Whatever I have bought or rented has never been clean enough for ME!! The place will be dirty because all the dust bunnies that were hiding under large furniture will be exposed and running around! LOL. Also if the sellers were packing up till the last minute, you know they didn't have time to be cleaning.

Can you have a cleaning service come very late that night or very early the next day? I was lucky with our last 2 houses that we had 2 week overlaps so I was able to go over every night, after DH got home, and clean the house.

I'd ask my agent to tell their agent that a cleaning service will need to be there bright and early the next morning.

If the sellers don't want to pay for it, their agent should.
After all, you are doing them a favor by lettiing them move after closing

We were always relocated due to my husbands job and his company provided a cleaning service for after we moved out. I always told the buyer this and most of them were grateful to have a clean home to come into. One buyer however was in a rush to get into the home and wanted to skip having the cleaning crew come in. I explained to her that the house would be broom swept and carpets vacuumed but I didn't have the time to do a thorough cleaning job, thus the cleaning service. She still declined because of time constraints on her part. So I figured all I could do was offer, if she didn't want the cleaning service, too bad for her.

I also recall for that particular house, that movers were barely out of the driveway when the buyers started moving in.

Every house that we have moved into was cleaned by a service before we moved in. Paid for by previous owner. And in return we have had our houses cleaned by a service for the new owners. I would never dream of leaving our houses dirty for the new owners. "Broom clean" is not good enough for me. While we were living in our homes dirty is perfectly fine, I'm not the neatest housekeeper. But when we left it was empty, spotless and ready for the next owner. NancyLouise

I don't think you have to put up with the closing past the deadline. What does your contract say about move in condition? Many say the place has to be "broom clean".

Once papers are signed, doesn't the house belong to you?

Yes, it says Broom swept in the contract. I believe the contract says 5pm day of closing. I will check. SO if they are still moving at 5pm I can kick them out if they dont' agree to pay for a cleaning service? :) THese people weren't too meticulous about the house upkeep so I am not going in with anything positive to work off of....
I think I will tell them to provide a cleaning service, or ask them if you will. The husband got a new job in another city so maybe he can have the relo co cover it- not sure if there is one.

roselvr, in some places it's common for the seller to remain in the house for a couple of days past closing, for moving purposes. So no, the house may not be automatically "yours" when the papers are signed. When we sold our house in SoCal last fall the contract said we had 3 days past closing to be out. The house we just bought in Oregon was vacant so there was nothing in the contract about that.

We told our realtor here that we wanted a walk-through day of signing to make sure everything was still ok (have heard horror stories of sellers taking light fixtures and leaving holes in walls etc) but since the house was vacant it was no big deal.

emb7,what time of day is your closing set for? Can they be moved out one day ahead of time? Then you could walk the house before closing and see how clean it is. What advice is your realtor giving you on the "they will be there past 5" announcement?

If I were the seller I probably wouldn't pay for a cleaning service for you, since it wasn't in the contract. But I also wouldn't have a moving company there without my being present, so I wonder about that. Why won't the sellers be there? Have they already moved away? What if some of their furniture or artwork gets damaged? They need to be there for documentation.

Won't you be glad when this is all over? Of course, then the unpacking begins ... :-)

I know in some states it's required by law that the home be broome clean when the new owners take over.
The last house we bought the old owner had been out of the country for the move, her daughter who was living with her oversaw the move. They left alot of stuff behind. Some folks would have been upset over it, me I just figured it was a chance at getting a peak at what the previous owners were like, something old house owners always wonder.
In your case I think I'd be asking the my agent just what the heck is going on. This whole thing sounds like it was sprung on you at the last mintue after you signed. You deserve some answers and need to protect your interest. As someone else has said it's not uncommon after the papers are signed for sellers to try and walk off with stuff that was suppose to stay with the house or for there to be damage cause of careless movers.

If the sellers can't be out before closing, can you just delay closing 1 day so that you have a chance to walk through the house after they're out but before you hand over the money? There's the chance of the sellers taking fixtures with them, or what if the movers damage something, or what if the sellers don't move out as scheduled? A friend of mine bought a house, and the sellers took every towel bar, light fixture and curtain rod, and even dug up a bunch of the shrubbery and took that with them too. It sounds bizarre, but it happens. And after closing, you don't have much in the way of leverage. Read your contract carefully to see what it says about closing, but I'd be tempted to tell them they need to be gone so you can have a walk-thru before closing. They can either be gone in time for the scheduled closing, or you're willing to delay closing 1 day so that they can be gone.

Our state gives possession upon recording, not closing. Sometimes it will record the next day, but we closed on a Friday, so recording didn't happen until Monday. Our sellers had every right to stay in the house until Monday, but were actually out that Sat. evening. We had no legal right to the house until late Monday. It's pretty hard to leave your stuff sitting in a moving van, have a walk-through and close on both your old place and the new place.

Just because movers are the last ones in the house doesn't mean it will be dirty. Our movers were great and we moved in the dead of winter.

Gloria

I agree with silvercomet - I'd see about closing a day later, if it's not inconvenient for you. I'd want to see the house empty before I closed. What title company are you using? The one we used was amenable to making it work with our schedule and very helpful in getting things done on time.

Good luck! Post some pictures!

I can't imagine closing on a house without a walk-through of an EMPTY house immediately beforehand.

At least, if there is a problem - say there's been a water leak that has just flooded the kitchen or there is a hole in the carpet where the couch once sat - there is still time to have money set aside in escrow. And how is a person ever assured that the owners don't stay till they're darn good and ready to get out??

That would be scary to me......

As we all find out, state's have different laws governing real estate transactions. Connecticut is fairly strict. The house must be "broom swept." Prior to the closing, a walk through is required, unless the buyer opts out. At the time of the closing, the sellers must be out. At closing, when the papers are all signed, you receive the keys, the house is yours.

If sellers desire to stay after the closing date, it must be negotiated in the contract. The buyers can required you pay "rent" if they desire.

On our last move, we closed on our present home two weeks before the closing on our old one. We could not negotiate a closing date with the buyers for the same day. So for two weeks, we had two houses and a bridge loan.

During the two weeks, we had the new house floors repaired and refinished - on the seller's dime. We hired a professional cleaning service to clean the entire house.

The last item out of the old house was the vacuum cleaner!

Enjoy the journey.

eal51 in western CT

minet, thanks for clarifying. When I closed on my last house, I had to be out before closing. Same for my parents house, as well as my neighbors that recently sold.

I think the idea to delay closing for a day is a good one. They'll be out, you can walk the house to make sure there are no surprises.

My house was vacuumed but by no means clean. I wish I had the foresite to hire a cleaning service before I moved in. -- AND a professional carpet cleaner.

Our house was an absolute pit. The woman living here before us had been very ill for years, and hadn't been able to clean it for quite a while. I'm still peeved to this day that she didn't hire anyone to clean it after moving out. If I could have afforded it, I would have, but we were too stretched already as it was.

DH and I thought we were so smart when we stipulated that the sellers remove the carpeting (but leave the rather nice, thick padding). We could see some stains and assumed that was because they had a German Shepherd. We forgot that they also had three little girls, and were too dumb to realize that if the carpeting is stained, so is the pad! With the carpet gone, we could see MANY more stains where the little girls had "gone". We spent our first day on our hands and knees in the heat of July pulling up the padding and removing a zillion staples. Fortunately the wood beneath was fine.

This is a most informative board!! I feel really stupid now...I closed on my house on march 20, 2005...the people were still here until the middle of April...something about 30 days..I never imagined having a final walk though with the house empty before closing...Was I taken advantage of in this aspect? Oh, BTW, the house was FILTHY..They had like 3 cats and a couple of dogs and my go, animal hair was everywhere..I spent forever vacuuming out the ducts and sweeping...

transcriberchick -- it's not common in all areas of the country to get possession at closing, so a final walk through in an empty house isn't going to happen in areas of the country where it's common for the sellers to stay past closing. I'm not sure what is the norm for your area of the country.

Emb, don't freak out. You bought a lovely house from decent people. The worst that will happen is that the place will be a little grungy. The cost of a cleaning service is tiny compared to the cost of this house. Relax and rejoice in your new home.

I agree that there is no need to be 'freaking out'. It is also silly to be talking about 'kicking them out' if they are not out by 5pm. Is it really such a big deal if they are still taking out a few pieces of furniture at about 5:10pm or 5:30pm???

It is not just sellers movers who might leave the place not quite clean. I remember sighing when I saw the way the buyer's movers were moving their furniture, scrapping things against the wall etc.

I wonder about the mean-spiritedness that some people exhibit on this forum.

On our walkthrough the night before, the house was still filled with furniture, pictures were still hanging on the walls and the cabinets were still full.

The day of, our sellers shut the U-Haul door after we got to the house. We were supposed to take possession at 5pm. We showed up at about 5:30 thinking they'd be gone by then. They were nice people and they apologized for leaving the place so dirty. And believe me, it was dirty. We changed the locks and left on our honeymoon for ten days. When we returned we smelled something awful in the house. Apparently they had left a couple of hardboiled eggs in the disposer and didn't run it. Yuck. There was also stuff left in the cabinets and some abandoned clothing in the closets. I was a little miffed but all in all it wasn't bad.

When we sold our house last summer I had two housecleaners come to work along behind me as I emptied each room into the moving truck. By the time the last items were being put on the truck, the cleaners were almost done. The buyers moved in two days later - to a spotless house.

When we moved into our current house four months ago, it was pretty clean (although the oven was incredibly dirty and carpets needed vacuuming). I could tell it was done by the owners, not a professional cleaner, but they still did a decent job.

When we sell we plan on hiring cleaners again - it makes all the different not to have to worry about it. And yes, it'll be at my (the seller's) expense.

The house we recently sold in SoCal we left in broom-swept condition. The only requirement in the contract was that we remove all personal possessions.

When we bought that house 4 years ago it was left dirty for us. The sellers had already moved out of state a few days before and they left all kinds of junk in the house, garage and yard. I had to hire a junk-removal company to come take it away, for $140. All kinds of things including letters and photos in old dressers that were in the backyard. I don't recall if we had said everything had to be removed - I just couldn't imagine that they would leave their junk for us to deal with. And in SoCal the "closing" is all done by fax and mail, so no chance to hold money back in escrow at the last minute.

In buying the current house it was a plus that it was vacant because we could see everything and knew there wouldn't be any junk left behind.

So emb7, update us. Any news?

bought and sold in the last 9 months and both were in impeccable condition.That said the home we sold was 30+ years old, and the home we purchased was 3...

I actually met the seller this wk when we went over to take some measurements. SHe was very nice and said they plan to have it professionally cleaned after they move out. I think her movers were able to move up the schedule so they dont' run so close to the closing time. They orig wanted a March 7 close date, we agreed to 2/27, then they called and said they could do 2/15, then called back and said never mind. Then called again and said 2/23, then called back again said never mind. Kinda odd but I think they were looking at how quickly they can get into their new home in another state. I am sure it's going to work out fine, just get a bit scared sometimes. It's my first house (had a condo in CHicago) and I just want it all to go smoothly!

Our house was a complete nightmare when we moved in. It had been abandoned for a year and before it had been used been broken into off and on and used as a crack house from what I've been able to get from people who live around here. The carpet was so dirty that it took five professional attempts to get it liveable. We could have scraped the grime off the wall with a spatula. We bought it to tear down and build on. Great lot, few neighbors, great neighborhood.
It was a steal because of it. Nobody could see past the nastiness. It went for 35k and is now worth around 110k three years later. :~)

emb7 -- you need to relax and stop stressing out about every little detail. I know that's easier to say than do, but you'll enjoy the whole process so much more if you don't fly into a panic every time something doesn't go exactly the way you have it planned out in your head. Every real estate transaction we have had has been different, you can try to pre plan and get organized as much as you want, but there are always those little rollercoaster curves thrown your way. I learned long ago to sit back and enjoy the ride. It helped me to keep my sanity through some transactions that were way out of the norm. Relax and enjoy your new home. Before you know it you'll be posting over on the decorating or remodeling forum !!!

Thanks Cordova mom. I seem to get more conservative and nervous the older I get! :) It's a great house in a super neighborhood, I can figure out the rest once we settle in! It helps reading others stories on here to realize how crazy things can get, we all survive!

We bought our house from two elderly sisters who were both in nursing homes. They had held off on selling because they had hoped to move back home. They finally realized they had to sell it. Thus, it had been empty for almost 18 months when we first saw it.

There were cobwebs hanging off the ceiling, and a few abandoned items here and there. They had owned dogs, and the carpeting smelled of you-know-what. Plus their remodeling taste was decidedly iffy -- when I first walked through the house I told our partner, "This is hands-down THE ugliest house I've ever seen!"

But we bought it anyway, and ended up loving it after we gutted the interior and did a complete top-to-bottom remodel. However, since generations of spiders had lived and died in the 2 years before we moved in, it's still clear that they consider this THEIR house, not ours. I still have to fight to keep them at bay, LOL. I keep reminding myself, "They're the good insects...."