As we count down to the height of PCS season, military service members and their families around the world are preparing to pack up and move to their new installation. With that comes the often dreaded but sometimes financially beneficial move-out inspection.
For someone who moves from one military rental to another often, the ability to get your deposit back is a tremendous asset. Especially when you are gearing up to move again, extra money can be extremely helpful.
We’ve gathered all the information you need regarding what landlords look for in inspection when it’s move-out time! Take the following measures to increase your chances of keeping your deposit.
How to Prepare for Your Move-Out Inspection
Landlords have to keep some money from deposits to pay for maintenance and repairs that go into turning over the property to new tenants. So, if you have time, putting your rented home back into rentable condition could benefit both you and your landlord.
Review the following landlord inspection checklist for a better idea of what goes into preparing a property for the next tenants.
Typical Landlord Inspection Checklist
- Carpet cleaning
- Deep house cleaning
- Deodorizing
- Windows washed
- Yard maintenance (weeded, mowed, bushes cut, etc.)
- Power wash porch, walkways and patio
- Clean garage
- Touch up paint
- Repairs and replacements
- Replace burnt out lightbulbs
- Change out locks/keys
By no means do you have to check every box off of the list above for your landlord. However, taking care of some of these tasks can help you receive some money back on your deposit.
Asking your landlord for their move-out inspection checklist is a great way to start preparing your own to-do list before you depart. You can also make your landlord aware of your intention to earn back some of your deposit by going the extra mile with cleaning and preparing the rental for the next family.
More Like This: Are you PCSing to a new location and need to break your lease early? Learn all about How to Give Notice to Your Landlord.
Tenant Move-Out Checklist
Landlords enjoy renting to military families because they are celebrated for leaving homes in good condition. To uphold that reputation, here are some basic tasks to complete to help out your landlord and potentially receive back a bigger chunk of your deposit.
- Yard: Before you move out, take some time to tidy up the front and back yard. This includes mowing, pulling weeds along the sidewalk and picking up any trash that the landlord will have to remove before the next tenant arrives.
- Carpets: Most landlords would be thrilled to see proof that you had the carpets cleaned before moving out. However, just in case they have a preferred cleaning company, double-check with them to make sure it’s okay. Professional carpet cleaners can deodorize pet smells, and they can even tend to stains and bleach stains to prevent the carpet from having to be completely replaced.
- Walls: Scuffs, scratches and holes should all be erased and repaired. You can use a magic eraser sponge on the baseboard and wall scuffs. If you want to go the extra mile, you can ask your landlord if they have spare paint that matches your walls and touch up spots where there are any scratches or patched holes that need to be painted over.
- Plumbing: Invest in some Drano ® Max Gel Clog Remover and clear your pipes.
- Double Check: If you pay for professional services like move-out cleaning or carpet cleaning, review all the work done before you pay the company. Just because they “cleaned” doesn’t mean it was done correctly or well.
Before you begin cleaning or hiring a cleaning company, get in writing from your landlord exactly what you need to do to receive back your deposit. This way, you can make sure you are focusing on tasks that actually impact your deposit return.
Money Saving Tip: When every penny counts, look for deals on cleaning services. There are good deals out there waiting for you! Or you can post your jobs on places like Thumbtack and state your budget for the project.
How to Dispute Landlord Charges
Keep in mind some landlords never return full security deposits. Your original lease should have detailed information regarding your security deposit and move-out expectations. If you are concerned about your landlord’s move-out policies, you can search for landlord/tenant laws regarding deposit returns in your state.
Knowing your rights is an essential step before you approach your landlord about your concerns. However, if the law says they are allowed to keep part or all of your deposit as a clean fee, and you signed a lease agreement, there isn’t much to be argued.
If you don’t agree with the itemization of the deductions from your deposit, you can do one or all of these three things:
- Write a kind but professional letter to your landlord disputing the deductions in question with thoughtful and proof-oriented documentation (receipts, pictures, etc.).
- Ask your installation’s local housing office what you should do. They will be able to guide you!
- Contact the local county or city housing authority and let them know what is happening while also asking them what you should do.
More Like This: Disagreeing with your landlord at move-out time about your security deposit is a hassle that can be avoided from the beginning! Before you move into your next rental, check out our top tips for Interviewing Potential Landlords.
Find Military Housing Through AHRN
Join us at AHRN for access to exceptional military housing options near your next installation! Whether you are renting or buying your next home, we are committed to making your next PCS military move go as smoothly as possible by connecting you with homes that match your preferences and needs.
Tracy says
I just graduated this year and I’ll be moving out from my current apartment, so these will really be of help, thank you so much! I hope I don’t have problems!
Veronika Dalton says
That's an excellent tip to look for deals on Groupon to save some money for things like carpet cleaning. That way, you can spend your time on other things like touching up paint. However, I'm not sure it costs $300 to wash windows. A hose and a windex cleaner attachment is fairly cheap from many home improvement stores. We use those to reach the second floor windows! https://www.lizotteinspectionservices.com/
Janelle Winters says
I’m a renter, so I really appreciate this article’s reminder that just because something looks presentable doesn’t mean that it’s actually clean. I put off regularly deep cleaning my apartment just because it takes time and the house doesn’t look like it needs the work, when in fact it does and I’m sure my landlords would be happier if I took the time to take care of it before it reaches crisis situation. And the “landlord turnover task list” is helpful too, because I often forget to hit numbers 1 and 2. Thanks for the reminder to be a cleaner tenant!
Aaron Kriegerson says
Thanks for your tips on what a landlord will be looking for when you move out of a rental. My brother-in-law is a landlord and one thing that is important to him is the yard. If you haven't maintained the landscape you may want to hire a property clean up service. A lot of times if the renter's have the receipt, my brother in law will reimburse the tenant for the cost.
Kristen says
That’s a great tip, Aaron! Thank you.
Ember Jones says
Thank you for providing the turnover task list. I hadn't thought of replacing all of the light bulbs. I'm planning on hiring a house cleaning service, and I'll have to pick up some light bulbs as well.
Kristen says
You’re very welcome!
Rob Benton says
I'm pretty determined to always hire a professional cleaning service whenever I'm ready to move out of an apartment. I think you hit a pretty important point about that when you suggested reviewing the work with the cleaning service. I prefer to do so both before and after so that they know what to expect and so that I can make sure they didn't miss anything. I also like to make sure I didn't miss anything when I initially set forth my expectations.
Kristen says
Absolutely! Many cleaning services will do a walk through before the day of your move out clean and that’s a great time to make sure everyone is on the same page!
Alice Portman says
I am so glad I read this! I know a lot of people just assume they know everything that needs to be done and think they’ll remember. But, especially if your one person moving out of a family home, it’s really easy to forget things. Sure, you take everything in the bedroom, but you’re bound to forget something somewhere else in the house. Always make a sweep through the entire home before even getting started.
Kristen says
Absolutely! There is so much to do while moving out that it’s so easy to miss something.
Veronica Marks says
I agree that it's so important to get your landlord's move-out expectations in writing. I have made the mistake of not doing that and was so upset when it cost me quite a bit of my deposit! He never even did an inspection before we were gone, so I had no chance to talk to him or figure out what I missed. These are some great tips!
Kristen says
Definitely! That sounds like an incredibly stressful situation!
Madelyn says
Thanks for your tips on what a landlord will be looking for when you move out of a rental.
Lisa says
You are welcome! We’re here to help.
Silas Knight says
Knowing what is going to be looked at during a home or apartment inspection would be really helpful. The task list you have here is great, and there are a few things that I see here that I don't clean very often. I will have to pay more attention when I want to move out!
Kristen says
It’s so easy to miss the little things!
Hazel Owens says
I like your tip to get a list of tasks to do in writing from your landlord. You don’t want to be charged for cleaning or repairs that you already did. Making sure that you know what the landlord will look for during the move out inspection and taking care of those items can help you save some of your deposit. Thanks for the article.
Kristen says
You’re very welcome Hazel!
Ann says
Quite ingenious way for cleaning. Pretty sure it will come in handy some day and I will definitely remember reading about it on your fabulous blog :)))
Kristen says
Thank you, Ann!
Nelson M. Castilloo says
Hey Kristen!
You have made it so simple .This is what a landlord really looking for.You have mentioned a very good point here , to keep the receipt when you did something.It is very rare that the landlord will trust our words .So it will be better to keep the receipts. These are small issues everyone should look after .If everyone work this way things will be better.Keep posting!
Regards
Kristen says
Thank you, Nelson!
O Green says
From the point of view of a renter, I have found through the years that you shouldn’t underestimate home cleaning and doing it regularly makes it so much easier at the end when you leave the place – never let dirt build up or else you will have a hard time removing it when the time comes to move out.
Kristen says
That’s very true, Olivia, a little maintenance along the way makes it so much easier when you do the move out clean!
Selene says
Wow, awesome tips and advice! It is certainly also very helpful to hire a cleaning service in this particular case to make sure you are move out ready. Thanks for sharing!
Marry says
Let’s just hope I will never leave my apartment until I grow old and helpless so I can have an excuse for its terrible condition.
Aaron C. says
I never knew that restoring the rental was the tenant’s job. As long as they didn’t make the place unlivable I don’t think they should be fully liable for incidental damage.
Happy Hiller says
Great article! Completely agreed with all the points you’ve mentioned in this article. Keep sharing such informative articles with us.