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Original poster

Shocked and furious after seeing my new home after completion!!

107 replies

aecorner12 · 25/08/2019 21:55

Wednesday was my completion day and I am now still really angry and glum.
I was told by my solicitor in the morning that the seller would move out 3pm that day , skip and a freezer would be collected the following day.
I collected keys from agent 5pm that afternoon, and took my kids to show them their future house. But the sellers were still there and the house was completely a mess! We were reasonable and kind so just told them please make sure they move out tonight.
The next day I went back only to find my house is in complete mess! It is smelly, dirty and disgusting. Broken glass, rubbish on the floor, webs everywhere. Garden is a jungle with hundreds of flies and a fox!
Today I went there again and there are still a fridge freezer and a chest freezer uncollected from council!

Thank god we are not moving in immediately and will do some building works！My son groaned that our future house is not as nice as our current one and I'm really furious that the seller is not being decent! Such a shame!
Is there anything I can do about it or I have to live with it and clean up by myself?

OP posts:

Thread gallery

Ker100 · 25/08/2019 22:31

Hmm. Ours was FAR worse than that. When we dig the garden these days we still find buried rubbish. Yes they honestly took yoghurt pots, condom wrappers, cutlery and so on and buried them in heaps in the garden?!
The kitchen and bathroom were so disgusting that DH wanted to rip them out and start again. Couldn't afford that so I spent 3 days with a chisel and bleach to get it vaguely fit for habitation.
It did annoy me but now it's just a funny story (decided not to pursue it with them as found out after we moved in that the husband was violent and had previously assaulted several of the neighbours. Not worth the aggro).

SleepyKat · 25/08/2019 22:35

They’re not going to come back and clean it. Get cleaning, I know it’s not fair but just do it.

If you end up with a bill for the freezer removal etc then contact your solicitor and try and force them to pay it. I suspect they haven’t arranged collection.

Milkstick · 25/08/2019 22:37

This weather has got weeds going crackers, it's unfortunate but it's probably made the garden worse than usual. If that's a broken window though, I'd be telling solicitors about that as it's damage. First house we bought was a bit grubby but second not, I think it just depends on the attitude of the people selling.

Namechangeforthiscancershit · 25/08/2019 22:37

It's not that bad! A couple of hours cleaning and you'll be fine.

The garden will take longer but honest they were never going to spend time/money making it nice for someone else. I wouldn't say jungle and I'm sure you have big plans for it anyway.

BitOftheSea · 25/08/2019 22:45

If the garden was fine in June then it’s only a couple of months growth and won’t take long to tidy up.

The house is dirty, but I was expecting full on How Clean Is Your House from your first post! Yes, it’s very annoying that some people don’t clean when they leave a house. But it looks like it’s just cleaning that’s needed. Maybe hire a cleaning company if it is too upsetting for you to do it?

victoriaspongecake · 25/08/2019 22:47

I'm jealous that you have a fox in your new garden!

Original poster

aecorner12 · 25/08/2019 22:48

Ok. Maybe I'm being too dramatic! I came from China and only had past experience buying new flat and new house from developer and they were almost perfect on the completion day. Probably I was expecting too much.......

OP posts:

Namechangeforthiscancershit · 25/08/2019 22:52

It can be a lot better buying new builds but you do hear some horror stories, and equally some sellers are lovely and leave a home in perfect condition. It's just luck of the draw really.

FusionChefGeoff · 25/08/2019 22:53

I was helping my friend move earlier this year and they left the house / garden in a very similar state.

But we just shrugged, rolled up our sleeves and got stuck in. It took a couple of days hard graft and tip runs but her house is beautiful now and those 48hrs are a distant memory.

Don't let this spoil things - just get a cleaner in if you can't face it yourself.

crimsonlake · 25/08/2019 23:00

I was expecting much worse. Inside I suspect they did not bother to give it a good clean as you are having the builders in. I would be annoyed about the delay on moving day, same thing happened to me.

The2Ateam · 25/08/2019 23:00

I left my hours in pristine condition, evening mopping floors on the way out. My stupid buyers still got their solicitor to write to me to complain that I left on bin collection day and didn’t put the bins out! Ffs.

Original poster

aecorner12 · 25/08/2019 23:00

Girls! Thank you for all your advices! I guess I'm so upset mainly because my kids groaned on the day. Moving was not easy for all of us and I really wanted them to be positive. Now the first impression is not so good and I will have to work hard on the building works then!!

OP posts:

BubblesBuddy · 25/08/2019 23:03

I would get a house cleaning company in. They are not that expensive. Yes, some people are shits and have not bothered about this house after you saw it. Don’t forward any mail!

MrsFezziwig · 25/08/2019 23:09

Basically the sellers are disorganised, lazy slatterns who decided there was no need to put any effort into keeping the house or garden nice once they had got their sale, so the property has had a couple of months to deteriorate. Believe me, it could be much worse. At least you can clean it to the standard you want (as I’m sure most people do whether or not the house has been cleaned beforehand).
Sorry to sound a bit blasé but I’ve only moved 3 times and the houses were always in at least as bad a state as the photos you’ve posted.
I presume you’ve had the electrics, plumbing and heating checked?

MrsFezziwig · 25/08/2019 23:14

Just reread and realised that you’re not even moving in and are having building works done! Don’t bother with any cleaning - if you think it’s dirty now, just wait until the builders get started.....

Jaxhog · 25/08/2019 23:14

This is pretty typical in my experience. We had one seller rip out all the lovely light fittings leaving bare wires, and take the TV aerial and the dustbin. And the carpet was truly horrible. They even tried to rip out the wrought-iron balustrade so they could get their bed out.

WhatWouldChristineCagneyDo · 25/08/2019 23:24

I'd be pretty chuffed with that garden tbh, they've left you some great planters.

NomDeQwerty · 25/08/2019 23:31

Your kids will take their cues from you. A breezy attitude on tour part will help. Yes some people don't leave things as clean as we'd like. So now we need to fix it. We'll get some cleaners in and it'll be fine in no time.

If you make a big deal of it, they will too. You're helping to shape more resilient attitudes if you don't make a catastrophe of it.
I know it's not a competition but ours was far worse when we moved in. The cleaning company I bought in said they hadn't seen a house like it and they clean after students. We needed a new oven because of the filth, we had to rip up the minging carpets and a hole had been punched through the shower wall. Our solicitor said it would cost more to pursue the sellers than we'd gain.

Just crack on and try not to stress. What you have there is really not that bad.

madcatladyforever · 25/08/2019 23:43

Some people are just vile. I'm moving out soon and I've left the house and garden immaculate. Even washed down the walls. You could eat your dinner off the floor, all garden pots and sundries have been taken down the dump.

Movinghouseatlast · 26/08/2019 00:22

It took a skip to remove the rubbish left in our new house! They had run the oil down so much between exchange and completion that sludge was drawn into the boiler. It literally blew up costing us £7k.

It was also very very dirty.

Sadly there is not a lot you can do.

Horehound · 26/08/2019 00:40

I would be annoyed at this too, op, but I think id just get on and clean it.
Or contact your solicitor to see what they suggest. Maybe contract in a cleaner and gardener and ask seller to pay.
Don't understand the fox comment you can't control wildlife!

EileenAlanna · 26/08/2019 00:53

You're having a laugh, aren't you? Aren't you??

MaybeitsMaybelline · 26/08/2019 02:50

I’m another that doesn’t think it’s that bad, especially when builders are due.

My first house had nicotine running down the walls when I washed them.The second stank of dog for months.

The garden could be sorted tomorrow. Hedge cutters and a Karcher.

GrimGirl · 26/08/2019 04:06

Is that an actual smashed window in the house?
Thatbi would be referring to the solicitor to regain replacement costs.
The rest is just filth and laziness. Speak to tour solicitor as you may possibly regain some cleaning costs, or at least try to if you get a cleaning company in
I say this because I was faced with a measure and further house. I did nothing at the time. When solicitor found out they said we could have got cleaners in and billed the vendors.

AgentProvocateur · 26/08/2019 04:25

If you’re getting building works fine, it’s pointless cleaning first. And, TBH, it’s not that bad - just a bit grubby. They were obviously having a last minute rush. It’s easily done when you move house.

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