Move out cleaning when your agent gets the keys
You're renting, so this is an end of lease clean. Queenslanders call it a bond clean and people in WA call it a vacate clean. Each state sets a standard, reasonably clean or as clean as at the start, judged against how the home was when you arrived.
No state or territory tenancy law we read requires a renter to hire a professional for an ordinary clean. If you'd rather spend your last days on boxes and keys, handing it over is a fair choice, and it's still only a choice.
A move out clean when a buyer gets the keys
In Victoria, Consumer Affairs says a buyer is entitled to inspect the property at any reasonable time during the week before settlement, and the contract requires the seller to hand it over in the same condition as when it was sold. That's about condition, not cleaning, and other states work from your own contract, so ask your conveyancer.
Even so, leaving the place clean is a good way to finish. Empty cupboards, a wiped-out fridge and clean floors make for a quiet handover.
Move out cleaning before a new tenant moves in
Keeping the place as a rental? Your clean becomes the starting line for the next entry condition report. In Victoria, a rental provider can only require professional cleaning at the end in two cases. One is that the home was professionally cleaned immediately before the tenancy started and the renter was told, so ask your property manager to record it if that's what happened.
Moving day: where the move out clean fits
Get everything out
That includes the garage, the top shelves and the back of the pantry. A cleaner can't get to what's still there.
Keep the power and water on
Leave the disconnection until after the clean. Vacuums and mops rely on both.
Let the clean happen
Do it yourself or let the business in once the truck has gone. Agree how they'll return the key.
Take photos, then hand over
Walk through the empty rooms with your phone. Keep the photos until the bond or settlement is done.
What move out cleaning leaves for you
Gardens, lawns, rubbish removal and repairs aren't part of a cleaning job here. Book the tip run or a skip before the clean, and sort nail holes separately. Wall marks can be added as a spot clean, which isn't patching or painting.
Your share of the move out clean in a busy week
Worth doing yourself
- Defrost and empty the freezer a few days ahead.
- Take the last load of rubbish before the clean.
- Leave a note of anything that's stuck or broken.
Where a cleaning business earns its keep
- Kitchen and bathrooms, once everything's out.
- Inside wardrobes and along skirting boards.
- The oven and inside windows, if you add them.
Our move out cleaning plan: work back from the handover
Work backwards from the handover. Put the clean straight after the removalists and before the keys are due, keep the utilities on until it's done, and allow a little buffer for a late truck. Then photograph every room on your way out, whoever is getting the keys.