Moving out etiquette

[tinkerbell2021]

I'm moving house next week (assuming nobody in the chain catches COVID) and will be selling my current house and buying one.

How deeply would you clean your current house when you leave it? Obviously I will clean it but not sure how thoroughly to do it.

Do I leave the heating on when I leave?

I'll leave a toilet roll in the bathroom.

Anything else I should be doing?

I’m following this as I’m moving in a couple of weeks! Good Luck!

A deep clean is nice I think. I couldn't think of anything worse than moving in and having to clean first.

Toilet roll is a good idea.

Maybe a box of teabags on the side or a bottle of wine. We had wine when we moved in and it was a lovely surprise.

I clean, but I’ve certainly never had the time to ‘deep’ clean on moving day! I always a leave a loo roll, and a bottle of wine. Just don’t do what our previous owners did and leave a fridge full of rotten skanky Food and sludge (seriously like decayed and refrozen guts or something!) that made me vomit and then cry ah, the stress of moving. Good luck!

I always thoroughly clean the house before I move out. I clean all cupboards, hoover and mop thorough out, deep clean kitchen and bathroom.
We've had variable results moving into our new houses, sometimes cleaner than others.

The last house we bought was unbelievably clean and freshly decorated all the way through. Flowers, champagne, posh coffee and tea left for us.
Of course it helped that we bought the house from very good friends
They've since admitted that they were very stressed about cleaning before we moved in because we knew each other and didn't want us to judge them. We're so grateful at how clean the house was but I don't think I would have judged them if the house wasn't 100% pristine.

I cleaned but no gift as my buyers forced us out early or they would break the chain
They passed me off massively

Cleaned cupboards etc as we packed them, wiped walls etc and then on moving day did all the floors and final wipe around. Deep cleaned bathroom and kitchen day before moving when all was packed. Our vendors were still cleaning when we arrived, it’s so much nicer to move into a new house which is clean!

I cleaned as I packed so not a hard slog on moving day. I had a designated room upstairs where I moved all packed boxes into and the same for downstairs. So it wasn't a last minute rush to pack. Just pack boxes and label it with where it comes from in your current house. So if you are looking for X you know it was in Y cupboard. Easier to label where it came from than what is in the box. HTH.

I left behind a card, bottle of wine, a piece of paper where I had drawn around all the different keys and labelled them and details of bin collection days.

Also toilet roll on each holder and left the heating on low plus a copy of the meter readings.

I think cleaning is the main one so as I emptied out a kitchen cupboard I would clean it.

I have moved into a house with piss left down the outside of the toilet bowl. I have never forgotten that and it was 20 years ago. Not just one toilet either, all 3. Clearly cleaned the inside of the bowl, but never the outside, dirty bastards.

I’ve always found my houses pretty clean and often vendors have left wine or flowers. I wouldn’t expect or need a loo roll.

I wouldn’t leave heating on unless previously arranged.

Moved into our current house which had been empty a year. It was filthy (& cold) would definitely have appreciated the kitchen floors been mopped & sink cleaned.. Also would have liked some kind of thermostat to have been left! We just had to have the heating on constantly for a couple of weeks.

For the flat I moved out of:
I cleaned all the cupboards as I emptied them & sides as they emptied.
Packed up 1 room hoovered & then piled all boxes in that room.
This gave me time to hoover other rooms after furniture had been taken out by removals as they were only going into 1 room for 95% boxes.
Obviously only works if you have a spare room - luckily we moved in a week when we didn't have DSC so their room was used for box piling.

Anything above a clean house would have been fantastic! At this time of year I think the heating being on low would be very much appreciated ( + instructions on how to use the heating!)
I think I'd be astounded if I had a bottle of wine etc left.

We moved 3 weeks ago. DH and I spent around 6 hours deep cleaning before we left (it was cleaner than it had ever been by the time we were finished).

Defrosted and thoroughly cleaned fridge/freezer, scrubbed the oven, wiped down inside of all drawers and cupboards, washed down shower screen, hoovered, swept, mopped, dusted, etc. We didn't leave the heating on but we did leave a 'Welcome to your new home' card and a bottle of fizz.

The sellers of our new house did the same, the place was immaculate and they also left a card, bottle and poinsettia.

I always clean thoroughly but I have never left a gift or card. If the buyer is moving in straight away I'd leave the heating on low in the winter.

I clean thoroughly and leave a bottle of Prosecco new home card and local takeaway menus

The people I bought my house from left me a leaflet about bin days, and labelled all the random pipes in the understairs cupboard, and wrote on the boiler what the settings were. They also took the meter readings and gave me a copy, obviously they wanted to do that for their final bill anyway but it was nice that they did a copy for me too!

I cleaned thoroughly on completion day and then the estate agent informed us the (first time) buyer had booked a cleaner before he moved in the next day

If you are leaving appliances any paper manuals/warranties you have.

Redirect your post but stickers with your new address might help if any slip through (should be no charge to them for redirected post)

Hmmm, I think I may be going OTT

Always do a really deep clean two days before and then hoover each room as soon as the movers have finished in it, wipe down floors and do a final clean of bathrooms on the day.

Leave a folder with instruction books, guarantees etc as well as details of Bin Day, Doctors, Dentists, Council, Chimney Sweep, Log Man etc and names of immediate neighbours. Also the Meter readings

Then a bottle of Champagne, Coffee, Tea, Milk and sugar.

The houses I have moved into have been variable, ranging from disgusting to pristine.

A thorough though not deep clean.

Folder with manuals, guarantees, for all equipment, e.g. boiler, etc. Toilet roll. Make sure all light bulbs work.

Welcome bottle of wine.

It's what I've had in property I've bought, and how I've left them.

You'll feel good, and so will the new owners.

We moved out of our rental in December and i cleaned all the cupboards, bleached the shower and toilet, cleaned the windows and the oven before we left, I meant to do the fridge and I forgot about it thanks to the stress of moving day, having a two year old and being pregnant, I mentally tortured myself for a good couple of days over that bloody fridge, it wasn't overly dirty, just generally needed a wipe.

Also left the boiler on frost setting to prevent the pipes from freezing, vacuumed the carpets and cleaned out the washing machine filter.

I leave wine or chocs and a new home card (as long as they haven't been twats during the buying process). I'd leave heating on yes.

I would clean everywhere and leave heating on low if they were moving in same day or next day. I'ld probably leave a soap at bathroom sink.

Due to covid I'ld only leave things that where easily cleanable like toilet roll in a packet. If I remembered and had time would leave a bottle of wine / champagne and chocolates.

Our sellers here left it sparkingly clean and all instruction manuals and their contact details and a letter to us which was lovely.

2 out of 3 places I've bought have not been cleaned and had rubbish left around so I would be happy with anywhere cleared of rubbish and fairly clean.

I'm moving soon and would absolutely appreciate the place to have had a thorough cleaning. I will absolutely love them if they do that! Also would be really handy to have some info jotted down such as energy suppliers, meter reading and maybe the window cleaner's number.

Thank you all, great ideas here. The lady is only moving here from about 200 metres away so will already know bin day and local takeaways etc.

I had thought about leaving a bottle of wine but then thought what if she doesn't drink.

Clean but no deep clean here. It's lovely to leave info on bin days, appliances, take aways etc if you can. Don't leave the heating on.

Brush clean is required.

I spent hours cleaning including the oven. They ripped everything straight out. 😂 Never again.