When you and your flatmates need to move out of your share house, the best advice is to leave it clean and tidy no matter how it was when you moved in. Firstly it will give all the housemates a sense of pride and secondly the property manager/landlord will brag about you when you apply for another property.

Take a walk around the rental house and take a good look at each room from floor to ceiling. Hmmm is that a thick layer of dust and fluff along with the spider webs on top of the curtain track or is it a house mates lost cat!!!?? Take a look at the window and door tracks, are the widows and doors sliding freely or do they need a gym junkie with a crow bar to open and close them because of all the crap clogging up the tracks??? Get my drift?

Here’s a room by room check list of stuff to clean to impress the property manager/landlord and get your bond back…

Kitchen

• Range hood or exhaust fan (You will be shocked how much grease has congregated here!)
• Cook top and oven including all racks (they all come out)
• Splash backs and walls
• Sinks and taps (use an old tooth brush around the bases)
• Cupboard doors, handles, draws and shelves
• Windows and doors. (The tooth brush is also great for the tracks)
• Bench tops come up a treat when cleaned and polished with a spray furniture polish! (Don’t forget to check under the edges for flat mates used chewy gum! Eeww!)

Bedrooms

• Vacuum carpets and have them professionally cleaned
• Walls and light switches (make sure all blu-tac or last weeks cola spatter is removed)
• Windows and mirrors (Don’t forget the tracks)
• Window coverings (wash curtains gently, line dry and iron carefully if needed) Dust and wipe over blinds and rods or tracks. Dust and wipe window sills
• Dust and wipe skirting boards removing all spider webs
• Clean robe from top to bottom (Don’t try to hide broken vertical blind bits here, it’s the first place the property manager will look!)

Bathrooms

• Vanity basin, taps, draws (Yep even the corners!) shelves, doors and handles
• Scrub the grout in the shower with an old nail brush and clean the tiles, taps, screen (or curtain) and shower head. Don’t forget the slide door tracks if you have them (toothbrush)
• Wash the bath, taps tiles/splash back
• Clear all guck from plug holes and floor wastes (faithful tooth brush strikes again! J)
• Toilets – Hmmm get your hazard suit on for this one! – Make sure you clean behind it (pardon the pun) J Wipe over the loo roll holder
• Mirrors, walls and skirting boards
• Clean windows and coverings as per bedrooms
• Floors – don’t skip over the corners or behind the door! (I will be watching!)

Other rooms

• Carpets – professionally clean
• Walls, skirting boards and switches
• Windows and coverings as per bedrooms
• Floors vacuumed, washed and all marks removed if possible

Make sure you get every spider web, use disinfectant for cupboards, loos, vanities and showers and spray a little  air freshener around before you lock up.

Outside

• Mow grass and yes, edge the lawns (Your property manager will wet her/himself with excitement!)
• Trim bushes and clear out all the empty beer cans and ciggy butts from the gardens! J
• Clear all cob webs and clean the exterior of the share house, shed and pergola as best as you can
• Fill in any holes that your flatmates pooch dug out of boredom
• Sweep and clean paths and driveway (Yup, get rid of any oil stains and tyre marks)
• Replace any torn or broken fly wire screens (unless otherwise stated on the condition report)

Final tips

• Remove all rubbish and bits of collected junk including the dead car your long time room mate has been meaning to “do up”
• Make sure bins are empty and cleaned
• Collect and disinfect all keys from your room mates
• Get a pest treatment done if you had pets and please don’t leave your cat for the next people if you can’t have him at the new share house!
• Make sure your room mates do their fair share (otherwise no icecream or bond return for them!)
• Don't forget to disconnect the phone, internet, foxtel, electricity, gas and don't leave it for weeks before you tell your mum you have moved!

Yep it’s a big job alright but one worth doing. Take it from an ex property manager .. word will really get around that you are awesome housemates and you will have no problem being approved for another rental house. They will actually go out of their way to find one for you!!!

Cheers and please send me any amazing or disastrous vacating stories!