Leave a Rental Unit in Good Condition

Leaving a rental unit in very good condition serves a few good purposes: you're likely to get your deposit back, you're likely to get a good referral from the landlord, and it's the right thing to do. Before moving out, evaluate the condition of your rental unit, clean your unit thoroughly, and take care of any necessary repairs.

Steps

Evaluating Your Rental Unit

1. Review the move-out policy in your lease. Different landlords and property managers may have different expectations for their tenants. Most leases require their tenants to leave rental units clean and undamaged beyond “ordinary wear and tear.”
   • While “ordinary wear and tear” can be hard to define, it generally refers to damage that occurs as a result of regular use of a space or appliance, as opposed to damage that results from carelessness, neglect, or intentional abuse.
   • Depending on local landlord-tenant polity, your landlord or property manager may or may not want you to repair minor damage to the property, such as nail holes or chipped paint.
2. Examine your apartment for dirt. Make note of any areas that particularly need to be cleaned, such as smudged or stained walls, dirty cabinets, dirty pet areas, and grimy or mildewed kitchen and bathroom surfaces.
3. Examine your apartment for damage. Make a list of any notable damage to your unit, such as holes in the screens, missing or damaged blinds, scratches or gouges in the hardwood floors, chipped paint, or marks on the walls that cannot be easily cleaned off.
4. Make sure your appliances are functioning properly. Check your light fixtures, smoke detectors, fridge, stove, and any other appliances that belong to the property in order to make sure that they are working and in good condition.
5. Talk to your landlord about any damage or problems you find. This way you can avoid any unpleasant surprises during the move-out inspection. In general, it is the responsibility of the landlord or property manager to make major repairs or replace broken appliances. However, it is the tenant's responsibility to inform the landlord of these problems as they occur.

Cleaning Your Rental Unit

1. Remove all your property from the unit. Take out everything that you brought into the house or apartment, including wall-mounted decorations and shelving units. Remove pictures, posters and decals from the walls. Check the closets and cabinets to make sure you haven’t left anything behind.
2. Clean your walls. Check your walls carefully and remove any tape, nails, picture hangers, or poster gum. Check for dirt, marks and smudges, especially if you have small children in the house. Use a duster to remove cobwebs. Scrub dirty areas with a gentle cleanser and a rag or soft sponge.
   • On latex paints, use a solution of water with a few drops of dish detergent, or a gallon (3.8 liters) of water mixed with 3-4 tablespoons (45-60 ml) of white vinegar.
   • On tougher oil-based paints, like those used in kitchens, you can use a gentle degreaser.
   • Use caution when cleaning around electrical fixtures, like light switches and outlet covers. Wring your sponge out carefully before attempting to clean these surfaces. You may wish to switch off your electricity at the circuit breaker before cleaning a dirty outlet cover.
3. Clean your appliances. Use an all-purpose cleaner (like Formula 409) or specialized kitchen cleanser (like Bar Keepers Friend) and a gentle sponge or Magic Eraser to scrub your stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher (if you have one). If you can, remove bins and racks from your fridge and oven and wash them in the sink with a gentle detergent or a solution of warm water and baking soda.
4. Clean your plumbing fixtures. Take special care to clean your bathtub, shower, toilet, and sinks. Use Comet or a similar cleanser for plumbing fixtures, along with a gentle scrubber or magic eraser, to clean off soap scum, stains, and hard water deposits. For especially stubborn stains or deposits, you may need to let the cleanser sit for several minutes before you start scrubbing.
   • A little bit of white vinegar mixed with water is also excellent for removing lime and soap scum.
5. Clean your counters and cabinets. Wipe down your counters and the exteriors of your cabinets with a gentle cleanser and a rag or sponge. Areas around the handles of cabinets are especially prone to getting smudged and grimy. Don’t forget to clean out the insides of your cabinets, as well. For tough spots, use a mildly abrasive mixture of baking soda and water, and scrub with a soft brush.
6. Wipe down your mirrors and windows. Spray your mirrors and windows with a glass cleaner (like Windex) and wipe them clean with a rag or sponge, making sure not to leave behind streaks or lint. You can also clean glass surfaces with a mixture of white vinegar and hot water.
7. Sweep and vacuum your floors. You may wish to save cleaning your floors for last, since cleaning walls and other surfaces can create a mess on the floor. Once you are ready, wipe up any wet spots on the floors. Sweep hard floor surfaces clean with a broom and dustpan. Vacuum any carpeted surfaces.
8. Mop your floors. Once you have swept, mop any hard floor surfaces with a traditional push mop or a steam mop. In areas that are especially prone to messy floors, like kitchens and bathrooms, you may wish to go over the floor more than once. Scrub any extra stubborn spots with a scrub brush and detergent.
   • Take extra care when cleaning hardwood floors. Ask your landlord or property manager what type of finish is on your floor and get appropriate cleansers before attempting to clean it thoroughly.
9. Clean your carpets. After vacuuming any carpeted surfaces, you may wish to spot clean or shampoo them. Purchase a carpet cleaning solution, like Resolve or Zep. Test it in a discreet area to make sure that it does not damage, bleach, or stain your carpet. Spot clean with a clean, white rag. For cleaning larger areas, you can purchase or rent a carpet shampooer.
   • Some landlords may prefer to bring in a professional carpet cleaning service after their tenants move out, so you should discuss this with your landlord before calling in anyone to clean your carpet for you.

Repairing Your Rental Unit

1. Replace missing light bulbs. In addition to replacing the bulbs in your major light fixtures, you may wish to check your appliances (such as your oven and refrigerator) for burnt out bulbs.
2. Replace your smoke alarm batteries. Many smoke alarms are powered by nine-volt batteries, which should be replaced at least once a year. However, if you have a smoke alarm with a built-in lithium battery, you will be unable to replace the battery. In this case, it is the landlord’s responsibility to replace the entire smoke alarm every 10 years or as needed.
3. Repair any nail holes and other minor wall damage. You can purchase a wall-patching kit for minor wall repairs at most hardware or houseware stores. You will need spackling compound (preferably combined with primer), a putty knife, and some sandpaper. Smooth the spackling compound over any nail holes, small cracks, or gouges in your walls. Wait for the spackle to dry, and then gently sand it down.
   • Check with your landlord or review your lease before attempting these kinds of repairs. Your landlord may or may not wish you to fill in nail holes and other minor wall damage.
4. Repaint damaged or stained areas. If you have made repairs to nail holes or other minor wall damage, or if your walls or trim have chipped paint or stains that cannot be removed, you may wish to do some minor paint touch-ups. Go to your local hardware or housewares store and get some paint color swatches. Compare these to the paint you wish to touch up, and buy a small amount of the paint you think is the best match. Use a small brush to touch up the paint in the damaged or stained area.
   • Color-matching paint can be difficult. Your landlord may be able to give you the exact brand and formulation of the paint you need.
   • Check with your lease, landlord, or property manager before attempting to touch up or repaint any surface in your home.

Related Articles

• Clean an Apartment Before Moving Out
• Give a Move out Notice to Your Apartment Office
• Move Out of Home Into Your First Apartment
• Move

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