So, you’ve finally taken that new job and need to relocate to a new city.
There’s enough to deal with when it comes to a major move. Between hefty moving expenses, managing shifting relationship dynamics, and possibly dealing with international moving visas, the last thing you want to think about is cleaning up your old place.
However, if you’re not careful, you may be in for a hefty fine or put yourself at risk of losing your security deposit entirely. Whether you like it or not, cleaning up your old place need to be one of the highest priorities of your move.
That’s why we’ve put together this guide to help you through this process—even if you don’t have a lot of time to spare.
Here’s how to handle last-minute move out cleaning.
Divide and Conquer
If you’ve got friends and family that can help you with the little things, like packing, moving smaller furniture, and prepping the house for the big movers, then you’ll want to call them up and arrange a day that can work for all of them.
Larger homes can be daunting to move out of if you’ve never done it before or if you’re by yourself. Which is exactly why we think dividing and conquering is your best plan of attack.
Get smaller children or your more slim friends to handle the smaller tasks, like general cleaning and loading up the boxes. Then, plan for your stronger friends to pick up the slack and move all of the boxes either into the main room for the movers or simply out of the way.
You can get to the crucial step of cleaning up after yourself if you don’t give yourself room to get to what needs to be cleaned.
Calling in Carpet Cleaners
Next, if your carpets reek no matter how much you try to clean them, or you’re in a bind and need to get the home spotless as quick as possible, consider same day service from a reputable carpet cleaning company.
Your carpets and their status can make or break your ability to claim that security check, so try not to skip out on this important step. The right carpet cleaning service can take out those stains and help prepare the floors for the next tenant.
However, it might be worth considering waiting on the carpet cleaners until after you’ve sorted the process of moving.
Quick and Clean Moving
Getting a bunch of movers to come to help you get your stuff from point A to point B often places a strain on your carpets and flooring. Which is exactly why you need to make sure the movers you end up using are up to the task.
You’re going to want to find a company that can handle not only local moves, but long-distance moves and other variations to make sure you get your stuff where it needs to go.
You’ll also want to prep the house as best as you can; providing movers with shoe covers if they don’t have any, or laying out non-slip rugs and walkways to protect your high traffic area.
If you’re struggling to manage all of this at the last minute, consider calling up a few friends and seeing if you can borrow their old rugs for a day or so while the stuff is moved.
Odors & Windows
Just because all of your stuff is finally out of the house doesn’t mean that the job is over. Provided you’ve already handled your carpets, you also need to make sure the landlord or property manager doesn’t slap you with any unnecessary fees.
The key to avoiding this problem is to work on fixing the little things that can make a huge difference during an inspection. For example, burning candles all throughout the final day and ensuring none of the appliances give off an odor will make your former home more inviting.
Likewise, while cleaning the windows might not be required, it can certainly allow more natural light to shine in and highlight the cleaning you performed. Even if you’re on a tight schedule, we highly recommend shining up your windows in the major portions of your former home.
Provided you took our advice and delegated your time wisely, you should be rewarded with your full security deposit to put forward towards your new place.
Not in Los Angeles but in Chicago? Here is a great Chicago moving company.
