Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Buying / selling house - what state is it left in?

44 replies

pregle · 19/05/2018 06:16

FTB and got the keys to our house yesterday. I was perhaps naive but thought we'd walk in, place would be spotless and completely empty. Nope! It was in the same state as our last viewing (when I checked with the estate agent about it being cleaned and empty), most things are gone to be fair but cupboards still have items in them, the dishwasher (which was part of the sale) was full, kitchen bins left behind (empty thankfully) lots of garden pots left on the decking, some curtains left, lots of pictures still on the walls...and the place is filthy.

Ok so assuming the vendors may have left a bottle of bubbly as a welcome gift was very unrealistic! - but were we being naive in assuming the place would be completely empty and at a basic level, clean?

Doesn't help I'm very heavily pregnant and got upset when I saw the place! Over it now and we'll get a skip and likely professional cleaners in, but just wanted to check other peoples experiences - either from selling or buying...

OP posts:

WhereIsBlueRabbit · 19/05/2018 10:56

You've been unlucky. I have bought twice and sold once. First time, I turned up ready to clean to find it spotless and they'd literally mopped themselves out.

Second time, they'd left it clean from top to bottom (I did wipe the insides of some cupboards), had obviously had the oven cleaned, and left us a big box of chocolates.

They did leave various plant pots and stuff on the patio and in the greenhouse, which they'd inherited from their own vendors, and offered to remove them when I asked, but we weren't bothered (happy to make use of them). They even popped back with a doormat that matched the hall carpet which they'd inadvertently taken! (Oh, and they left a few things they'd originally wanted money for, like a fitted carpet - clearly too much hassle to remove ).

We left our place spotless bar the floors, which were hoovered but not mopped as we were out of time and knew their removal men would also leave footprints, etc. Cleaned the oven, defrosted the freezer, had the one pair of curtains dry-cleaned, etc. I emailed them a list of things we were happy to leave and asked what they wanted, and removed everything else. Left them a bottle of prosecco and info on the local area.

WhereIsBlueRabbit · 19/05/2018 10:57

It's all so stressful that unless people have been truly awful, it seems only decent to make it as smooth as possible for each other!

CutesyUserName · 19/05/2018 16:56

We bought the house of an obsessive cleaner. Everything absolutely sparkled. It's slowly gone downhill since then :)

PinkBuffalo · 19/05/2018 21:08

OP I though you were me posting for a minute!
I'm FTB picked up my keys last week. I'm completely alone as lost my dad just before. Vendors & estate agents had made big deal about "walk in & unpack" but it is atrocious. Luckily being FTB, I've got a month or so to sort it & all my friends are being fab & pitching in.
Think thick mould on walls where furnitures been removed, cupboards left with items in, bathroom to be cleared & everything so completely & utterly filthy I haven't been able to move anything in.
I have never seen anything like it & spent the first evening in tears as I didn't know where to start.
If I had turned up with all my stuff ready to move in, I wouldve had to put it all into storage & book into a hotel.
Not helped by the fact I spent every penny on getting the house, so have nothing to fix the rising damp in the hallway for a good couple of months or so. Friend us stripping the wallpaper for me ( what's left of it)
Sorry you've had to go through it too, but glad it wasn't just me.

Atthebottomofthesea · 19/05/2018 21:57

Eek I am really worrying now. I am quite confident we will walk into something, at the very least reasonably clean, but I am worried that, even with cleaning, our buyers will still think the house is awful.

tbh I can't even remember what we said we would leave.

OrcinusOrca · 19/05/2018 21:59

Our first house was a bit icky. Single guy had been living there and clearly not bothered to clean up or mow the lawn since our offer. Second house was spotless, absolutely pristine. No idea how they got the oven so clean. Been here less than a year and I can never get it anywhere near as clean as when we moved in

Ariela · 19/05/2018 23:20

None of the 5 houses I've owned have been spotless on arrival, probably the best was the empty one...only all the builders rubbish from doing the extension was swept under the floorboards and the floorboards nailed down...on to an electric wire....

Worst was this one, if I say the previous occupant had 3 horses 3 dogs and 17 cats, can you imagine?

katzensocken · 19/05/2018 23:36

This thread is interesting and frustrating to read!

Out of curiosity, those of you who found the place a bit dirty or in a mess: was it kind of messy when you viewed it and just worse when you moved in? Or was it pristine when you viewed and inexplicably filthy when you moved in?

PinkBuffalo · 20/05/2018 00:06

katzen no evidence of the absolute filth I found on arrival when I was viewing. I was so shocked they'd got it in that state as we completed in record time (6weeks)!
No idea what they'd been doing to get it in that state, other than moving furniture etc. but it means they must've been living like that. I'm not sure how the previous occupants weren't really unwell living there as it was so awful.

PinkBuffalo · 20/05/2018 00:08

To be fair, I wasn't expecting pristine. But I also wasn't expecting not being able to move anything in cos it was a health hazard if you see what I mean!

AgedTawnyPort · 20/05/2018 07:28

katzen my places have all been fine upon viewing. Clean and tidy. Two houses in particular had taken an age to sell before we offered so I reckon they were making a supreme effort.

As I said earlier, I know that the people we bought from last month stopped their cleaner and window cleaner once we had committed to buy 😳.

We love our new home though, I think arriving to a dirty house when everything you own is turning up in a lorry in ten minutes is the overwhelming bit, well it is for me! It would still be a pain but if I had a spare day and knew it wasn’t up to scratch I would get cleaners in.

Kingsclerelass · 20/05/2018 07:38

My last house had a wood burner & a wood shed. After I moved out, the new owners solicitor sent a threatening letter saying I should pay them £482 (!) for removal of the wood I’d left behind in the shed.
Luckily I found a clause in the contract saying all fuel (meaning oil) should be left,so I refused with a clear conscience.

Bezm · 20/05/2018 07:40

We moved house a year ago, after 30 years in last house. When we arrived I was so upset!
Filthy kitchen, black mould all over bathroom, filthy walls and carpets. Kitchen floor so dirty you stuck to it!
In the loft, which is accessed via a lovely spiral staircase, they left a double bed which we had to saw into pieces to remove. I couldn't believe how dirty it was, I cried for days! I left my house spotless, having spent ages cleaning everything in sight. Some people are just disgusting slobs.

phoebemac · 21/05/2018 08:49

@PinkBuffalo try not to worry too much about the black mould - it is probably caused by condensation rather than rising damp. Ventilation usually helps with condensation, have a google, there is lots of advice out there on what to do. Rising damp is actually quite rare.

specialsubject · 21/05/2018 09:31

dirty skanks. contact your solicitor to see if it is worth taking action.

if not, small skip for a day.

WhatATimeToBeAlive · 21/05/2018 12:14

When I moved into the house I'm now moving out of, it had over the bed fitted wardrobes. They were both smokers and I opened one of the cupboards to find a load of dog ends in an ashtray. The bedroom stunk of smoke, it was gross. They also left a load of stuff in the loft, but they had moved to Spain so I couldn't do a lot about it. However, there was an electric guitar up there which I sold on ebay for about £120!

Original poster

pregle · 21/05/2018 14:12

It's so hit and miss isn't it!!! Some of the stories here are mad...who are these people!!!!

OP posts:

Amunamun · 21/05/2018 14:31

We bought a house recently. It was squeaky clean, nothing left behind. But I insisted that the house would be clean and no furniture left inside. And I asked estate agent for one last viewing right before contract exchange to be sure about it.

PinkBuffalo · 21/05/2018 18:43

Thank you phoebemac it's already looking much better thanks to my mates over the weekend.
I believe there is rising damp in the hallway due to the peeling wallpaper at the bottom. However no mould there! so wall paper has been stripped and when I have some cash I imagine it'll be some damp proof coursing work.
Good luck OP with your cleaning venture!

Flip

1 2