Move-in cleaning in Melbourne: photos, reports and lifts
Photograph it before anyone cleans
If you're renting, the entry condition report is your record of how the place started. You get 2 copies and have 5 business days after moving in to return one, marked with what you agree or disagree with. Take your photos first, so a clean doesn't wipe out the proof of what was there.
Was it professionally cleaned for you?
In Victoria, a rental provider can require professional cleaning at the end if the home was professionally cleaned immediately before your tenancy and you were told so. Ask, and keep the answer in writing.
Your own clean doesn't change that
That rule is about what was done before you arrived and what you were told. A clean you arrange yourself is your own decision, and you can do it however suits you.
Apartments and lifts
Flats and apartments made up 16% of occupied homes in Greater Melbourne in the 2021 Census. Some buildings want contractors to book the lift and use the loading bay, so check with the building manager and put it in the note.
Selling, not moving in?
A pre-sale clean gets a home ready for photos, open inspections or handover to a buyer. Tell the business the photo date or the handover date, so the quote fits around it.
What move-in cleaning in Melbourne covers
It covers the same areas as an end of lease clean: inside cupboards and wardrobes, the kitchen, the bathrooms and the floors. The oven, inside windows, carpet steam cleaning and wall marks are add-ons, so pick the ones the home needs.
With nothing in the way, a cleaner can reach the back of every shelf and every corner of the floor. That's the point of doing it before your furniture goes in rather than a week after. If you're staying put and want the same reach in a lived-in home, a deep clean in Melbourne is the job.
Before Melbourne cleaners arrive at your new place
- Take dated photos of every room, inside cupboards too.
- Check the power and water are on.
- Arrange keys with the agent or vendor, and any lift booking.
- Keep your boxes out until the clean is finished.
- List anything you've spotted that isn't cleaning, such as a leak, for the rental provider or the builder.
If we were moving into a Melbourne home
Get the keys, walk the empty home with your phone, and only then let anyone clean. Note every mark on the condition report before the 5 business days are up. Then book the clean for the gap between keys and removalists, so the cupboards are ready when the first box comes in.