Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Nov 07, 2009 8:43 pm I've never sold a house before so I'm unsure about how clean the property is expected to be at settlement. Our house is pretty clean anyway, it was cleaned to perfection for the sales campaign, and we keep it up pretty well anyway. I've hired professional cleaners for the day before the settlement but I know they won't do things like cleaning external windows (they were cleaned a month ago anyway), the garden and the garage. When we bought the place it was fairly clean but it had been vacant for at least 2 months or more and I don't think they cleaned just before the settlement took place, it was a little dusty and there were some weeds and leaves in the garden. Re: Cleaning before settlement 2Nov 07, 2009 8:57 pm I'd get a professional cleaner in if at all possible. There are companies that specialise in cleaning for when tenants leave properties and when selling properties. You basically want it to be as clean as possible...imagine you walking into your newly-purchased home. You just don't want to notice anything less than pleasant in terms of dirt, grime, grub, dust, etc. Normal wear and tear is fine. You can tell the difference between that and a slight lack of effort in cleaning. How the hell did I become a senior member!? I know nothing! Re: Cleaning before settlement 3Nov 08, 2009 12:42 pm Personally, I wouldn't hire someone to clean my place before settlement. It doesn't matter how clean a place is when you move in, the first thing you do is clean it - just so you KNOW it is clean . If you keep you home clean anyway a final vacuum, clean of the bathroom and kitchen, mop the floors (general housework really) and maybe a few extra things like making sure there are no bugs etc in the light fittings, and getting any cobwebs on the outside of the windows should do it. They're just going to make a mess with boxes and things anyway Re: Cleaning before settlement 4Nov 08, 2009 4:26 pm I agree with Dilla - when we sold our house, we made sure it was completely spotless for the inspections. We had carpets dry-cleaned and I spent hours scrubbing every corner and even dusting the tops of doors (I never did that once in the 22 years we owned it ). We'd also done some repainting and a lot of touch-ups, so the walls were all in good nick. When it came to settlement though, I just made sure to give it a good basic clean after we moved all our stuff out - vacuumed, mopped, dusted skirtings and window sills, cleaned kitchen appliances and bathroom fittings etc, pretty much a normal clean. Outside, we mowed a few days before and I made sure the garden beds were reasonably weed-free, without being obsessive. The only extra thing I did was wipe out every cupboard shelf and every drawer. And put the bins out on the kerb, because we'd filled them to the brim. Re: Cleaning before settlement 5Nov 08, 2009 4:58 pm Oh yeah...I completely forgot that you would've already cleaned the place thoroughly before selling...so it should already be clean for settlement pretty much. I'm just lazy and hate housework. lol How the hell did I become a senior member!? I know nothing! Re: Cleaning before settlement 6Nov 08, 2009 7:01 pm It dosn't really matter, it's not like they wont buy it, if it is dirty. The house I bought wasn't very clean, mainly kitchen cupboars, and 10 years of dust on the bathroom curtain, but the woman was heavily pregnant, so can't really complain. I would not spend money, but clean it yourself. Re: Cleaning before settlement 7Nov 09, 2009 10:32 am Well in my experience with my dad buying investment properties, the ones that are on the cheaper end (fibro, less than 600k) have been very dirty (most likely because they were rented and landlord/tenants didn't clean it). The more expensive homes are always clean as like you have all said, it's spotless for the Open House and so on. DA approved Waiting on a few more Builder's quotes. Re: Cleaning before settlement 8Nov 09, 2009 11:28 pm I have already booked professional cleaners because although the place is very generally clean, I won't have time to clean out all the cupboards and drawers after we have packed up, and clean/dust behind removed furniture (the fridge esp). Plus, we have to put everything but personal belongings into storage for a few weeks so I won't have access to cleaning gear once the movers have left. It's the extra things the cleaners won't do that are the issue for me, like external windows, the garage and the garden. And yes, I will be cleaning the new place before anything is put away as well. Thanks for all the input. Re: Cleaning before settlement 9Nov 12, 2009 11:07 am I'm a bit of a clean freak (i dust the skirtings, window sills, tops of doors every week!) So when we sold our place recently I just gave the interior of the house a once over when we moved all our stuff out - The usual things - vacuumed, mopped, gave bathrooms a quick going over. I didn't go overboard as, like others have said the new owners were sure to clean it again anyway. We didn't worry about the exterior or the garden at all - it was neat and tidy - I was not going to give the place a spring clean for somebody else's benefit!!! (that was all done for the selling campaign anyway). When we originally bought the place it was reasonably clean but not totally spic and span. We gave it a good scrubbing. If it was cleaner we still would have given it a good clean - just to make sure! The outside hadn't been touched at all - windows dirty, weeds etc. Don't waste your time, effort and/or money on a razzle me dazzle me clean as the new owners will just do it again anyway. Re: Cleaning before settlement 10Nov 12, 2009 11:25 am wow what considerate people you are The place we bought had not been lived in for several years. To give you an idea how dirty it was, the hoover was full from just doing the lounge floor. The pool was lovely & blue when we inspected and murky & green when we moved in. Re: Cleaning before settlement 11Nov 12, 2009 1:15 pm well we are moving out this weekend and settle on the 20th. We are getting the carpets cleaned as our 2 young kids have had a crack at them since we sold the place and we will do a basic clean through the house, mop floors wipe down cupboards, showers etc but outside will be left as is ( a few weeds here & there) as I hate gardening and I aint spending any cash on something I wont be benefiting from. So I will only spend cash on the carpets as I feel that is the fair thing to do, but other than that the light touch approach is enough for me Blog: http://funmore-residence.blogspot.com/ Forum: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=21109 Construction Start - 19/09/09 Slab Poured - 21/10/09 Frame Completed - 25/11/09 Lockup - 22/12/09 Fixing - 22/02/10 Handover & Moved In 30/04/2010 Re: Cleaning before settlement 12Nov 17, 2009 9:55 pm We got a cleaner in prior to settlement. I had planned on cleaning the house myself but my husband ended up in hospital in the week before settlement leaving me to pack and deal with the kids so we opted for a cleaner. For my sanity it was money well spent! We have a new build and need to clean bricks around a newly constructed deck. Need advice about whether to clean bricks with acid prior to oiling the deck, or should we… 0 1949 No, I even have sections of narrowness where the tiles won't slide up any further. 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