What's involved in a move out cleaning?
Moving from your house or apartment is stressful. Boxes everywhere. Finding the right movers. Picking a moving date. House moving is right up there in stressfulness with the death of a loved one, divorce, and job loss.
What does a move out cleaning mean and how can it be one less stressful part of your house moving?
3 PRIMARY REASONS FOR A MOVE OUT CLEANING:
- you're leaving a rental in the good condition to fulfil a lease commitment and get your deposit back
- you need to clean a home in order to list it for sale
- you're moving and are preparing your sold home for its new owners
MOVING OUT OF AN APARTMENT
What should you clean when you’re moving out of your apartment?
In Minneapolis and St. Paul a tenant is required to clean their unit prior to moving out. What’s involved in that type of cleaning? Typically a tenant should ensure that:
- all floor surfaces are swept and mopped
- all window areas are dusted
- and bathrooms are cleaned (including tubs, showers, toilets)
- exterior kitchen appliances should be thoroughly scrubbed (read about the best way to clean stainless steel)
- interior of ovens need to be deep cleaned
- refrigerator shelves removed and cleaned
- interior of refrigerator cleaned
- freezer defrosted and cleaned
- spices, dishes, glassware removed from cabinets and shelves and exteriors cleaned
- ceilings and corner areas of rooms dusted and cobwebs removed
- baseboards dusted and cleaned
- window sills dusted and wiped
- blinds wiped
- air vent cleaning
- clean carpets
- bathroom mirror cleaning
- wiping door, door handles, and light switches
This is a pretty comprehensive checklist for tidying up an apartment or home rental before you move out. Landlords and owners will appreciate the care you’ve taken with their properties on your way out! Book a move out cleaning now!
CLEANING WHEN SELLING YOUR HOME
The real estate market is booming as interest rates are low, inventory availability is down, and demand is high. We’ve seen 15% growth in closed sales in the Twin Cities vs. last year and it seems as if for sale signs are everywhere. If you’re a seller, getting ready to list your home as is, or stage it for selling, what cleaning should you be taking on pre-sale?
You’ve done a lot of work to get yourself into a good place for your home sale and make money. Mortgage payments have been made and equity created over the course of years so when you sell there will be more money in your pocket. You’ve found the right listing agent, you know, the one on the gigantic billboard overlooking the highway you drive on every day. You may have even found a new place to live and really need to sell you house.
Now your house needs to make an impression on potential buyers. Spiff it up, dress it up, and make sure it’s deep cleaned!! Here’s a list of cleaning things to think about when listing your home:
- de-clutter! nothing makes a house look sadder than messiness. pick up and clear out as much of the house as you can
- dust everything from top to bottom – start at the ceiling with a long necked duster and dust. then move to room corners from top to bottom. dust around baseboards, window shelves, the tops of doors. dust, dust, dust.
- clean out your kitchen cabinets – people open cabinets and drawers in your kitchen when they are house hunting. they don’t want to see dirt, or worse, dead insects laying around. nobody likes surprises like that.
- scrub floors – get the dirt off of floors, make sure no stains are visible when they are admiring the hardwoods.
- shampoo and vacuum rugs – dirt, pet fur, and odors get trapped in carpeting. spend the money to professionally clean carpets before listing your home. buyers will notice.
- shine up the chrome in the bathroom – remove water stains from faucets and drains.
- scrub the outside and inside of the toilet – because, just because
- bathroom tile grouting – even if the bathroom will be reno’ed, make sure the tile grouting is washed. again, you want your home to be attractive to buyers and grouting is sometimes an area of the bathroom that isn’t ordinarily cleaned by owners / sellers.
- foyers need cleanings too – entryways sometimes get forgotten but should be swept and cleaned.
- window cleaning – at the very least, insides of windows should be cleaned to show the great light your place gets and showcase the great views outside the house.
- light switches and door handles – this is forensic cleaning, but time should be taken to remove dirt and finger prints from these areas that we all touch all the time.
All of these steps will add up to a home that creates a good first impression and hopefully more money for you as the seller!
YOUR HOUSE SOLD, CLEAN IT FOR THE BUYERS
You sold your house and are moving, now what?
There’s movement out of metropolitan areas, though some are saying it’s less of an urban exodus and more of an urban shuffle – people are leaving cities but not going too far. Either way, there are a lot of movers. Maybe you’re one.
And, what should you think about in terms of cleaning when you’ve sold your home, are moving out? While not obliged legally, karma and goodwill should be factors taken into consideration by home sellers. The new owners don’t want the stuff you’re not taking to your new home sweet home so it’s recommended that you dispose of it before leaving. You can sweep floors, wipe down appliances, clean bathrooms too. Sometimes your listing agent will pay for a deep move out cleaning as a courtesy. We recommend leaving the home tidy for the next occupants. Our company handles a lot of post sale cleans and generally finds that even the wear and tear of the act of moving can contribute to dust, packing material, and other types of debris being scattered about the home. Professional cleaners will restore the home back into move in ready condition for the next owners.
MaidxChange are experts in house cleaning for movers. As real estate investors who work with realtors and sellers, we feel like our buyer’s eye knows what is appealing and what is a turn off to a house sale. And, as landlords, we hold high standards for how apartments are readied upon move outs by tenants and move ins for new rentors. Professional cleaning can help take a lot of the stress out of this part of the moving experience so you can feel confident your rent deposit will be returned, your home will sell, or karma will be good to you as you’ve left your sold home to a new occupant.
