Should I professionally clean my property for my new buyer?

[SheerLucks]

We've in the process of selling a flat to a cash buyer that currently has a tenant in it.

Apparently the buyer is meant to inspect the flat before exchange and after the tenant has left, to check that it looks nice.

It's a large one bedroom with a garden and our tenant is very nice and very clean. I thought I could just do it myself as end of tenancy cleans are very expensive, but would the buyer expect it to be perfect?

It's sold for a lot as it's in a desirable area, and professional cleaners would have the products to get all the water marks off the shower and get the oven looking new etc.

Do buyers expect this?

They don't expect it but it would be great if you did it.

No offense I would be expecting a clean home that I'm looking to buy. Sometimes a clean home looks a lot better as it shows the house is in good condition

Inspecting the flat in between exchange and completion has nothing to do with looking at how clean it is. It's to check for expensive things that they may become liable for, e.g. a ceiling has collapsed since the last viewing, which they would then financially liable for.

It would be a nice thing to do. Unless the buyer is an absolute shitbag who messed me around, I would leave a place how I would like to find it: immaculate.

Isn't it the Tennants contract to clean it properly on returning it to you ? Pretty standard clause these days. Assuming of course it was properly clean when they moved in.

@KievLoverTwo my buyer seems lovely (we're in regular contact) and will also be our neighbour.

I could give it a very thorough clean myself, but I'll struggle to get things like shower doors and the oven looking as good as the last end of tenancy cleaners did.

I'm just wondering whether the buyer is expecting that level of clean, or not.

@DrySherry tenants are not obliged to pay for their own end of tenancy clean, although they should leave the flat as they found it (which was after an end of tenancy clean).

He'll certainly do his best, but I don't think he's going to be able to get the shower and oven looking any better than I could.

They will appreciate it very clean though you aren’t obliged to.

When a family member gave notice to their landlord in the one bed bedroom rented flat, the landlord told them to pay for professional cleaners to come in. When the family member
asked if they could to the cleaning herself, the landlord said yes but get the oven professionally cleaned which is what they did in the end. Think it saved them a couple of hundred pounds.

Not gonna lie, I have never heard of 'cleaning a house up for a new buyer' - ever. I wouldn't be doing it to be honest. I mean it wouldn't be a shit tip, because I keep a clean and tidy home, but no, I would not be forking out for a 'deep clean' for a buyer.

No, I've bought 4 houses and they've been in various states (2 not cleaned at all, 2 good standard) but none professionally cleaned. I've always cleaned thoroughly myself including inside cupboards and sweeping out the garage and made sure we don't leave anything behind, I think that's good enough.

Use Viakal for taps, sinks, tiles and shower screens and it will be the same as a professional clean.

My DH thinks I'm mad as it will cost about £220.

Get the oven done professionally and as pp say scrub the shower.

I wouldn’t….I’ve sold 5 homes in my time….made sure kitchen surfaces had no crumbs on and hoovered …but that’s it …no matter how clean you leave it…first thing you do when you buy a home is clean anyway

If it’s next door and a one bed I’d do it myself and just buy limescale remover (the HD one is good) and oven cleaner. There is no expectation or requirement to professionally clean for the buyer of a property.

If I was going to be their neighbour I'd seriously consider it haha. When we sold ours we did have a good Hoover, wipe down of surfaces etc, we had a regular cleaner anyway so it wasn't particularly dirty, but I suppose there's something about having a bit of pride and human decency handing a home over (not that I think that requires a professional clean), but that might just be years of marching out of military married quarters ingrained in us....!

Does Viakal actually work on showers screen too??

I thought it was just for metal.

Just get a cleaner in, especially if they’re going to be neighbours, a small flat will likely be less than £100

For those saying they'd never do this, I think the rules are different for properties with tenants, as the buyer needs to be satisfied that the tenant has a) vacated it and b) left it in a decent condition.