How clean does my house need to be for new buyer?

[orangesoda36]

We have sold and buyers date of entry is in a few weeks. We are moving overseas and not taking anything with us. I offered buyer pretty much everything in the house for free but he responded he only wanted the non integrated fridge freezer and sofa, so I'm having to remove items slowly and then will pay probably for some things to go to rubbish dump/my sister is taking some items.

I'm planning on having the sofa steam cleaned the day before we move out as we have young kids and it gets filthy.

DH says the rest of the place just needs a wipe over and vacuum but after renting for many years and always having to pay for a vacate clean when we moved I was unsure if that is enough?

I don't want to break my back as I have 4 DC and the move overseas is taking a lot of organisation.

Thank you

Wipe and vacuum.
Deal with rubbish.
But I wouldn't deep clean.
It will get messy during moving in and unpacking.
I've always left a house clean enough. As each room gets emptied I would go in and wipe down and vacuum, but I wouldn't clean carpets for example.

I was down on hands and knees cleaning all the skirting boards, thoroughly deep cleaned the bathroom and kitchens cleaning all the cupboards and drawers. Last thing in the car was the hoover and cleaning stuff.
Arrived at the new house and had to clean unflushed pebble dashed toilets, ungunged the kitchen sink and hoovered the whole upstairs to remove thick layer of dog hair.

So long as you aim more for how I left Mt old house and not the house I then had to clean so I could bring my furniture in, you'll be grand

Sparkling. What you'd expect if you were the buyer

My house is spotless anyway, but I’ve booked a cleaner to come and clean behind furniture as it’s moved etc as we leave. I’ll also be leaving a bottle of wine and a list of useful info for our buyers, and my husband is going to make them a fire ready to light whenever they want in our two open fireplaces. The garden however is full of weeds (nothing horrific though) but they’re a retired couple so I figure they might be a bit more green-fingered than me 😂

Are there any consequences for a seller not cleaning their house ?
I am buying off an old lady . She is a hoarder and the house is very ‘lived in ‘

What would happen if she left lots of her stuff behind and I didn’t want her to?

My solicitor has told me if I leave anything behind I can be billed for the uplift

So often in a chain, people are literally waiting outside to live in whilst you are moving out. There is no way a deep final clean or anything beyond a regular clean can be done.

If you’re worried you can ask for a pre exchange visit to check she is making progress on clearing the house. And if you’re still worried your solicitor can request hold back an amount of money in case you need to pay for it to be cleared. That’s easier than subsequently suing the seller.

I agree with this. Do what you can and focus on getting rid of your stuff. Perhaps a charity or someone looking to make a few quid would come and get it all on your final day?

@iwasthewalrus that’s a good idea . Thanks as I wasn’t aware that I could ask for that

Legally I think your husband is right just a hoover.

morally I think it needs a deep clean and I would be doing that to my house when we move as I think it’s shitty to leave it grubby for someone

You need a deep clean.

You don't usually need a deep clean for any legal reason - unlike an end of tenancy clean. It is very difficult to do, unless you can move everything out early because everything happens at the same time

I wiped clean the kitchen cupboards and fitted furniture and went over the doors, lights and skirting boards in the last couple of weeks leading up to moving day. The bathrooms and kitchen were very clean from being ready for viewings so I just kept up with that level of cleanliness which admittedly was more clean than usual. On moving day I swished over the sinks and taps, vacuumed as stuff was removed from rooms and kept out a feather duster for cobwebs behind units etc then did a quick mop. It didn't take too long and was a pretty good standard for the new people.

We did a deep clean, had the cooker and carpets professionally cleaned etc. it was probably a bit OTT in hindsight. The filthy pigs we bought our onward purchase from did absolutely nothing - and even left us a shitty used toilet brush amongst the piles of dust in the bathroom. Somewhere inbeteeen is probably a fair balance.

Personally I've been shocked at how people leave both rental and houses after buying. But that's just me. I would leave it squeaky clean, hotel clean even, and cleaner than I would have it myself. Clean as you go along, everything, and then do a final hoover, mop and quick wipe after removal people are gone.

I always leave a nice bottle of wine or champagne and some other goodies and a welcome card.

But, as I say, that's just me but has always been appreciated and makes me feel I have let it as it should be.

Well it's not "just you" as it's 90% of people on this thread isn't it?

What always intrigues me is you so often hear "we cleaned our house really well" along with "the place we moved into was awful". Like it's always that way round. I wonder if people don't see their own mess or there's a hidden group of people who "left our place a state but the place I loved into was spotless!"

Is it worth getting a professional clean? But not sure when as there will be not much time during the day itself?? I have a back issue and can't do much bending so getting worried about this.

Maybe mumsnetters are more tidy/care more? ;)

I come from a country where it is a legal requirement to literally move white goods etc and clean there and behind/in between rads. It's not here so I have moved into places where there were food remnants in fridges (gross) and lots of dust/dirt on/in cupboards and dirty ovens.

I've ben a bit surprised as some of these places looked pretty spotless when we viewed them.

This happened to us - the elderly seller got overwhelmed and just walked out leaving heaps of stuff and the place filthy. This was after a delay of several hours to hand the key to the estate agent because he was still trying to pack and had a skip on the drive. And this was after delaying exchange for weeks so he had time to pack!

We gave a list to our solicitor of what had been left and he then negotiated on our behalf with the other solicitor. The seller had to stump up the money to pay for house clearance.

Fortunately we weren't moving in that day but it was inconvenience we didn't need. I'd try and pre-empt this by asking for a pre-completion visit or similar.

We are moving out next week but both are quite ill.
We will clean the kitchen, bathrooms, vaccuum and mop. I don't think we will have any energy left for defrosting the fridge-freezer (just wipe it) or clean the oven (it is reasonably clean), clean windows and venetian blinds. Will this be acceptable?
Just the thought of moving stresses me out, and there is still lots to sort out!
We have to move in a haste as pushed out by the first time buyers, whos solicitor had so many last minute enquiries that we only had 2 weeks to find a rental property. And we needed one with a bedroom downstairs as DH gets breathless on stairs.

I sadly think this is how a lot of people approach it in the UK and it's pretty shocking tbh. It really shouldn't be left to the last minute, now you're stuck as you're ill. If so, I'd personally pay for a professional clean.

Whenever I've moved, I've started a regime of deep cleaning weeks/months before, and the fridge/freezer would be spotless and so would be the bathroom/kitchen and everywhere else.

In some countries you are fined if you don't provide a high enough cleaning whether in rented or when selling your house.

Whenever I've left a house/sold, I've also provided the next owner with a bottle and card as a welcome gesture.