Did you clean your old house before you moved out?

Last move 2 years ago I was exhausted from several years with a husband with dementia and mobility problems. I just couldn't face cleaning a largish house on my own so I hired a professional cleaning company to do it for me. I'm so glad I did.

When we moved into this house the oven had a one inch layer of gunge on the bottom of it! I refused to try and clean it and we got in a professional firm. Had to wait 6 weeks.

When I bought my first house, 47 years ago, we exchanged contracts but then the sellers refused to leave. We had to resort to the law to move them out. They took things that were included in the price and hadn’t cleaned but the worst thing was the kitchen sink. They had emptied the fat from a chip pan into it , cleaned their hairbrushes into the fat and then topped it up with water. Nice people !

My friends sold their lovely large cherished house, which had become too much to cope with, to the owner of a nearby hotel. They left it in immaculate condition. Imagine their horror when he turned it into an immigrant hostel.
Several years later it looks like a dump, with filthy curtains at the filthy windows. They had lovingly restored it when they moved in as newlyweds, and it broke their hearts to see what it became. The new owner must have made a fortune.

We thoroughly cleaned our house before leaving and then spent 3 weeks living in a caravan on a holiday site as we couldn't complete on the same day. Our new home was spotless everything very clean and nets washed etc. I was so grateful as we had been living with our furniture in storage so it was nice and easy to unpack at last

I thought you had to as a matter of course. I got a girlfriend to help me and we cleaned everything. Amazing what turned up on top of the high cupboards in the kitchen. I was exhausted and then you have to go through unpacking and sorting everything at the new house. Couldn’t stand the thought of it now at my age.

We generously rented our old flat to a niece, baby, and her partner. When they moved we had to super clean and redecorate before could sell it . We even found a dirty nappy in the bin.

Not everyone has the " March out " standards certainly.

I was interested to see the comments about people taking the light bulbs etc when moving and not emptying the loft. People used to do that years ago, along with taking the carpets etc. I don’t think this would happen today if you are buying a property rather than renting. When we moved two years ago our solicitor asked us to sign a document stating we would leave light bulbs/fittings behind, empty the loft/sheds etc and leave the property in a clean and tidy condition.

We moved in March left old house spotless Our present house we did buy as a renovation project and it was absolutely filthy .It stunk carpets disintegrated as we lifted them .Spent a week cleaning then got tradesmen in for rewire etc never again ! Plumber redoing heating pipes found a leaking drain under the floor in hall cupboard ! Been like it for years likewise gas fire condemned in 2014! All clean and redone now lovely house but spent a fortune on it .

I was thanked for leaving my house 'so clean' for the new owner. The house we moved into was a terrible state even though she promised me, 'I'll give it a good clean'. Our standards obviously differed!

I’ve always cleaned before leaving but these days I think it’s in the documents that you have to. The OP should have complained to her solicitor about it and the seller would be billed for cleaning and for having all the rubbish removed .
It would have been a good idea to take photos of all the mess and send them to the solicitor so that he would know that it was a genuine complaint . Too late now though .

Just moved after 40 years, cleaned house before we left windows, cupboards, oven throughly cleaned week before. Even replaced double glazing unit that had blown.
No so in property we moved into cooker hob and extractor filthy. Windows & blinds dirty, some fittings hanging off wall edging strips on floor broken and carpets/ blinds & curtains were damaged by their cats. We only thought there was one but apparently they had 3.
Electric not working when we moved in.
Hubbys spent several weeks fixing things, old owner a poor DIYer
All top show that looked OK when we viewed but sale took 6 months and I don't think the owners did much at all once theyed accepted our offer.

I’ve rented since 2015. I’ve always cleaned the property I’d left, but everytime I moved into another property it was always dirty. I am totally disillusioned with the whole rental concept but can’t afford to buy a property sadly.

Most people on this forum would probably clean up before moving. But others don't do anything if they think they don't have to. Best thing to do when buying and moving is find out from your real estate agent what condition the home you're moving to will be in, so that a cleaning service can come out to clean if needed. Personally, I always arrange for a service to go in and clean up before I move in. That way, I don't have to worry about it.

We moved last month, from a house I'd cleaned to within an inch of its life (which has been acknowledged by the lovely new owners). But the house we've moved into ... another story. Doggy smelling carpets, sticky worktops, tiled floors which when I mopped them turned the water black, filthy light switches, sockets and extractor fans. No instructions left for any built in appliances or the burglar alarm. The décor looks as if their grandchildren did the whole house in a day. And much, much more. Still, the 'bones' of the house are good and after a long-awaited (booked last February) holiday we've set to rectifying all the problems. It'll take a while though!