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Last Tuesday, I finally finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel and closed the door to my old apartment for the last time. Even with hiring movers, my move was exhausting and seemingly endless. It's also a challenge to get just every single item out of the place. But after that hurdle comes the fun part. Cleaning up my apartment.
I get very anal about the cleaning because I am always afraid that I won't get my deposit back or get charged for cleaning costs. Sometimes it doesn't matter. The landlord will stiff me or find one spot I missed like dust on the blind blades.
I'm curious what other people have experienced with cleaning and getting back their security deposit. Is it worth killing yourself to make it spotless? It is just such a miserable endless taste because there are so many areas even in a small apartment that have to be cleaned. The worst part for me is always the oven. I'm bad about just not cleaning it since it is just a miserable job and I finally just had to give up on trying to make it spotless. I would have been scrubbing for a day to get every speck of grease off those oven racks. Cleaning ahead of time doesn't work because I'll just mess it up again by the time of the move too.
Broom clean is the standard for acceptable condition. Appliances need to be as clean as when you moved in. Oven should be clean or it will cost you. Get some good oven cleaner and use it on the racks, give it time to soak, not really that hard and doesn't take hours to clean.
You first research what your state and case laws say about cleaning. If the law only requires you return the premise in like manner that you received it (minus wear and tear), that's what you do. If the law allows and the lease states they will charge for cleaning, you clean for damages only as you'll be charged basic cleaning anyways. So, what does the law and lease say?
As important as the cleaning is your ability to document your cleaning. Take dated pictures showing the level of cleanliness. You'll be surprised how many tenants get their security deposit back (some 2 or 3 times based on state laws in court) when documentation is present.
I moved to my home this past February. I didn't clean a damn thing at my apartment. I was just too tired out from packing and getting my new home ready.
Out of $325.00 deposit, I lost $92.00 of it due to cleaning. It was worth it for me
I do my bet to make it as clean as I would want it if I was moving in.
When I got keys to my new place, they could tell I was staring at the floors and they commented that it was pretty dirty. I said yes. They had a cleaning company come in and it was great the day I moved in. I never asked him how much he took out of their deposit, but I know when I got quotes for Move Out cleaning, I was quoted around $200 for a one bedroom apartment. Thing is, it probably didn't look dirty while they lived here (they even had a maid come once a month) but it was things like baseboards and wall trimmings that rarely get cleaned but become noticeable when a place is empty.
The flip side is - would you move in to a place that is as dirty as you're planning on leaving it? No. So someone has to clean it. If you don't, the landlord is going to do it and charge you. You're going to have to pay in either time or money.
FWIW - Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner works great on ovens without the horrible fumes. Once it's clean, place some aluminium foil on the bottom to prevent future cleaning hours. You could also place a cookie tray on the rack below whatever you're cooking to catch spills.
I always clean my apts very well when moving out. This past one we pretty much left the kitchen dirty as it's being completely remodeled so I didn't see a point. They are also re-doing the bathroom floors so I didn't mop but I did vacuumm the entire place and patched holes.
As a one time landlord, when someone leaves the place in the same or close to the same condition as they found it, that goes a long way... When I had people leave the house in a mess, I'd have to have it professionally cleaned, thus knocking down some of their deposit.
I didn't ask for it to be Mr. Clean, clean... but show some consideration and respect and that goes a long, long way.
I always pay someone to clean it when I move out, including the oven. It's worth it to me. And I have proof it was professionally cleaned if there are any issues. Sometimes I have to remind landlords what the law is, but I have always gotten my full deposit back since I learned the laws and started paying someone to do a great job.
We have had landlords keep our deposits with stupid things on the list.. Very rarely even when it was l;eft better than we moved in have we gotten our deposit back...
And the 1 place I thought we would get badly dinged on gave us the entire deposit back and a great recommendation....
Just goes to show you never know...
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