cleaned the bathroom and kitchen the night before.

While the movers were clearing the flat, my mum and I cleaned behind them/did a last hoover etc.

I left it as clean as I could - I'd have been embarrassed not to. I might have shelled out for a professional clean if it had been empty before the new person moved in, but I didn't see any point when it was so full of boxes etc. Also left a bottle of Prosecco.

Our new place was clean to a similar standard as the one we'd left and the old owners had left a card and a bottle of wine

The evening we moved into our first house the people we'd bought off called round to check everything was ok. They found me with rubber gloves on scrubbing the kitchen and they looked quite crestfallen when they saw me, as they had cleaned it all before they left. Sure enough, it was spotless, but my automatic reaction was to clean as soon as I got the keys

when i got the keys to my house it was spotless but i still cleaned before i fully moved everything in

leave it clean but i wouldnt go as far as getting a professional into do it

We had to rip up cat pee soaked carpets and replace the fucking floorboards that were sodden and hoover cat crunchies off the downstairs carpet.

Filthy bastards.

Luckily we were buying having previously rented so had a month to sort it out.

I left our old place spotless.

Please leave it nice and clean, I wouldn't pay for a professional clean, but a good dust, hoover, polish etc.

The last house we bought was left in such a tip I cried when we moved in. We found a recently used condom left on a shelf, rooms filled with junk and rubbish, when we opened the fridge it made the whole house reek, surfaces were sticky with neglect, urgh - I could go on. It wasn't in that state when we viewed it, and we paid asking price, had no chain etc, so really no idea what the sellers problem was. With hindsight we should have charged them for a professional clean.

As the LL will be renting out I imagine they will pay for a professional clean anyway, but nice to leave it spick n span - karma and all that!

I cleaned out cupboards as I packed and then stopped using them, gave bathrooms and kitchen a good scrub, vacuumed after removers. Unfortunately it was raining so carpets weren't perfect but the new owners could move in and find it habitable.

and that's what I expected to find - and fortunately did.

Leave it immaculate please. We were able to move in straight away despite that I'd added an extra day to our moving in day allocated to 'cleaning'. The people we bought off were not so fortunate. We became somewhat friends as we badgered our solicitors to exchange within 4 weeks, lots of 'our solicitor says he's passed it k to yours now' calls took place. They sent us a text message saying their dream forever home was left filthy and messy and they had to clean before unpacking their furniture.

We cleaned our old place and left a card/bottle of champagne. When we got to the new place they hadn't "had time" to do any cleaning and it was filthy. so we had to clean that as well. No champagne of card either I haven't been that diligent at forwarding their post as a result...

As everyone else has said really. I did windows/bathrooms/ kitchen day before and quick dust and hoover as I was locking up for the last time.

The house I moved into was spotless and it was a godsend!

I will leave it clean and deep clean the oven before I go. But I know where I am going will be left grotty :(

We moved in and found broken windows. Fag burns on carpets. Stained carpets, fag butts everywhere outside, all furniture left including sick soaked bed. Mouldy fridge etc.

I just got on with it.
Was horrible.

I will be leaving it spotless as can be

I would want to leave as I find but this could be done gradually in the run up as you sort and pack. So that on the last day there isn't so much to do.

Personally if I was paying for professional deep clean it would be for my new house not the old one!!