Is that really necessary?

When I bought this house following divorce I was temporarily living with my parents and we were all desperate for me to move out. This house was perfect for me so I offered the asking price on the understanding that I could move in by a specific date. The day arrived and everything looked as though it was going ahead. My furniture was taken out of storage and put in the removal van and we waited. Eventually someone (can’t recall who) contacted the sellers who said they couldn’t move as they couldn’t take the time off work. My stuff went back into storage and I got a big bill from the removal company. The date was reset for a fortnight later and the same thing happened. I instructed my solicitor to tell them that I had to be in the house by the following Friday or I would withdraw, and I meant it. They did move out at the third attempt but left it until the last minute. The sale agreement stipulated them leaving the carpets, curtains and lampshades. When I went into the house they had left curtains, but ones that did not fit the windows, they’d cut the light fittings off leaving bare wires, removed the fuses from the fuse box, broken the gas oven, broken the gas fire (both of which had been working) had spilled something on the living room and bedroom carpets leaving awful, damp stains that hadn’t been there previously and the bath suddenly had a huge crack in it.
I had planned to replace all these things anyway but the sheer nastiness of this really shocked me.
When I opened the oven that first night I found the most dirty, horrible chip pan filled with solid grey grease. I threw it in the bin thinking no one could possibly want something as evil looking as that. An hour later the previous owner arrived at the door sheepishly demanding his chip pan.
It took weeks to make things right but in all it was a good move and I am very happy in my little home.

Interesting to see this post resurrected.

We moved out of our home on the 21st March, and after a couple of months of living between our daughters and a holiday let we own we moved in to our new home on May 16th.

Our new home was immaculate when we moved in.
I was so grateful.

All the stress and hard work has been pretty much forgotten now, we are incredibly happy in our new home and have a different way of life.

To anyone going through the upheaval, it will all be worth it!

Jocork
What a warm and honest post.
I do hope you find something lovely and easy to live in.
I hope you will be very happy in your new home.

I moved from Hampshire to jersey, when my first baby was barely 10 weeks old. We had a bank house as we were nit allowed to buy.
The previous tenants, also bank employees, knew the situation as DH had asked to delay starting work for a week as our baby was due then! He left for jersey and came home weekends, sea fog permitting.
The previous tenants not only left everything filthy but also removed every solitary lightbulb. I sat down on the floor and cried.
After that experience, I not only cleaned the house, but also left loo paper, information about rubbish collection, doctors, plumbers, etc.
it was never reciprocated. Most houses I moved into after were never especially clean, but useable.

The last time I moved was 22 years ago. We had to put much of our furniture in storage as we were renting until the chain was complete. We left our old house and moved, but the completion was a week or so away so we went back at the weekend and had a party in the empty house to say goodbye to friends and neighbours. Everone brought garden chairs if they wanted to sit down! At the end of the evening cleaning the empty house was relatively easy. I don't expect it was spotless but it certainly wasn't filthy!

When I leave my current house I expect anyone who buys it will be ripping everything out to do a major update. I couldn't cope with cleaning it to a decent standard but I can't imagine anyone would want to move straight in as the house is in a sorry state. I haven't been able to afford proper upkeep and will be selling to move to a cheaper area and downsize. Hopefully when I get more decluttering done I'll be able to do some of the cleaning but I doubt I can make it fit to move into. It wasn't perfect when we moved here and having separated from my ex within a year, all the things we'd planned to do didn't happen as I became a single mum on a low income. I only managed to keep the house by doing a good deal when I divorced and inheriting from my mum around the same time enabling me to pay down the mortgage. Threadbare carpets, ancient kitchen and bathroom etc will need to be ripped out before anyone would want to move in. I expect it will go to a developer. I may even end up having to sell at auction. It's the only house we ever bought that wasn't a new build. I just hope whatever I eventually buy will be relatively problem free.

When we moved 4 years ago I left our house sparkling clean and expected the house we were moving to to be the same. However it was filthy, absolutely no effort had been made to even wipe out a cupboard. It took me nearly a week to go from room to room cleaning and I sustained myself by repeating filthy b.... as a mantra. My house is now clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy 😊

My son has just moved into a new flat, and it was left absolutely filthy. I had to arrange professional cleaners, and two of them spent 8 hours each scrubbing it. £320! Even then we're still finding odd bits and pieces of grot. The worst culprit was the previous owner's lurcher - black dog hair everywhere.

The last house I left (20 years ago) I was still cleaning as I backed out of the front door. I even left them a Moving In card, wishing them as happy a time as we had had there, bringing up our children.

We had sold and put our furniture into storage while looking for our next home. On the day, I picked up the keys and arranged to meet DH there. I opened the front door and cried, the house stunk and was filthy. We stayed with my parents and didn’t move in for 8 months. Every night after work we’d be down there. We ended up pulling ceilings down, knocking walls down etc, a total change. It was a lovely house in the end but it never felt like home.

We have been fortunate as we have moved twice and both times the house was immaculate. A friend of mine moved into a house and had to rip all the carpets out and repaint everywhere as the previous owners were heavy smokers. They had left some curtains in the bedroom and my friend thought she would not be able to keep them as she didn't like the colour. I said l would wash and iron them, which I did, because the actual design was very much to her taste and I was sure that the colour was nicotine. I was proved right and they came up about seven shades lighter than they had been - a rather fetching ivory colour. My friend was amazed and delighted, and, as far as I know, still has them ten or more years later.

My father, a widower, moved into a house just before Covid. The previous owner had just packed a suitcase and left - food in the fridge etc. The sitting room was tiny and full of his furniture. Dad's stuff was dumped by the movers in every tiny space. I had a chest infection and a temperature...but was the only one available to help him. It nearly killed me. So many trips to charity shops and the tip, contacting the Heart Foundation etc. A real nightmare! He didn't stay there long and moved to a 3rd floor flat in a retirement block during Covid. The removal men weren't allowed to use the lift....they were heroes. Dad had to stay in the flat for 2 weeks before being allowed out in case he was harbouring the virus. The 1st time he did a Tesco shop he kept forgetting about the not hugging anyone rule and hugged all and sundry (he's a hugging type of man), picked up a mild case of Covid and hugged me. I've now had Long Covid for 4 years. He'd be devastated if he knew he was the source of this....

we bought a house from a couple who were heavy smokers, once their pictures from the walls and belongings were gone we could not believe how badly stained walls etc were, which we did not notice when pictures were in situ. same house we also found a hole drilled through from the shower cubicle into the spare room build in wardrobe so hubby was a voyeur!

We moved into a privately rented house but it was filthy, from top to bottom and most rooms. The chip fryer was full of old oil and kitchen surfaces and stove/oven covered in grime. Nothing was clean. We couldn't go to bed until we had sanitised the bathroom. We complained to the letting company but they said cleaners had been in. We told them that nothing had been done and it was a total disgrace. They didn't bother to send anyone to help us continue cleaning. We had no where else to go so we had to clean.

We always leave accommodation clean, rented houses clean, and when we sold our house - everything was clean and ready for new owners to move in.

We moved into our house in Essex several years ago that the woman had spent ages cleaning. I really appreciated it but I can't imagine how much bleach she must have used. Everywhere smelt so strongly that it was days before my eyes stopped stinging.

Definitely necessary!! When we moved from our last house we left it spotless. The new owner actually sent us a card thanking us for leaving the house so clean! Sadly we were not as fortunate with the house we purchased. Some people just do not care 😔

Moved many times but always cleaned the whole place before leaving. Also, have been entitled to remove fittings eg the curtain rails! I have though asked the buyer if they want items left, some yes, some no as perhaps not their style. All but one move was clean but of course how do you know up to standard unless you give things a wipe to find out so basically I went over everything anyway.

We were moving into house that the local church organist lived.
Everyone was saying what a beautiful home she keeps.
Come to the day we moved in and it was filthy.
Gease in and on all the kitchen cupboards.
Floors were sticky.
Even the toilet hadn't been flushed.
It was so bad I took photos to send to my mum
showing how bad it was.
She was only in her 50's and was quite fit.
It turned out that she stopped cleaning after accepting
our offer.
I was so angry the next person who said it would be lovely and clean
I showed them the photos.

The worst house was the one I inherited from my grandmother who had been in a care home for a few years. Wiring was dodgy, opening cupboards dead mice fell out, the brambles had grown into the open door of the conservatory, filthy bedding on the beds, kitchen sink full of used tealeaves, etc. We rewired, installed a hot water boiler, did lots of cleaning, got a cat from a rescue and blocked up all the mouse holes. We moved in after 6 months. It was a lovely first home together.

Many years ago, my daughter and partner bought their first house in Bristol after a succession of rented accommodation.

I went to help with the move ,..... and it was filthy absolutely everywhere. For me, the worst was having to clear mouse droppings from every kitchen cupboard before even starting to remove the grime.

My daughter moved into a flat which had looked clean on the surface when she viewed it, but when the kitchen appliances were removed there were mouse droppings everywhere. We'd found the same thing when she moved her appliances from her old flat. Horrid, but unless you have a zealous cat I think that it isn't unusual.

I have always cleaned a flat before moving, and wipe down surfaces, especially in the kitchen on moving in.

I have never had the experience of a filthy house, but when we moved in here, the seller had left 3 large heavy cupboards, and ancient studio couch, and an absolutely hideous ceiling lamp in the one front room. Contrary to the UK, in Denmark, when you move out, you are expected to take down all ceiling lights, except those in the bathroom and kitchen.

I stupidly contacted the seller, a most unpleasant woman, and asked what she expected us to do with the items mentioned, plus some ancient garden tools. Here a house is supposed to be completely emptied of all personal effects by the seller.

She said, she wanted the one large cupboard, so could we move it downstairs. I said we could not, as having employed a foot-rule I was aware that the cupboard was both taller and wider than the staircase, and that even if it had been smaller it was too heavy for me, and my husband could not move it alone. He offered to take it carefully apart, but she wouldn't have that.

Six weeks later, her adult son turned up, agreed that the cupboard could not be carried downstairs and asked my husband if he would take it apart. He did so- nine years later no-one as bothered to collect it - technically it is theft here to dispose of another person's chattels, even if they left them in a house you have bought and paid for, so we kept the component parts of the cupboard for years, but have gradually thrown it out. As I did the lamp, which she demanded and never bothered to come for.

We also discovered that the key to the garage door was missing - she claimed never to have had it, so there was no way of locking the house up when we left home, until DH had bought a pair of very solid bolts and screwed onto the door of the garage!

We moved in somewhere on a cold November day and found that the heating wasn't working, all the hot water was being discharged through an overflow at eaves level.
We always suspected that the previous owner, who resented us not paying the full asking price, had altered the settings to make this happen.
Fortunately my husband was able to sort it out pretty quickly, but I remember sitting crying on the living room floor with my youngest child when it happened.

We’ve only lived in 3 houses since getting married 43years ago. The first was a new build and on getting the keys we spent the weekend cleaning the floors in preparation for the carpets and flooring vinyl to be fitted. From the day we paid the deposit my gram started to create a moving box with all the things we’d need floor mop, washing cloths, tea towels, cleaning supplies and osram mushroom lightbulbs. We took everything over to the house and DH to be at that time fitted lightbulbs into the light fitting so we could work later in the afternoon. There was a couple of snagging issues that needed fixed before the flooring was put down so we left the keys with the site agent that afternoon, but when we went back the next all the light bulbs had been removed. Needless to say I wasn’t happy and demanded the site agent get them replaced, he brought over so bulbs which had obviously been used so he got told replace with like for like or else I’d take the matter further, every time after that he moaned about the cost of the light bulbs.

Luckily I've been fortunate to have moved into clean homes 3 different times. When I moved out of those homes I left them clean. The people who moved in commented on how they found the home as if they were pleasantly surprised so maybe more often than not people don't clean before moving. I was happy it was appreciated but I just wanted to leave the home clean like I found it.

Well done. Very kind - leave some loo paper too.
I once moved from Basingstoke to Jersey with an 8 week old baby. The tenant of the rented bank house knew about the baby but left the house without lightbulbs or loo paper…. But when I went into the kitchen, I just burst into tears, it was filthy and, honestly, I am totally not house proud.