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Jan Green - Scottsdale, AZ, HomeSmart Elite Group, REALTOR®, EcoBroker, GREEN (Value Added Service, 602-620-2699)

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Rainmaker
634,482
Kathleen Luiten
Resort and Second-Home Specialist - Princeville, HI
Kauai Luxury Ocean Home Sales

In Hawaii our contract specifies if the property is to be delivered free of all personal property, trash, etc. I've seen situations (fortunately none of my transactions) where the Seller was charged a clean-out fee because they left the things they didn't want to move. I like to set final walk through at least 3 days in advance of closing so money can be held in escrow in case there's a problem.

Mar 12, 2015 05:43 AM
Rainmaker
2,224,473
Debbie Laity
Cedaredge Land Company - Cedaredge, CO
Your Real Estate Resource for Delta County, CO

I haven't had this happen, but I guess I would do what it would take for the house to pass the final walk thru. I'm assuming no personal items were left behind. I wouldn't do anything with those. Depending on my relationship with the seller, I would probably also give them a call and suggest a person that could be hired to clean up their mess. 

Mar 11, 2015 03:20 PM
Rainmaker
4,800,082
Gabe Sanders
Real Estate of Florida specializing in Martin County Residential Homes, Condos and Land Sales - Stuart, FL
Stuart Florida Real Estate

I try not to.

Jun 04, 2018 05:36 AM
Rainmaker
4,319,419
Praful Thakkar
LAER Realty Partners - Andover, MA
Andover, MA: Andover Luxury Homes For Sale

I prefer not to bother them when they are moving - except that I may offer them to have lunch with me on that day.

Mar 17, 2018 08:04 PM
Rainmaker
4,434,127
Gita Bantwal
RE/MAX Centre Realtors - Warwick, PA
REALTOR,ABR,CRS,SRES,GRI - Bucks County & Philadel

I had to do it once as the sellers had moved to China. 

Mar 12, 2015 12:14 AM
Rainmaker
3,416,038
Scott Godzyk
Godzyk Real Estate Services - Manchester, NH
One of the Manchester NH's area Leading Agents

Many times sellers have left a mess and usually it is mot my listing as i go over this with me sellers before what is acceptable and what is not. I was just a buyer agent and upon our walk through we found a mess. When asked what she would do teh listiong agent laughed, the buyer refused to close and i started picking up boxes. The buyer seeing me do it joined it, the listing agent showed up and leaned against the wall playing on her phone. I wrote about it today in my blog. The seller got an eye opening at closing

Mar 11, 2015 11:54 PM
Rainmaker
400,356
Jill Murty, Realtor - Orange County, CA
Movoto - Laguna Niguel, CA

My guideline is that the seller should leave the home how they'd like to receive it.  To most sellers, that means clear of their belongings and trash, and then professionally cleaned.  We discuss it to make sure we're on the same page.

An email to the seller so you have a written response would be a good thing to have.  The contract is between buyer and seller, but as agents we do things to help our clients.  It's much less rewarding to do a nice thing when the client ditches you and leaves you with the mess.

The "Free" category on Craigslist can get a lot of stuff removed pretty quickly.

The seller should not have left you to do what was their responsibility.

Mar 11, 2015 11:09 PM
Rainmaker
5,104,931
Nina Hollander, Broker
Coldwell Banker Realty - Charlotte, NC
Your Greater Charlotte Realtor

I've never had this happen. I probably would have had a discussion with sellers up-front as to how the final clean out would go if there weren't there to supervise. But as to liability, no idea.

Mar 11, 2015 08:49 PM
Rainer
279,878
Dipti Thakkar
LAER Realty Partners - Andover, MA
On a team with Praful Thakkar

No.

Jul 21, 2018 09:23 PM