End of Lease Packing Guideline: Where to Start and When to Start
One of the best things about being a renter compared to a homeowner is that you are not tied down to a mortgage and have the freedom to relocate when you want to. The drawback, however, is when you are nearly at the end of your lease and it’s time to box up your belongings for the big move.
Getting ready to vacate starts way before you call up home cleaning services for that end-of-lease cleaning. In fact, it actually starts many months before it comes to that.
And once you've packed up everything, there's one thing that can't be overlooked, end of lease cleaning. It can save you thousands of dollars in unnecessary fees and help ensure that your landlord will be happy with the way you've left their property.
If you’re moving out of your apartment, here’s a short end of lease packing guide that will hopefully give you a decent head start on house cleaning so it can facilitate your move more smoothly and with as little stress as possible!
Six Months Before Moving Out: Decluttering
Six months prior to arranging your end-of-lease clean may seem like a pretty long head start, but this is the way to go if you want it to be as stress-free as possible. In the six months before you up and go, your goal is to start decluttering your home.
Whether you’ve lived in it for year, or half a decade, you are bound to have accumulated stuff that you don’t necessarily want accompanying you on your impending move. Six months gives you enough to really think things over and decide which items in your home are beautiful and necessary enough to bring, or if it’s something that no longer serves its purpose and can be set aside for a yard sale.
While this is supposed to be a relaxing endeavour, discipline is key. Aim to go over as many items as you have so by the last week that you are about to call for home cleaning services, most are pretty much boxed up, and the rest dealt with accordingly.
Three Months Before Moving Out: The Takedown
Now is the perfect time to begin uninstalling things around your house that will require some elbow grease or serious machinery, not to mention time that you might not have in the home stretch. We’re talking lighting fixtures, drilled-to-the-walls hanging hooks or shelving, paintings, etc. Once you’ve had all of these things uninstalled, you can already proceed with packing them properly to get them out of the way.
Some house cleaning will definitely be in order after doing this, because you might need to dust off surfaces that have become dirty due to these fixtures. Now is also a good time to seal holes or re-polish the scuffed up surfaces from where these things used to be, especially if it will be a category in your last day evaluation or a factor in getting your deposit back. Short of leaving your stuff lying around for lack of hanging solutions, be prepared with catch-alls to serve you in the last three months of living in your home.
One Month Before Moving Out: Yard Sale Time
Time to bring out all the yard sale items you’ve started sorting since six months ago!
Now that you are nearing the end of your lease, you might have discovered even more things that you think you won’t be bringing with you to your new place.
Have a yard sale to find new homes for your pre-loved items and make some good cash out of it, too – money that you can even use for one of Australia's top end of lease companies!
Slow-moving items can be posted on online listings that you can keep active until the final week. For items that didn’t make a sale, you can simply donate them to a local institution or centre that can find new homes for them.
Three Weeks Before Moving Out: Packing the Non-Essentials
Boxing up most of your stuff will begin now, while the frenzy hasn’t (hopefully) picked up yet. House cleaning by the entire family can also slowly commence so there won’t be a lot to do by the final week.
Boxing up your stuff can be done in two ways: 1) according to the room where said items will be placed in the new home, or 2) according to item category such as kitchen stuff, bathroom items, etc.
Whichever one you choose, make sure you maximize the amount of packing space you have to make things efficient and cost-effective. This simple guide for packing your belongings is also a great resource that you can look into.
One Week Before Moving Out: Readying the Rest of Your Stuff
Set out all the clothes you need to wear for this last week, pack up the rest, stock up on paper plates and ready to cook meals or takeout… basically have on hand everything you need to survive in the last week of living in your home and have everything sorted out in boxes! This is also the week where you have your local end of lease cleaning professionals over to do the last sweep prior to the moving out inspection.
With the help of this guideline on how to pace your end of lease packing, coupled with good quality home cleaning services, you can be sure that transitioning out of your old place and into the new one will be as easy as pie!
