Moving house etiquette... Is it okay to leave the TV wall mounts and some other stuff?

[sadeyes21]

We are moving house in a week and all three questions are popping up that I never even thought about before. This is our first time moving from a house that we own. I've looked at the tv wall mounts and I'm pretty sure it's going to leave a massive hole in the walls if I remove them which I will then have to patch up and possibly repaint? Is it ok to just leave them for the new owner? Or is that being a cf?

Also we have an alarm system and a security camera. Is it ok to take this with us as we never said we would include it in the sell? We said we would include fixtures so obviously lights, carpets, curtain poles, integrated dishwasher, fridge/freezer and cooker, ect.

Oh and the curtains. Should I leave the curtains as they will only be going to the dump if I remove them? I am going to leave the made you measure blinds.

I would like to make sure the house is clean for the new owners. I will be doing a thorough clean the night before but then the movers are coming the following morning and they will be taking away the hoover, ect so it may not be perfect. Can't really see a way around that.

Any tips, advice, suggests welcome.
Thanks

Curtains left behind wouldn't bother me but I'd be annoyed if someone took the alarm system.
Our seller left the biggest wardrobe I've ever seen in one of the bedrooms, took us ages to take it apart!

Curtains are always helpful when first moving in. I'd be a bit annoyed if a wall mount was left, perhaps ask the estate agent to check?

I don't understand why any of this is even in question? You should have filled in a TA10 form which is a standard Law Society fixtures and fittings form which your solicitor would have sent, this details all the standard items which you are taking/leaving. Curtains (by room), bins and the burglar alarm are definitely listed on there, not sure about TV mounts. You need to check what you have entered there and stick to it.

The only thing there that I would hate would to be any rubbish in the bins. Empty them and clean the wheelie bins (or get a company to do it). I would leave the curtains as no one wants to put curtains up the first night they arrive, and they may not be able to choose any yet due to the pandemic. The tv bracket could be useful or a pain - a quick email to the solicitor asking if they want it.

No general rubbish is not ok!

Take a pic of the tv and the wall mount behind if you can in situ. Send to the EA to ask the buyers. They're a pain to remove and make good as they leave huge holes and if they plan to put one up it will be a sodding nightmare as a previous poster has said.

Leave the curtains if you don't want them. It's winter.

Bin waste - a chockablock bin is bloody annoying when you move in, as is a stinking filthy one. Can you do a tip run the day before and double bag what little there is on the day? Or put the animals into kennels for the move for a day or two perhaps. They get very anxious and esp with cats the risk is they bugger off for a day or two and you have an almighty hunt for them.

Keep the hoover and clean on your way out, especially with pets. If you get cleaners in on the day be around to supervise or in my experience it's the lightest of light cleans.

@unfortunateevents

I don't understand why any of this is even in question? You should have filled in a TA10 form which is a standard Law Society fixtures and fittings form which your solicitor would have sent, this details all the standard items which you are taking/leaving. Curtains (by room), bins and the burglar alarm are definitely listed on there, not sure about TV mounts. You need to check what you have entered there and stick to it.

We never did this. We are in Scotland so maybe it's different here? I just looked at missives and all it says it we are taking the security system, so that's that sorted. No mention of anything else but all other fixtures and fittings included in sale.

@Onedimension

No general rubbish is not ok!

So the bins all need to be completely empty? I wasn't going to fill them more than halfway, and all animal poop would be disposed of separately.

Cant you just speak to the buyer? I've bought and sold quite a few times, and every single time, I've always personally spoken to the people buying/selling. Obviously everything goes through the solicitors, but it was much quicker for everyone if we could just send off a quick text to check stuff like that. Makes the whole thing easier when everyone is happy to communicate. I've been lucky that I've never dealt with anyone being a dick; it wouldn't work if peoppr turned out to just be nasty.
The guy I bought this house from pops round every year with xmas cards and hamper and we always have a wee coffee and a chat. The guy who bought my flat was totally not prepared for fire safety so I left my fire blankets and fire extinguishers because he was a young guy and had never lived alone!
Just talk to them. If you cant, ask the estate agent.

Do you have a local park with poo bins that you can take the animal poo to?

@TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams

Take a pic of the tv and the wall mount behind if you can in situ. Send to the EA to ask the buyers. They're a pain to remove and make good as they leave huge holes and if they plan to put one up it will be a sodding nightmare as a previous poster has said.

Leave the curtains if you don't want them. It's winter.

Bin waste - a chockablock bin is bloody annoying when you move in, as is a stinking filthy one. Can you do a tip run the day before and double bag what little there is on the day? Or put the animals into kennels for the move for a day or two perhaps. They get very anxious and esp with cats the risk is they bugger off for a day or two and you have an almighty hunt for them.

Keep the hoover and clean on your way out, especially with pets. If you get cleaners in on the day be around to supervise or in my experience it's the lightest of light cleans.

Thankyou for your post. It didn't occur to me to take a photo to show them but that's a good idea. I will be hoovering myself, my husband and our dog out the door! You're completely right about the cats. Especially as they are house cats so I am sacred they'll go missing with movers coming in and out so I have booked them into a cattery.

Our vendors made a big deal of saying they'd polyfilla any holes and touch up with paint... we enthusiastically said that would be brilliant. The reality was finding out they'd left uneven silicone filler bulging out of the holes and we had to spend ages gouging it (and wall plugs) out before we could make it good!
Whatever you do, please don't do that!

HRFT but just to say please don’t be that person that is that tight tgey remibe light bulbs 😖 and if you leave some toilet roll in the toilets that would be appreciate I’m sure!

They remove

@TableFlowerss

HRFT but just to say please don’t be that person that is that tight tgey remibe light bulbs 😖 and if you leave some toilet roll in the toilets that would be appreciate I’m sure!

Do people really remove lightbulbs when they move house? Wouldn't have even occurred to me to do this. Madness. I was going to leave a bottle of something in the fridge and a pack of toilet tissue.

We recently moved, but in England, and had the tickboxed form others have referred to. I checked what exactly a fixture vs a fitting meant, because any that was a fixture, was supposed to have been left, whereas fixtures, were to be removed.

Anything that was a fixture, usually meant screwed, wired or nailed in such as a light fittings, wired in door bell systems, wall heaters etc. I'd have thought a screwed in TV bracket is a fixture, therefore needs leaving, but then, I'd also have said the alarm should stay too.

A fitting includes things not nailed/screwed in such as curtains. Technically, they should have been removed, but I'm very glad they left them. Yes, we will change them, but it meant having some privacy without having the expense of curtains on top of a move.

I agree with checking re the TV bracket, but if the Scotish rules are the same, as a fixture, it should stay.

I'd remove ALL waste from your bins- not just stinking animal excriment! Use local poo bag bins for that! For your regular waste, if you cant take it with you or to the tip, divide into smaller carrier bag sizes and take a bag with you each time you go to the high st/shops.

Curtains- leave

TV mounts - take and make good - or ask via EA.

Bins - empty.

Alarms are very different these days though, now that they are not wired.

Just a point on the alarms... Buyers need buildings insurance before they exchange, and one of the questions when taking out insurance is about whether there are alarms. I'd be pretty annoyed if I'd taken out the insurance on that basis, and then found it gone when I arrived at the house (something that needed sorting ASAP, in the midst of all the other stuff to do in a house move!)

Shouldn't be a problem for you, OP - because you said on the form that you're taking it. But just a point for anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation!

Check what you have said on the form you completed, if you said you were leaving blinds & curtains, then you should, yes I agree they will probably dump them eventually but at least they have curtains when they move in.

Tv bracket would be classed as a fixture I would have thought, but if you indicated on your form you would leave it, you should, if not it must be filled & made good, re painted etc.

Bins, of course you may have some rubbish, don’t fill all the bins completely though, as they new owners will need to use them too.

I always Hoover as rooms are cleared by the movers, and the Hoover comes in the car with us & final clear around, there is usually a surprising amount of mess left behind when furniture is moved!

Remember to take final meter readings too OP.

We moved last week and the rubbish bin was completely overflowing. Absolutely no where to put any rubbish for over 2 weeks. We then found out it was one of the neighbours who filled the bin though, not a great start

I'm so pleased I moved on bin day. We were left a wall mounted TV stand, very useful it is too.

Curtains are always welcome, just so there is something at the window.

My pet peeves from the previous owners were that they left the bins full and mainly full of dog poo plus they left big items of waste in the back garden. I got a phonecall from my estate agent asking if I was ok taking it to the tip. I said no I bloody well wasn’t and the owner sheepishly turned up the next day and removed the extra items. But I was still left with a stinking wheelie bin full of dog shit and vomit for two weeks.

Also, the integrated fridge and freezer were disgusting. Fairly new but filthy, covered in spills etc. A quick wipe with some antibac would have taken 10 mins tops and left a whole lot of a better impression of them.

We exchange tomorrow (I bloody hope) if all goes to plan.

We are leaving the CCTV but removing the internal card where the recordings are stored and have promised to wipe the app from our phones on the day of moving.

We are leaving wardrobes as agreed via the agent with the buyer.

We are taking curtains but leaving blinds. This was listed on the fixtures and fittings form.

We have removed and made good the TV wall bracket already. If for some reason you don’t do this, don’t forget to remove the part which is attached to the back of the TV otherwise it’s a pointless object which they can’t use?

We’ve also filled every hole from pictures etc and touched the paintwork up. We’ve left the remaining paint labelled in the garage in case they want it.

We’ve left a residual amount of wood, coal and a pack of firelighters for the fire so they can use on day one.

The bin is emptied a week before so in the intervening week we will bag it and take it to the tip the day before moving. The recycling bin is emptied the day of the move so both bins should be completely empty.

As as others advise the hoover and box of cleaning things is coming with me. As the removers empty a room I’ll clean it. Then that kit together with snacks, drinks, kettle, bedding and overnight clothes/Pjs, paperwork, phone chargers, and so forth all come with me in the car.

Good luck!

And yes, I totally agree about the light bulbs. Wasn’t great to finally get the call to pick up the keys in the early evening in the depths of winter to find that they’d taken all the lightbulbs in the lounge, bedrooms and upstairs hall . Trying to move into a totally dark house at night. Great.