Are you getting ready to move to a new apartment? When rents have increased by 10% in the past year, that’s not surprising. People need to find more affordable areas to live in to save more money.
However, you’ll have some work to do before you leave. If you want to get your security deposit back, you need to ensure you don’t leave problems behind for your landlord.
That’s why it’s vital to leave your apartment clean when you move. Use the apartment cleaning checklist below to learn how to clean your apartment when you leave.
Dust Everything
If you don’t do much to clean your home, the chances are good that dust and cobwebs are everywhere in your apartment. This dirt creates a problem for landlords because it’s more work for their cleaning company.
That’s why it’s good to dust all your surfaces and clear out cobwebs before you move. Even if you don’t have dirty surfaces after moving your furniture, dust will spread everywhere when you’re moving your items. It will transfer off your furniture and items onto other surfaces.
If you want to make sure everything appears spotless, it’s a good idea to hire a professional cleaning service of your own for the job.
Patch Holes in the Wall
You want to leave your apartment in its original condition when you first arrived. However, that won’t be possible if you put holes in the wall to mount a TV or hang pictures.
Luckily, this problem is easy to fix. Look for hole patch products at your local home improvement store and use your purchase to patch over the holes you make.
If you don’t do this, you’ll lose some money from your security deposit since your landlord will spend their own money to fix the holes.
Apply a Fresh Coat of Paint
If you’re like most people, you want to personalize your apartment when you move in. Much of the time, using a fresh coat of paint when you move in is a great way to change things up and make your apartment feel more like home.
However, your landlord will want to repaint the walls after you leave if you don’t use a neutral color. They want your apartment to appeal to as many people as possible, so using unique colors and wallpaper will detract from the apartment’s value.
A fresh coat of paint will make things easier. Look for the color your apartment had before you moved in and reapply it throughout the space.
Clean the Closets and Pantry
It’s common for tenants to leave items in pantries and closets. After all, they may not need those things anymore. Why should people bring unwanted items with them?
It’s a problem because you’re creating extra work for your landlord. It falls on them to clean out everything you leave behind, and it often costs them money to do so.
Look through every closet and drawer in your home for any items you missed. Make sure they’re clean before you leave your old apartment for good.
Unclog Your Drains
Drains are easier to clog than you think. Your sinks, toilets, and showers may look fine at a glance, but things may be draining more slowly than usually without you noticing.
That’s why checking your drains for clogs is a critical step you can’t skip before you move out of your apartment. You don’t want to get stuck with a large plumbing bill after you leave.
One of the easiest ways to do this is with a drain cleaner. One or two drain cleaning products are likely enough to unclog any minor issue. You can also use snake drains to pull up any hair stuck in the drains.
Clean Your Carpet
Stains are one of the worst things to leave in your apartment after you leave. They take more work to get out than traditional cleaning, so you may end up with extra costs if your landlord needs to do more work after you leave.
Luckily, you don’t need to buy an expensive carpet cleaner to get the job done. Many home improvement stores will allow you to rent a cleaner for a fraction of the money.
Head to one of those stores and pick up a cleaner to use. Go through all your carpeted area to give them a deep clean. You never know what’s lurking beneath your carpet.
Do a Final Inspection
You may think you covered all your bases when cleaning up your apartment, but that won’t always be the case. Even if you follow a checklist, there’s still a chance that you miss a step and leave something behind.
Before finalizing your move, go through your checklist again to look for outstanding issues. Doing this will ensure there’s nothing your landlord can say that will cause you to lose your security deposit.
Take Pictures
While most landlords are truthful about the state of apartments after tenants leave, that won’t always be the case. Some landlords use moving-out time as a way to do upgrades on old apartments. They do this by lying about damage and messes.
You can avoid this hassle by taking pictures of everything before you leave. If you have evidence that you left your apartment in great shape, there’s little a landlord can do to withhold your security deposit when they lie about the state of your apartment.
Make Sure You Leave Your Apartment Clean
You can’t afford to leave your apartment a mess when you move if you want to ensure you get your security deposit back. Luckily, there is a lot you can do to have an apartment clean on moving day. Use the moving-out cleaning checklist above to leave your old apartment spotless.
Do you want to read more tips to help you make a successful move? Read the latest posts on the blog for advice.
