Need an opinion from people who have SOLD their homes, or from realtors!

[clh2]

My sisters and I are helping my dad get his house sold. He has an offer, closing scheduled for end of the month.

The contract states…
Property shall be in broom swept condition and free of all debris, refuse, and personal property except for personal property belonging to current tenants, or sold to Buyer or left with Buyer's consent.

So…our thought is,..basement & garage swept, bathrooms, hallways, kitchen to be swept, and all carpeted areas vacuumed. Obviously, debris gone, and my dad’s stuff will be out.

Realtor feels a deep clean is needed at this time. Keeping in mind, we had a deep clean done in late June, prior to the house being listed.

As a seller, assuming you has a similar clause, how much cleaning did you do prior to the closing?

 

[kdonnel]

As a courtesy we have always paid for cleaners to come on move out day.

Generally it was well received by the new owners.

Once however the cleaners called and said the new owners didn’t want the cleaning and would rather move in early. We told the cleaners to keep the money we paid them, leave and have a good day.

 

[Lumpy1106]

"Deep clean"? How clean was it when they decided to buy it? If it was not clean when you listed then that would effect the value - which the buyer would realize when they don't pay as much for the house. I'd sweep, MAYBE vacuum, then call it a day.

 

[kymom99]

No, I wouldn’t deep clean anything. We sold our house a week ago without a realtor. Our contract didnt have a cleaning clause. My husband asked if we should wipe things down as it had been several months since it was cleaned but I voted no.

 

[tvguy]

We did a deep cleaning of our daughter's house right before it was listed for sale in July. The Real Estate agent did suggest a cleaning service, but felt our deep cleaning did the job when she did a walk through before the listing went hot.
I am not aware of any clause requiring a deep cleaning in the sales contract. When our daughter bought the house five years ago, SHE did her own deep cleaning before moving in, just like her mom and I did 41 years ago when we bought our house. That way if there was an issue with the cleaning, we had control over the contractor and payment until it was made right if there was an issue.

 

[leebee]

If it doesn't specify deep cleaning, it's not expected. Sweep/vacuum, wipe down counter tops, make sure your dad's stuff is out of the house. That's all I'd do- it's what's in the sale contract.

 

[princesscinderella]

No need to deep clean as I'm sure the new owners are going to go in there and do some painting, renovating and cleaning of their own. Just leave all the rooms empty with nothing the new owners have to dispose of and you are good to go.

 

[BayouQueen]

New home owners typically have their own “freshen up” in mind when they move in. It would probably be a big waste of money to have that done beforehand.
Of course, just as a common courtesy the home should be left in as tidy condition as possible.

 

[barkley]

we've sold 2 homes. both had similar wording to what you dad's has in the contracts. we did a sweep/wipe/vacuum/light mop. if the buyers had wanted a 'deep clean' then they should have requested it in their contract and it would have been a consideration in the negotiation.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

My sisters and I are helping my dad get his house sold. He has an offer, closing scheduled for end of the month.

The contract states…
Property shall be in broom swept condition and free of all debris, refuse, and personal property except for personal property belonging to current tenants, or sold to Buyer or left with Buyer's consent.

So…our thought is,..basement & garage swept, bathrooms, hallways, kitchen to be swept, and all carpeted areas vacuumed. Obviously, debris gone, and my dad’s stuff will be out.

Realtor feels a deep clean is needed at this time. Keeping in mind, we had a deep clean done in late June, prior to the house being listed.

As a seller, assuming you has a similar clause, how much cleaning did you do prior to the closing?

Broom swept condition means what you can accomplish with a broom/vacuum etc.
Counters, sinks, appliances, shower, and tub clean.
Non carpeted floors swept, carpeted floors vacuumed.
Garbage taken out, Personal property out of the house.

It doesn't mean professionally cleaned.

 

[lovesmurfs]

We just moved last month from our first home. We had the movers come on Thursday, cleaners on Friday. They did a great job and I'm glad we had it done, but it was an extra $400 in the move budget. And also the first time in over 26 years some of the areas were revealed!

I think, in your case, that it's not necessary.

 

[sam_gordon]

Realtor feels a deep clean is needed at this time.

Say "OK, but we're going to take that cost out of your commission. Good?"

 

[LuvOrlando]

No, done is done. Meeting Certificate of Occupancy rules is enough in PA but there either seller or buyer can do it within a year to pass.

Since the realtor is getting paid I'd let them know they have permission to go over it themselves providing no additional costs or that they are free to hire someone out of their pocket but you are done with it in every conceivable way.

Most new owners clean anyway and put in new floors, paint etc.

 

[Disneylover99]

So…our thought is,..basement & garage swept, bathrooms, hallways, kitchen to be swept, and all carpeted areas vacuumed. Obviously, debris gone, and my dad’s stuff will be out.

That sounds perfect.

 

[china mom]

I agree with all of the above. I have bought and sold numerous houses over the years and have never experienced anything more than sweeping, wiping, vacuuming type cleaning. Bathrooms should be clean enough to pass your mother's inspection. Haul your stuff out and give it one last vacuum and sweep.

 

[ronandannette]

I’ve always left our properties in move-in clean condition, just the way I would want to find it. Kitchen (including appliances) ****-and-span, bathrooms sanitized, floors vacuumed and mopped, windows clean and the yard tidied and mowed. I’d feel like a slob doing anything less. That said, it’s never been specified in the Sales Agreement and I’ve certainly moved into places that were less than pristine. That’s always a let-down and I won’t ever be the one to do it to somebody else.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

This is common language in real estate contracts here. When we sold our first house, we thought we met these requirements but the buyer tried to come back and claim it was insufficient. They tried to have us billed for a deep cleaning after closing, but that didn't work in their favor. With our last home sale, it was the same jargon and our realtor advised a deep clean. I had just paid for one right before the house went on the market and had been keeping the home spotless in the month between listing and closing. So, I did a standard personal cleaning at the time of move out and left it at that.

 

[Pooh2]

Wow! A cleaning clause in the contract?
I guess times have changed from when we bought our house 35 years ago!

 

[firefly_ris]

We have sold 3 houses. I did sweep, vacuum and made sure the bathrooms were clean and kitchen countertops were wiped down. I did not hire anyone to clean nor do I know anyone who has done that. We are generally pretty tidy people so after all the furniture was out just a decent regular cleaning was fine, looked and smelled nice.

I do not recall ever having a cleaning expectations section in any of the contracts; that is new to me. I cleaned because I would want someone else to do the same for me. Of course two of the homes we bought were nasty gross foreclosures so my expectations were lowered or non-existent for those particular two, haha. But for a regular "move in condition" property I would hope for swept floors and lack of debris but I would not expect a professional deep cleaning.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

I don't think we had a cleaning clause when we sold our home. The people who bought our house did a walk through with us when we were still living in it. They wanted to know how some things worked. We didn't mind. I've always kept a very clean house. When house when up for sale, from top to bottom it was prepped. Even the sellers realtor asked me if we lived this way because the house is so clean. After the moving company got our stuff all loaded on the truck, we did a clean up and wipe down of floors and cabinets. That's all that really needed to be done. I wouldn't leave a mess for someone else to clean.