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We have bought 6 homes in our lives and each time we have been left "stuff" from previous owners. We may have been too lax in accepting what was left during our final walk thru.
Several questions -
How many of you have made previous owners clear everything out of the house you are buying? Were you successful before occupying?
How do agents look at this situation? Do you get actively involved in helping the buyer get the owners to clear out the house?
In all three resale homes I purchased or sold, NOTHING was left behind except for reasonable things like paint, special light bulbs, etc. Furniture was only left behind if it had been purchased by the buyer. Window treatments and light fixtures were left, as they should have been.
I can't imagine why you're getting stuff left in these houses all the time. Makes no sense to me at all.
I don't want anyone else's belongings left in a home I just purchased or a home I rent.
I will not accept a home either way if there is anything left behind and as a renter or seller I will not leave anything behind.
I don't even want furnace filters, light bulbs or the last can of paint leftovers.
If I purchase a home I don't even want the window coverings left because I will be replacing those with my own curtains and I don't want to have to deal with getting rid of yours.
With the last house we bought, the sellers had private trash pick-up (like everyone in this town) but their company came around to the back of the house where the garbage cans are kept.
The seller had left PILES of move-out garbage that would not fit in the cans. I'm talking a pile of bags and boxes of trash that stretched across the length of a two-car garage.
It was really in the way of us moving in and using the back part of the driveway. We had not set up a trash contract yet, and I didn't want to haul it to the dump myself. So I called their agent (who I know personally) and, in a very sweet way, asked her "advice." She was appalled that they left so much junk and had a trash company come get it.
I would contact the seller's agent every time, just like I would any other problem related to the sale.
I also think that the only things that should be left are bulbs, filters, touch up paint and the normal stuff that should be left per the contract, like blinds, appliances, etc.
If the house isn't empty, then it can't really be clean, in my opinion, and the house should be turned over clean.
Personally, I wouldn't sign if the house wasn't clean and empty. I'd even be slightly annoyed to move in and find the garbage can full for me to deal with.
A friend who is a realtor helped a buyer find a home. Day before settlement they did the walkthru. The house was full of trash and construction type debris and bits and pieces. It had some of this on the porch, etc. during the listing period but the guy must have cleaned out a storage area or something just before settelement and brought it to his house. Because after settelement he and his family were leaving town.
He promised it would be out that night. Next morning...still there. Since my friend had built a rapport with the seller during several looks at it, since the neighbors thought the guy was a good guy and since my friend knew the neighbors and since the buyer did not want to wait to close and instead insisted herself that an amount be escrowed and since the listing agent said she would be personally responsible if the junk were not out of the house....the house sale closed.
Long long story a little shorter, the owner did not clean everything out. He did not clean ANYthing out. Paint cans, rags, pipes, boards, buckets, etc. His plan was to have his friends clean it out. My friend contacted the friends. One guy said he'd be there that evening to clear out. I happened to be at dinner with my friend that evening at just the time the guy was supposed to do the cleanout and saw...the guy who supposed to do the clean out. Very contrite. Said he's be over next day.
Next day, several frustrated young men who were apparently told "it's just a few things, guys, toss them on the street for pickup". It was hot. The seller was long gone on his way overseas and they just did not want to bother. They would probably never see the seller again and they were not getting paid.
And through all this the seller's realtor was difficult to reach. Made promises she never kept. Finally was out of communication.
So the seller's friends had tossed lots of stuff over the fence...it was in the back yard too now that I remember. It landed on the sidewalk. Neighbors complained they couldn't walk on the sidewalk.
It wound up on several yards of sidewalk....several several yards and high. And that wasn't all of it yet.
So the new buyer became angry. Neighbors were angry at her thinking this was her junk. They were shocked to find it was the junk of their old friend.
So my friend, the buyer's realtor felt the only thing to do was have his trash guy come and pick it up. Took two loads of his large dump truck. My friend paid. Sent the bill to the seller's realtor. You think there was ever even a communication from the seller's realtor or from the seller? Nada. My friend found an email address for him online and emailed. No response. What a loser that seller was.
The junk left behind is usually seen during the walk-through, before closing. I have negotiated credits to have the junk removed, during closing for some of my clients who were surprised by the amount of junk and filth left behind.
and instead insisted herself that an amount be escrowed and since the listing agent said she would be personally responsible if the junk were not out of the house....the house sale closed.
If they had the escrow money, why even deal with these "friends" trying to clean up? Use the money to get it professionally hauled away.
Have we reached the point that an addendum specifying " clean and clear of debris anywhere on the property" needs to be added to the contract?
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