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Original poster

What did your sellers take or leave you with that surprised you when you moved I

255 replies

kerrymucklowe2020 · 25/10/2020 16:02

When we moved in we found out that the Sellers pulled coat hooks off the walls, took the bathroom mirrors, every lampshade, the washing line and EVEN the washing line post and prop!!!

OP posts:
Pebbles16 · 25/10/2020 21:11

My cousin, just bought her first property and inherited the sellers! They'd had an astrological reading which informed them it was not the right date and insisted on eight further days (even though they completed). I think they eventually paid some compensation, but the stars were more important...

AllDayHappyHour · 25/10/2020 21:11

Our vendor asked if we wanted his wardrobes so we agreed to two bedrooms worth which we still use now!

He left us a petrol lawnmower as the garden is huge, didn’t know about that one but was most welcome.

He also left a desk which about two years later we found had some notes stashed away totally around £100. Would have given the money back to him as we have his new address but so far we’ve had to replace the boiler and all radiators & discovered a mountain of shoddy DIY...

Jenje · 25/10/2020 21:14

I'm in the USA so interesting to read about the differences. We just closed on an investment property and it is standard for the sellers to leave all appliances, so in our case, the refrigerator, stove, built-in microwave with vent, dishwasher and washer/dryer. It's also standard to leave window coverings and light fixtures. Added bonus for us is the seller also left a nice patio table and chair set, a wardrobe and some well made open shelves in the office. Strangely, through, the seller to the shower doors from one of the baths.

Thermo · 25/10/2020 21:16

The most horrendous DIY electric wiring. Fucking fire hazards everywhere

Collaborate · 25/10/2020 21:19

I'm a divorce lawyer. Many many years ago I attended at a house to pay over a cheque for a wife to leave a house that my client the husband owned. Turned out she'd taken not just most of the light fittings but also most of the plumbing in the downstairs shower room. When I asked her (before her solicitor arrived) why she did that she said her solicitor had told her she could. Client's family (he was in a nursing home) still agreed with me that we should hand over the cheque and get her out.

Comefromaway · 25/10/2020 21:19

@gubbbbbddaaaa

Why wouldn't they take the washing line though. It's not part of the house! We left most of the curtains and rails in our old house when we left which I know the new people appreciated even though they changed them later it was handy . We moved to a new build so didn't need them so it was petty to take them down .
It’s listed in the fixtures & fittings list. You are supposed to say if you have one and if it’s included in the sale.
sarahc336 · 25/10/2020 21:20

They took the plants out the garden...... and kindly walked mud up and down the stairs in the process Envy

tinyradish · 25/10/2020 21:21

A (unwashed) pair of knickers behind the radiator.

Comefromaway · 25/10/2020 21:22

@HappyDinosaur

I was told by solicitors that it is illegal to leave lights with no bulbs, they don't have to be the original ones from viewings but they do have to be there for h&s. I don't suppose that stops some people though.
Yes. I had to make an emergency trip to Tesco on completion day to replace a bulb in our old house.
ThoroughlyForumed · 25/10/2020 21:22

Ours took all the internal doors! Very open plan living for a few weeks 🤣

Meercatmama · 25/10/2020 21:24

Moved into my house over 30 years ago. Left a scummy old electric cooker that had an extra layer of fat up the walls behind it with embedded insects in. A bath with a scummy layer around and soap bar at the bottom and floorboards stinking of wee, A bread and cheese plant that held up the curtains pole in the dinning room. Black beetle and silver fish infestation in bathrooms and plug sockets. A back garden full of dogs muck. A dog chewed bottom part of the stair case tread and and the same for the living room bay shelf. A house that stunk so much the removal people asked why I was moving there and put my furniture in the garage. A front garden surrounded by conifers that had rotted the window ( covered up) A dodgy boiler lucky my father in law was a fully qualified heating and plant engineer, The kitchen cupboards white on the outside but inside dark brown and sticky with grit in it . A house that was absolutely filthy dirty and the owner in charge of home helpers for vulnerable people . The laugh we moved six weeks before our wedding day and the afternoon of moving had a bridesmaid fitting and they had not even moved out . Removers literally had to throw them out as still packing and threatened to charge the other removal firm for their wasted time and help them move stuff. Their stuff was still on my lawn at 5 o clock as they were still packing. We slept at my mum and dad house that night
Oh when decorating the bedroom could still smell dog poo when windows open it was on the top of the living room bay window. Obviously if your dog goes in your bedroom throw it out on to the top of the bay roof We all do that dont we?
On the other side a lovely big three bedroom house in the right catchment area for an outstanding secondary which both my children attended. It backed on to fields which are now only just in the process of starting to be built on,

Giganticshark · 25/10/2020 21:27

A Waitrose icing pipe kit, bottle of champagne and a giant mirror.
My mum's seller wanted to charge her hundreds for the shitty blind and curtains which weren't fit for purpose. She was leaving the country and couldn't take them anyway so she left them after pestering for mum to buy them

m0therofdragons · 25/10/2020 21:28

Fleas in the carpet

Cut the tv aerial in the bedroom

Left all their crap in the loft plus a fire hazard with 5 splitters coming out of each other

Gauges out of the wall

A hideous cabinet in the garage that they suggested they leave and we said no thank you

FatimaMunchy · 25/10/2020 21:28

All the curtain tracks and poles, a dog gate, and the rotary clothes line, all useful.
However in the garage a load of old kitchen cupboards, a single wardrobe, a chest of drawers with no top, a pair of men's shoes, a dartboard, a wall mounted small cleaner which didn't work, lots of old doors, fluorescent tubes, some plastic shelves, none of which were any use and took about three months to get rid of.
They did leave the light bulbs though. The sellers of our previous house took all the light bulbs and the dimmer switches.

ThoroughlyForumed · 25/10/2020 21:31

Oh they also left a rickety ancient summer house in the garden. Although not a suprise to us that they had left it, after we moved in they decided they wanted £5k for it from us so we said no problem you can come and pick it up any time you want and we never heard from them again!

Original poster
kerrymucklowe2020 · 25/10/2020 21:35

@Pebbles16

My cousin, just bought her first property and inherited the sellers! They'd had an astrological reading which informed them it was not the right date and insisted on eight further days (even though they completed). I think they eventually paid some compensation, but the stars were more important...
*THREAD WINNER **
OP posts:
Ideasplease322 · 25/10/2020 21:37

@AllDayHappyHour

Our vendor asked if we wanted his wardrobes so we agreed to two bedrooms worth which we still use now!

He left us a petrol lawnmower as the garden is huge, didn’t know about that one but was most welcome.

He also left a desk which about two years later we found had some notes stashed away totally around £100. Would have given the money back to him as we have his new address but so far we’ve had to replace the boiler and all radiators & discovered a mountain of shoddy DIY...

Did you not get a survey?

I think it’s a bit dishonest not to return the cash. Buying a house isn’t like buying a new car. It’s your responsibility to do the necessary checks.

babyguffingtonstrikesagain · 25/10/2020 21:38

Ours left a funcional gas bbq with a full canister of fuel!

Underbrella · 25/10/2020 21:57

We had a nice card & bottle of red waiting for us when we moved into our latest house - but later discovered the wine had been opened & was half empty!

andpeggy1 · 25/10/2020 22:16

Our sellers left a rangemaster cooker (hardly used), 5 new barstools, a flat screen TVs in the kitchen and then all the curtails, poles blinds fixtures n fittings. They also deep cleaned and freshly painted everyroom. They also left some lovely flowers and a card. It was greatly appreciated as we were first time buyers needing to get everything!

fluffi · 25/10/2020 22:22

Mine removed the wallpaper in the sitting room! Must have been the easy peel stuff, was only one 1 "feature" wall and wasn't my taste so I didn't care!

I'd always take my curtains though! I like them and can't afford to buy new (or decide what I'd like) straight after moving anyway!!

AlexCabot · 25/10/2020 22:38

A briefcase full of £50 notes. A cursory inspection proved that they were fake so dh took it to the police station. The police were surprisingly unbothered!

tobee · 25/10/2020 23:13

Left in our old house was a load of clothes, an amateur oil painting of Frank Bruno and a plate of meat stew and veg in the oven. From many days before. Envy

SuperFairy · 25/10/2020 23:40

We relocated 150 miles and the lovely vendor of the house we bought left behind a brand new Bayliss and Harding handwash and a hand towel plus loo roll in the downstairs loo. She also left some tea bags, coffee and milk and a bottle of cava, flowers and a card.
I was GOBSMACKED!
I also arrived ahead of the removers by a couple of hours as I was all set to spend the time cleaning, the house was absolutely spotless, not a speck of dust anywhere so I spent 3 hours sat on the kitchen floor doing bugger all 😂 Sometimes I moved to other rooms for a change of scenery 😂

I’ve also always left curtains behind and have always had curtains left at the houses that we have bought.

Milksheik · 25/10/2020 23:46

First flat we bought, previous owners kindly left the grill pan full of congealed fat.