What "broom clean" means at settlement
Somewhere in the paperwork of most NSW house sales, between the big clauses, sit two small words that describe the physical state you hand the house over in. They're the reason our company is called what it's called, so we take the definition personally.
The plain-English definition
When a sale contract or your solicitor's letter talks about handing over the property broom clean with vacant possession, it's asking for two related things:
- Vacant possession: the house is empty of people and of goods. Nothing of yours remains, not the boxes in the under-house, not the paint tins on the garage shelf, not the pot plants by the back door, unless the contract specifically includes them.
- Broom clean: the surfaces have been swept or vacuumed. Not renovated, not repainted, not professionally steam-cleaned, simply left tidy: floors swept, obvious debris gone.
In short: everything gone, floors swept. It's a modest standard, and it's precisely the state our crew leaves every clearance in, which is where the name Swept & Gone comes from.
What it doesn't require
Vendors sometimes over-deliver out of nerves. Broom clean does not oblige you to have carpets professionally cleaned, walls washed, or windows done, though a well-presented handover never hurt a relationship with a buyer. Equally, it isn't satisfied by "mostly empty": a shed full of timber offcuts or a side passage of pavers is exactly the kind of thing buyers raise at the final inspection.
Who checks, and when
Buyers in NSW normally do a final inspection shortly before settlement. If goods are still on the property or the place is left in a poor state, the buyer's solicitor can raise it before the money moves, which is a stressful way to spend settlement morning. The clean way through is simple: have the last clearance done after everything you're keeping has left the house, and before that final inspection.
The practical timeline
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| The keep-load leaves | Everything bound for the new place goes first. What remains is, by definition, what needs to go. |
| Clearance day | We clear the remainder, house, garage, garden, sheds, and sweep every room. The house is now vacant and broom clean. |
| Final inspection | The buyer walks through an empty, swept house. Nothing to raise. |
| Settlement | Keys change hands. You're elsewhere, not sweeping. |
If your dates are already set, the presentation clearance page covers how we book the final week, and the planner will sketch it for your dates in a minute.
Useful references
- NSW Fair Trading: buying and selling property, the consumer-facing guide to the NSW sale process, contracts and settlement.
- NSW Government: buying and selling property, including what to expect at the final inspection.
This is general information, not legal advice: your contract's own wording governs, and your conveyancer or solicitor is the person to confirm it with.
Tell us the date. We'll work back from it.
Send the enquiry, we'll come and look, and you'll have a fixed price before anything is lifted. Then it's loaded, swept and gone.