Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Okay, what if she took pictures of the mess, then hired a cleaning service and brought both the pictures and the bill to the closing? She can ask the sellers if they would pay part of the bill. If they decline, well, she has a clean house.
I can't imagine doing that. Whenever we moved, the house was scoured from top to bottom including the kitchen cupboards. It was inconceivable to me to turn over my beloved home in a filthy condition to new owners.
Okay, what if she took pictures of the mess, then hired a cleaning service and brought both the pictures and the bill to the closing? She can ask the sellers if they would pay part of the bill. If they decline, well, she has a clean house.
I can't imagine doing that. Whenever we moved, the house was scoured from top to bottom including the kitchen cupboards. It was inconceivable to me to turn over my beloved home in a filthy condition to new owners.
Is your friend actually going to wait for either the seller or a professional crew to come in....to flush the toilet and throw out sour milk?!?
As others said, if the house was unoccupied for a few months, it's going to be at least a little dirty and dusty. And if you are already cleaning, then what difference does it make if it's a little bit worse than you expected? I wouldn't bother taking pictures and asking the sellers to clean it. If they were so inclined they would have already done so.
Lesson learned...if you are making an offer on an occupied property, you have to be more specific about the terms of your offer.
It's very strange that the inspector or appraiser didn't tell the buyer that the house was dirty and had old leftover dishes in the sink, milk included. I do find it hard to believe that the house was clean and sparkling for showings if it wasn't left that way when the owners moved. Most slobs are slobs all the time, most clean people are clean all the time.
I have purchased two of my three houses with the previous owners allowing me in a week or two before closing to clean the house. I just prefer to move into a home that I don't have to clean on move in day. My last house was almost never occupied, so no cleaning was really necessary.
And have the sellers pay for it out of closing. There is no reason why the buyer would have to deal with this filth.
I don't think one can enforce the sellers to pay for a cleaning! Realistically it should be cleaned by the sellers out of common courtesy, but reality is you're buying the house and unless it's destroyed I don't think there's much you can do about it. It won't cancel a sale just because the house isn't cleaned. Sucks, but that's the facts! If it was me I would have my realtor call there's at least to complain. If they were decent people they will reimburse you for a cleaning, but I wouldn't hold my breath!
I don't think one can enforce the sellers to pay for a cleaning! Realistically it should be cleaned by the sellers out of common courtesy, but reality is you're buying the house and unless it's destroyed I don't think there's much you can do about it. It won't cancel a sale just because the house isn't cleaned. Sucks, but that's the facts! If it was me I would have my realtor call there's at least to complain. If they were decent people they will reimburse you for a cleaning, but I wouldn't hold my breath!
OP Buyer wants to close.
That reduces real leverage.
But, if the sellers are receiving cash proceeds from closing, buyer can demand money for cleaning and often can be successful. Sellers get itchy palms.
If the sellers want to roll their proceeds into an immediate new home purchase, buyer has some great leverage.
I would ask my realtor to discuss this with the seller's realtor. Homes are supposed to be in the same condition upon closure as they were when you made the offer to buy. It is up to the two of them to solve this problem to your satisfaction. In no way would I EVER go in and clean up that mess. It needs professional cleaning, at someone else's expense.
2 years ago I bought a small house as an investment. At the first viewing it was really messy, couple of absent male renters, not clean at all. At the pre-close walk through it was worse, a candle left burning! a pool of coffee on the kitchen floor, loose change inside and outside the front door like the renters had been chased out at gunpoint lol.
At closing the owner wife glared at her soon-to-be-ex-husband, she didn't want to sell but he was one day ahead of collection agency (we heard) so selling before it could be seized.
The next day our handyman threw everything out including rotting kitchen cabinets.
Walls are concrete so no building rot or bugs. Have never seen anything like it in 10+ real estate transactions.
My cousin found himself in the same situation- he and his wife just sucked it up and paid for the cleaning. It was so bad they had to stay in a hotel for a few nights with their kids since they sold their other house and they had to miss a family wedding since they couldn't move their furniture in until it was cleaned and their lives were chaos.
I intended to get a cleaning crew before I moved out of my house last year, but our buyers were being demanding PITAs in the end. I felt no need at that point to spend more money since they held our feet to the fire to make expensive last minute repairs. We just left it broom clean. Not trashed, but left the dust bunnies behind - I was planning on cleaning the oven since the inside was in rough shape, but I was burnt out running around dealing with the last minute repairs and lost the desire for any good will gestures towards our buyers. Our contract specified broom clean.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
