A pre-sale clean before the photographer
This is the clean that counts most, because the listing photos do the first round of selling. Cameras pick up what eyes skip: streaky glass, a soap line on the shower screen, finger marks on a white wall.
Book it for just before the shoot, once the styling or decluttering is done. The inside windows and wall marks add-ons earn their place here. Wall marks means spot cleaning scuffs, not patching or painting, so any repairs come first.
Pre-sale cleaning through the open inspections
If you're living there during the campaign, the job is keeping up. A short clean before each open, or a regular clean for a few weeks, holds the kitchen and bathrooms where the photos left them.
Buyers open cupboards and look in showers. They also notice smell, so empty the bins and air the place before people arrive.
Cleaning before the handover to your buyer
In Victoria, Consumer Affairs says a buyer is entitled to inspect at any reasonable time during the week before settlement, and that the contract requires the seller to hand over the property in the same condition as when it was sold. It talks about condition, not cleaning, and a buyer who finds something damaged can request a repair.
Other states depend on your contract, so check with your conveyancer. Either way, a clean once the furniture has gone leaves things tidy for the final walk-through.
Pre-sale house cleaning: what buyers look at
- The entry: door, mat, light switches and handrail.
- The kitchen: benches, sink, oven door and cupboard fronts.
- Bathrooms: shower screen, grout, mirror and exhaust fan.
- Windows: clean glass makes rooms look brighter.
- Floors, especially any stains in the main rooms.
- Inside wardrobes and cupboards, once they're half empty.
Get the house ready before the pre-sale clean
Worth doing yourself
- Pack away what you don't need on show.
- Clear benches, the fridge door and bathroom shelves.
- Fix the small things: loose handles and blown globes.
- Ask your agent when the photographer is coming.
Where a cleaning business earns its keep
- Shower screens, grout and taps.
- The oven, if you add it.
- Inside glass, frames and tracks.
- Scuffs and marks on painted walls and doors.
How we'd time a pre-sale clean
Ask your agent for the photo date first, and book the clean for the day or two before it. Do your decluttering ahead of that, so the business can reach what matters. If you're moving out before settlement, book a second clean for once the furniture has gone.
