Cleaners - on completion day?

[DespairingHomeowner]

Hello All, finally (touch wood) exchanging today in order to complete in 3 weeks

I have my removal van booked, and we are booking a cleaner after I move out and buyers move in as there will be a gap

My question is about the place I am buying.. I'd like to get cleaners in (mainly because I want to take minimum time off work, which has been suffering stress of my move), and get the move in finished ASAP

If I can ask the vendors to allow a cleaner in before (if they are moving out the night before) I will do as that would be ideal, but its both a bit of a cheek, and also possiby not likely that they will move out til the morning

I am trying to work out whether best to get cleaners in on completion day (they might have a tight window to work in though) or after stuff in house (so next day)

Does anyone have any experiences/advice? I am moving from 2 bed flat to 2 bed house, so not THAT much stuff, and there are 2 rooms I can shove boxes in (guest room upstairs, study downstairs) to let cleaners get a good run of rest of the place, but they would need to work around furniture. I'm worried cleaners will not be able to do an effective job around boxes, but am I worrying too much?

Couple living in house have reasonable housekeeping so thats not my worry, more to be back at work at 9am on Monday after moving on Friday so any time saving would help

If you have been through this, any advice?

It’ll be too chaotic on completion day. Just move your stuff and spend the weekend cleaning as you unpack.

Unless you can store everything overnight prior to moving it into the house then forget it. Just move in and clean room by room or have the cleaners in after you position all the furniture

I thought it was a bit of an optimistic plan!

What about throwing all upstairs boxes in guest room, all downstairs boxes in study. Movers put furniture in place, then get cleaners in next morning?

How about asking the removal people to store your stuff for 24 hours, book a night in a hotel and move in the next day? Having booked a cleaner for the evening of moving day or the morning of the following day. Will cost a bit more but will mean that you know its clean under all your stuff

I wouldn't pay to get the my house cleaned when I moved out. By all means give a quick hoover where furniture has been but the rest is surely up to the buyer?

Even if they clean with the previous owners there they will need to get around boxes and furniture so i think it's better to get them in once you've moved in yourself. or as someone else has said get the removal people to store overnight although a lot of them won't come back on a sat so that may not be an option

@Whatsnewpussyhat

I wouldn't pay to get the my house cleaned when I moved out. By all means give a quick hoover where furniture has been but the rest is surely up to the buyer?

Hi @Whatsnewpussyhat - I'm not going to clean the old house, I will have too much on my plate (and now that I am moving out, its shocking)

The new owners are arrranging a cleaner for after I move (thank god), so all I have to do is try not leave it as a tip. If its really bad I might chuck them £50 or so for the 3-4 hours it would take me to get it ship shape, but I doubt it - they are paying way below my asking price as is

I think this is the best plan

1. move in, put most boxes in study/guest room, but place furniture

2. get cleaners in next day for the morning

3. Shove upstairs stuff in guest room, & get main bedroom cleaned really well (it doesn't actually need any furniture in there apart from the bed as its built in wardrobes etc, and I haven't bought any drawers etc...) - so that can be super clean & carpet shampooed

4. Shove downstairs stuff in study, and get cleaners to really scrub the kitchen, bathroom & living space before I unpack

It will just be me on 1st night so I think I will pack bedding in my car, & just sleep on the sofa the 1st night & pack a bag for 1st few days

It means I won't be able to really 'unpack' until 24 hours after moving in, but I guess most people don't get a huge amount done on actual moving in day? I'm only moving 30 min up the road... a 24 hour gap also seems a good idea, but I think i'd like to get in to really check condition of property/if i need to do any urgent repairs/applicances are working etc...

When I bought my 1st place, I had nearly a 2 month overlap with rented (which I needed as the place unexpectedly needed a full replaster once we stripped wallpaper!), plus I had no furniture to deal with. So thinking through the logistics this time is a bit different!

@Bells3032 @Loofah01 @Finfintytint : thanks for your comments, its made me think doing it all on 1 day is a bit unrealistic (and I guess the movers will be annoyed if they have to wait)

Its hard floors downstairs so I am less concerned about cleaning those vs being able to properly shampoo the carpets...