Nobody is pleased to loose their tenancy deposit money, when moving out. We all rely on it to cover some of the expenses that occur when changing your rental home. Here is a list of 12 things to do before moving out in order to remain on good terms with your landlord and to get back your money.

10 Things to Care for Before Moving Out

  1. Patch all the holes in the walls. After packing all your pictures and wall art, throw away all the nails. Buy some spackling paste and fill the holes – it will approve significantly the appearance of every room.

  2. Freshen up the walls. As the time goes by paint changes colour, fades, and gets stains and spots, especially if you use adhesives to fix your wall art. Cleaning all the scuff marks and stains will take more time and resources than just re-painting. This way the wall will look as good as new and you will take your deposit money back.
  3. Clean door knobs and light switches. The devil is in the detail. Wiping these elements will take you no more than 20 minutes bull it’s worth the time and the effort.
  4. Clean windows, mirrors and glass doors. Dirty windows, fingertips on the doors and mirrors look horribly and can make even the cleanest room look poorly cleaned. Take care of this task when doing your end-of-tenancy cleaning routine.

  5. Clean the kitchen appliances. Dirty fridge, oven or washing machine leave the impression you’ve neglected the place. Cleaning these appliances sometimes is time-consuming, but is one of the key chores to do if you want to get your deposit. Check our easy oven cleaning tutorial here.
  6. Leave the bathroom impeccably cleaned. Scrub the bathroom and toilet using strong product, even if you prefer green cleaning. Eco-friendly methods usually work slowly and when we are moving out we don’t have enough time. Put the classic chlorine bleach in good use – sparkly clean bathroom will give you extra point when showing you landlord the place.

  7. Clean the curtains and blinds. All textile items accumulate a lot of dirt and dust over time. Be sure to vacuum and wash the curtains thoroughly in order to get your deposit back.
  8. Take care of dirty carpets. Steam clean all the carpets and rugs in your rental home to bring back their as-new look. You can rent a steam cleaner or hire professional carpet cleaning company to do the job for you. Check how to easily clean the carpet by yourself.

  9. Empty closets and cupboards. People often think they are making their landlord a favor when leaving half-used bottle of detergent or a broom in the house. The truth is that it looks that you didn’t cared enough to collect all your stuff. The only things you can leave when moving out are a roll of toilet paper and a soap bar.
  10. Wipe-off the dust. When you are done with all the cleaning, spare some time to wipe of the dust. Don’t forget to clean all the light fixtures too. Leave this final touch for last, because the dust usually re-appears soon after you clean it.

Clean thoroughly and pay attention to details. If you do all of the things above you can be sure that your landlord will be pleased and will have t give you your deposit back. However, it is a wise step to take photos right after you clean the house, so there is no speculation about doing your part of the deal.

If you don’t have the time to deep-clean the place when moving out, don’t hesitate to contact end of tenancy cleaners in your area – it is better to invest in hiring professionals, than leaving it up to your landlord to decide how much do you own for the same service.