Moving Etiquette (regarding new owner of the house you sold) (truck, expensive)

[bearz]

Originally Posted by donsabi

The way you leave a house or apartment says a lot about you. I always clean any property I leave. I also leave a full roll of TP, light bulbs in all the lights, and a roll of paper towels by the sink. I also usually leave the phone book or maps I may not be needing in the future.

We do this too... And I leave all our take out menus if we are not moving local

[veuvegirl]

When we bought our first house, the old owners left loads of 'crap' in the basement and the garage, and the place was a mess. I was furious. This is where your escrow money comes into play. Had I wanted to, I could have charged the old owners for hauling away of what they left and cleaning the house.

Check your contract, most of them say the house should be 'broom swept', which means clean and nothing left behind. If you think the new owners want what you are planning on leaving behind, check with them first.

[BlueyedCat]

Originally Posted by donsabi

The way you leave a house or apartment says a lot about you. I always clean any property I leave. I also leave a full roll of TP, light bulbs in all the lights, and a roll of paper towels by the sink. I also usually leave the phone book or maps I may not be needing in the future.

This is what I do also. We always tell the new owner that everything they will need will be in a kitchen drawer. We put all the keys labled to what they go to, all the phone numbers for the utilities, a phone book and manuals to the appliences. And the house is always cleaned before I take that last step out the door and lock it.

[brook2ga]

Originally Posted by donsabi

The way you leave a house or apartment says a lot about you. I always clean any property I leave. I also leave a full roll of TP, light bulbs in all the lights, and a roll of paper towels by the sink. I also usually leave the phone book or maps I may not be needing in the future.

Exactly! I also left a plant with a note. Leftover paint, tiles, and a snow shovel and salt The house we moved into was clean and I appreciated it.

[cr1039]

For the move in to our home, we requested it be cleaned professionally top to bottom - that was in our closing or whatever

The homeowners DID leave up curtains, rods. etc and we TORE those down


edit - they did leave matching paint and tiles in the garage.

[dogmom]

We have always left any useful leftover paint in the garage, only if it was used with the current paint colors...we always clean, we take our rods down and hubby spackles and paints over them..last house we had wood blinds so those stayed but I took all my valances, they are waverly's and expensive and certainly probably not to any one elses decor..any nail holes also got spackled and painted over. I think that was the only house we did that much too.we have never moved into a house where anyone did that for us, but hubby was bored I guess...

The house we are in escrow on now is vacant and barely lived in, but 4 years old, I will go in before the furniture gets there and clean or have someone clean it..I need to at least start out clean, lol..

[thechappells]

we're closing on our first home next month (yay!). . .with our family, being former dual active duty couple and countless moves between us, we've always left our residences clean--if not cleaner than when we moved in--when we moved out. You couldn't outprocess your assignment if you didn't. i don't hesitate hiring a cleaning service to get the job done especially if it fit in my budget.

i would hope the seller would have the house clean when he moves out. and i understand that everyone has their own levels of "clean", but it would be nice if he could have it professionally done so there's no questions of spots being missed (especially the oven--it was a bit scary considering it has a "self cleaning" feature). if he doesn't, i'm already hiring someone to clean our rental and possibly have her clean our new home BEFORE we move anything in.

in our current rental, the previous tenant left A LOT of trash behind and i don't know how much make-up she used, but let me tell you, there was a nice thick layer of it on the vanity bulbs in the bathroom and please someone explain to me how in the hello does face powder get in the closet?!? (our walk in closet is connected to the bathroom, btw) we let our property management office know that we were not happy campers when we moved in.

it all boils down to common courtesy to us.

[Sweetlady71]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

There's only two ways you know how to treat people, how you've been treated yourself, or you ask. It's been some time since I purchased my house, but I recall having to spend several hours the first day cleaning (with some help) but it was still not clean enough that I'd sleep in it, so the next morning I cleaned a few more hours and then moved my stuff in.

As far as leaving stuff behind, I was thinking of things like partial cans of paint that match the interior rooms, for touch up or repair. I was thinking of wood molding and similar stuff used in home improvement, and useful again if any repair is needed. I was thinking of extra sprinkler pipe and sprinkler couplers, elbows, that kind of stuff that always gets used up eventually because sprinklers always break. I was thinking of leaving some large metal shelf units in the garage because they're too big to move, but I guess I can push all the wood and sprinkler pipes and shelves out to the curb and whoever is fastest can have it, or the city will get what's left.

And please excuse my OP not communicating accurately what I meant.

yes....cleaning is a must, same as in a rental, you clean before you move. we are not talking a full floor to ceiling, they already saw your place when they bid on it, they know what to expect, if it was really dirty when they saw it, and they still bought it, they are probably expecting a dirty house. but if it was very clean when they viewed/bought it, they will expect the same when they move in, afterall, they just paid you alot of money inmost cases for your home, to clean is just common good manners, would you want someone to hand you a big check only to find a mess afterwards?
but just the basics...wipe down sinks, counters, toilets, vacuum/mop floors, take out trash, etc...the basics, mow the yard is a nice touch to, cuz most times, people dont have time to deal with all the left over messes when they move in, they have to start jobs right away, need to paint to match their decor, etc, and yes...most will still clean "their" way, no matter how much you clean, but its still good manners to leave it clean.
as far as leaving touch up paint, shelves, etc, this should be mentioned at closing, ask the new owners if they would want the stuff, if not, be sure its gone before you leave, they will either apprectiate the thought or not want it, best to ask.

[Ohiogirl81]

When I sold my house, you could have eaten off the floors. It was my house, and I cared for it and was proud of it. Why would I leave it a mess under any circumstances?

I left a few things behind for the new owner -- paint, the dehumidifier, trash cans -- and only with his approval. Anything else was thrown/given away.

When I moved into my new house, it was a disgusting disaster: the aforementioned hair and bathroom goop everywhere, dead leaves in the corners, grease on every kitchen surface, dust and mess in every room. I don't think the seller lifted a finger to clean the house after he signed the sales contract. He wound up paying to have the house cleaned for us, but he could have saved himself a few hundred bucks by having some self-respect and doing it himself.

[mimimomx3]

I've always hired a cleaning company to clean the house before we hand it over. I've also been burned, so one of the buying conditions that I make is that the house needs to be professionally cleaned when we take possession.