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What's the weirdest thing you've found when moving in to a new home? Talk to MoneySuperMarket and you could win a £300 Love2Shop voucher NOW CLOSED

415 replies

AnnMumsnet · 14/09/2015 10:32

We've been asked by the team at MoneySuperMarket to find out about the weirdest things Mumsnetters have found when moving in to a new home, which the previous owners or tenants left behind.

MoneySuperMarket say "We know moving home can be a stressful experience and sometimes it can be accompanied a few unexpected and 'interesting' surprises at the other end! Whether you've recently moved home or not, we'd love to hear your stories on the thread below.

Also - for those of you in the process of moving right now, don't forget to check out our Home Mover's hub, where you'll find a wealth of articles, videos and tools designed to get you to your own personal 'Happily Ever After' just that little bit quicker..."

So, what weird or wonderful things have you found when moving? Maybe the previous owner of your house left behind a particularly impressive stamp collection? Or perhaps you found a stack of old diaries? Or maybe you found a wig hidden in the back of the wardrobe?

Whatever you've found, MoneySuperMarket would love to hear about it!

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw* where one winner will receive a £300 Love2Shop voucher from Mumsnet.

Please note your comments may be included on MoneySuperMarket's social media channels, and possibly elsewhere, so please only post if you're comfortable with this.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

*Money Supermarket are not affiliated to the prize draw and accept no liability in respect of the prize draw.
Standard Insight T&Cs apply

What's the weirdest thing you've found when moving in to a new home? Talk to MoneySuperMarket and you could win a £300 Love2Shop voucher NOW CLOSED
OP posts:
theshooglypeg · 24/09/2015 16:26

A whip. Stuffed behind the wardrobe, along with a portfolio of rather odd artwork. There is surely a story behind them, but I have no idea what it is!

louiseoc · 24/09/2015 16:37

Back in the 80's when my parents brought a new home we discovered an entire shrine to the royal family up in the loft, there were newspaper cuttings and all sorts of memorabilia, my Mum kept it and I believe she still has it to this day, look out for me on Antiques road show in a few decades lol When we moved into our 2nd home we were changing the light switch and there was/is a bullet behind it, we just left it there, you never know right? ;)

MustBeThursday · 24/09/2015 17:45

A large drawing of a naked lady, a box of kitchen equipment (oddly in the converted loft) and a bay window entirely black, right through the paper to the wall, with mould...

traceyalice · 24/09/2015 20:21

my parents found a ceremonial sword, hidden behind a panel. The previous owners were fairly elderly, and it got returned to them

nemno · 24/09/2015 21:17

The buyer of my grandparents' house will have been delighted to find a large two-handled Clarice Cliff vase on the staircase windowsill. My parents didn't like it and just left it!

WhatTheHellaballoo · 24/09/2015 22:58

When we bought our first house we found a baseball bat in the wardrobe and a panic alarm in the bedroom. There was also a painted mural dedicated to Bolton Wanderers in what was a child's bedroom.

ThatFriskyFeline · 24/09/2015 23:19

Not long after we moved in the old back boiler (and hot water tank) was removed and replaced by a combi. During the works an Aqualisa shower was found to have been boxed in where there would normally be a wall cupboard - the plumber could see the mechanism in the loft and the shower tray when he pulled up floor boards in the hall. It turns out it was badly fitted and caused leaks. Instead of fixing it or removing it, a wall was put up to hide the entire thing.

It shan't be staying...

mynellie · 25/09/2015 13:53

a hole in the wall stuffed full of paper and plastered over so it looked good the words that came out of my mouth were not so good

ILikeBigBumpsAndICannotLie · 25/09/2015 17:00

A pair of adult roller boots buried in the flower, they were so heavy I was convinced there were feet in them and had to down tools to debate whether we called the police out to finish the digging.

When the previous owners took their larder fridge out they revealed they had put a kitchen cupboard and tiled over half a door in the kitchen, you could just see the other half under the work surface. It took eight years to save the money to pull out the kitchen. Disappointed it wasn't steps to a basement, but weird rubbish, an old backburner fire, two old full flasks and some lego, and the customs fine for the previous owner smuggling cigarettes

Lurleene · 25/09/2015 17:48

I didn't find this until a little while after we moved in, but we found a very erm erotic 'love letter' hidden in the insulation in the loft.

Our house's previous owner apparently had a lover who was in prison - or maybe he was just a penpal? Either way, he was a very filthy man. Blush

I hope she told him she moved, I don't want him turning up here when he gets out.

BoffinMum · 25/09/2015 21:32

We got off lightly, just finding a massive koi carp in the pond. Elusive at first, DH didn't believe me when I said there was something massive in there, but then he caught sight of the thing in the water weed and was amazed.

The previous people had more of a shock when they moved in. The garden was apparently completely overgrown and the first morning they woke up to hear a 'tap tap tap' on the kitchen door. A load of chickens had turned up to be fed! The previous occupants had left them behind when they moved!

clam · 25/09/2015 22:07

Not mine, but my friend uncovered this image on the wall in a bathroom of her new house when she was redecorating.

ExitStageLeft · 25/09/2015 22:11

A message on the floorboards of the eldest sons bedroom saying "You will die at sunrise...."

Cheers Son! Shock

Archer26 · 25/09/2015 22:45

This will out me if any of my friends are on here. Me and DH bought a house from a couple who were divorcing with teenagers. Their daughter was travelling around Australia. When we moved in the husband (mum moved out long ago) had left loads of furniture including a massive three piece suite (This would have been a nice thing if it wasn't black from smoke and covered in burn holes) and a caravan porta potty. He'd also left tons of stuff in the garage, outhouse and shed. It took us months to sort. Whilst sorting the shed there was a large white chest right in the middle of it. We looked inside and it was all of the daughters things from childhood, photos, school records, old prescriptions, and worst of all a, ahem, sex toy. We contacted the agents to let the previous owners know we had the chest and left it outside for a good 4 weeks to collect but they never did. Bonfire night came by and it did end up on the fire. I'll never forget the sight of a purple dildo melting majestically on the fire.

Also after 10 months of living there we received a postcard from the daughter in Australia addressed to her parents! No mention of the move or divorce. We live in fear of her turning up in the doorstep!

skapur · 26/09/2015 10:57

Not wonderful but a number of very ugly paintings!

Cherrybellyboo · 26/09/2015 14:44

We have come off lightly when we have moved house it seems! Twice we have moved into somewhere which had lots of tins of cat foodleft in a cupboard.

cristalfiona · 26/09/2015 18:30

A baby alligator head in a box in the garage. I still haven't found the courage to go through the rest of that box.

glmcall123 · 26/09/2015 19:54

The weirdest thing we found was mauvey-brown workshop wallpaper.

VikingLady · 26/09/2015 20:47

DH found a used and dirty vibrator in a student house when he moved in. He and his friends just left it where they found it: on the windowsill at the top of the stairs. Apparently as a talking point Hmm

The disturbing part is that they went missing after a party. Envy (vom face)

Themilseys · 26/09/2015 21:26

When we moved into our first house 15 years ago, the previous occupants had left their underwear drying on radiators in two of the bedrooms and weirdly there was lots of straw on the kitchen floor yet they didn't have any pets.

brookson · 26/09/2015 21:48

we moved in to a house and it had had a few tenants before us, in the loft was a chest of metal soldiers some beautifully painted we kept them for years but no-one came back to claim them.

xxgeexx · 26/09/2015 21:59

Holy water from lourdes, still got it xx

mamma2laura · 26/09/2015 22:22

When I moved into my very first house, it had a built in cupboard in the bedroom, in there I found 2 old onions (all shrivelled up) a sex toy and a tub of ear buds.

Gill81uk · 26/09/2015 22:33

We walked in to our new house to find a goldfish in its tank in the kitchen!!! Fortunately the previous owners were popping round later that evening as there was a problem with the shower that they were sorting out for us. They were a bit put out when we pointed out that there was still a fish there....saying "oh, don't you want it!" Ummmm no!!!

Youseemstarshaped · 27/09/2015 00:47

We ( ahem) were taking a hot bath in our new house after spending the fist day cleaning up. Boy did it need cleaning up. Whilst in the bath I slid open a little cubby at the side of the bath to find a full set of false teeth - eek!