Leaving a note for the buyers of our house when we move?

[ErlingHaalandsManBun]

Have you done this when you have moved?

I think I am going to leave them a note with some useful info on for them. So far I have got:

The codes for the outbuilding locks
How to read the gas and tell if you need to order more (we are on LPG)
Who our gas supplier is
Who services our boiler
Who cuts our hedges (they expressed an interest in getting this done also)
Who our window cleaner is (although we will cancel him before we leave)
When bin day is

Is there anything else you would include/have included if you have done the same for your buyer?

Anything else you would do/leave before you go?

Where the stopcock is.

All copies of all keys for the house, including getting them back from neighbours/family who have them for emergencies.

Forwarding address in case anything slips through your post redirection?

If not obvious, where your meters and stopcocks are. Our old house had one stopcock for three houses and it was outside! Best wishes and a bottle of wine. Also consider if you want to leave contact details or not, depending on how smooth your sale has been - yes they may ask you the odd q but it's also useful for when a parcel turns up by mistake, that kind of thing.

Stopcock location.
Recommendations for local trades people.
Warranties and manuals for appliances.

i put luggage tags on the various keys and labelled them all.

If you’re not on mains drainage then who empties the tank and when it’s next due.

You could have written it all in the time it took you to write that op

yes do it

absolutely nothing to lose and potentially will really help

We let them know the water meters were the wring way around with our neighbours which had caused reading issues and bills in the past. I also explained that the downstairs loo only flushed if you took it by surprise 🫢

Definitely stop cock!!!

mine is on my neighbour’s driveway!!

Oh the keys! Yes! We have some neighbours who hold a spare key to this house (and we actually hold spare keys for some neighbours) so I must remember to retrieve/give back. Thanks.

Yes, as well as the practical stuff, I’ve always written something sentimental too. Like wishing them happy memories in the house and left them a little gift. When we moved in covid it was Easter egg for their child, a little bottle of bubbly and a hand sanitiser.

I’m a big believer in saying a verbal thank you out-loud to the house too.

I do this on holiday when leaving accommodation. When we sell a car I thank it for keeping us safe.

I know I’m sentimental but it just feels like a sense of completion to me.

I left tea bags, coffee, two mugs that I had no use of and a pint of milk and packet of biscuits!

my vendor left me a bottle of wine and a bottle of alcohol free fizz

Good point. Our house is old and the stopcock is outside. Our buyers definitely would be checking in all the usual places and not be able to find it without us pointing out where it is. Thanks.

We labelled all the keys. There were quite a few. But hopefully it was helpful.

I hope anyone buying a new house changes the locks immediately!

When I moved I left paint colours for rooms recently decorated - bin day - window cleaner number.

That’s a really lovely idea!

Maybe a toilet roll in each loo too.

How to set the heating if it’s one of these newfangled thermostats or where to find the instructions manuals for stuff like that (we always leave them in a kitchen drawer).

Name of the next door neighbour ( she was an elderly woman who lived alone so we wanted to encourage them to say hello to her)
Bottle of wine and some chocolates
One of our mobile numbers incase they had any questions or any post for us slipped through the net

How did you find it?

It's a nice idea but I wouldn't overthink it. I'd be happy with a clean house, keys for all the locks and any instruction manuals you have. Light globes and toilet rolls are also nice to have in place on moving day.

Manuals for any in-built appliances/any appliances that you're leaving

Boiler service records

Names/house numbers of friendly neighbours who can help with queries about the neighbourhood

When DD moved out she left a card, daffodils in a (new but cheap and cheerful) glass M&S vase and Prosecco, and an unwrapped pretentious toilet roll in the bathroom 😂. She also left a pack with all the receipts for work done such as new boiler, kitchen and bathroom radiator, appliance manuels and typed up a couple of pages of A4 with alarm code and instructions, stop tap location and instructions, code for lock box, Hive instructions, meter readings taken, and reliable tradies in the area that she had used. She also put those cheap tags on all the keys to label what was what and left them with the flowers and information pack.

Her sellers did something similar but without the gifts and local tradies, but included lots of history about the period house she bought. I think if you like the buyers/sellers, it’s a lovely thing to do.

I prepared a comprehensive list of excellent local tradespeople, the chimney sweep, window cleaner, and all the house information.

Then our buyer showed himself to be a 24 carat prick so I binned everything.

Had a call from the estate agent 3 months later asking where the stopcock is. I said I didn't know. (I do, and they'd never find it in a million years.)

This made me laugh @AmandaHoldensLips
Good for you, serves them right!

We did this and also included paint colours (which they requested), info on how to join the street WhatsApp group and a couple of local tradesman recommendations

We actually asked our neighbours if they knew where it was and luckily they did as theirs is in the same kind of place outside their property.

Its actually outside of the property but you wouldn't know where to start looking for it without a hint so I will definitely just note that down for them.

When we bought our first home they left us a list like this with a lovely new home card and a bottle of wine. Took every single lightbulb though 😂

I'm rather sentimental. We bought a derelict property which had been derelict for years. I'd loved to know the history of the house- when was it built etc. We think its 1930's but one neighbour things its 1910's.

When my mum sold her parents house, she left a little note. The plot of land was bought in 1955, my grandfather and his father built the house themselves and my mum grew up there. 1 family owners. Some people couldn't careless about this stuff, but I personally find it interesting.

I did. Estate agent said they were very happy to receive it.