A move-out clean is a deep clean of an empty unit: the places furniture hid, the inside of every appliance and cabinet, and the details a weekly clean skips. Use this checklist whether you’re a tenant leaving, a landlord between tenants or an agent getting a vacant home ready for photos.
Before you start
- Wait until everything is moved out. Cleaning around boxes means doing it twice.
- Work top to bottom, so dust lands on floors you haven’t cleaned yet.
- Check your lease or turnover checklist for anything specific, such as carpets or appliances.
Kitchen
- Inside and outside the fridge and freezer, including seals and drawers
- Inside the oven, racks and the stovetop
- Range hood and filter
- Inside and outside cabinets and drawers
- Countertops, backsplash and sink
- Dishwasher filter and door edges
- Microwave inside and out
Bathrooms
- Toilet, including the base and behind it
- Tub, shower, tiles and grout
- Sink, faucet and vanity, inside and out
- Mirror and medicine cabinet
- Exhaust fan cover
- Floor, including corners
Every room
- Baseboards and trim
- Light switches, outlets and door handles
- Doors and door frames
- Spot-clean walls
- Windows, sills and tracks
- Blinds
- Light fixtures and ceiling fans
- Closets, shelves and rods
- Vents and return grilles
- Floors: vacuum, then wash hard floors
Outside the unit
- Balcony or patio swept
- Garage or storage locker emptied and swept
- Garbage and recycling removed
Document it
Photos protect everyone. After the clean, photograph each room from the doorway and close up on appliances, bathrooms and floors. Date the photos and keep them with the unit’s move-out condition report.
Bricks property managers book move-out condition reports within two weeks after the move-out date, and move-in reports within two weeks before the move-in date, while the unit is empty. Each report is dated room by room and compared with the last report for that unit.
Getting it done for you
Bricks arranges move-out, turnover and pre-listing cleans, quoted in writing with the scope, checklist and crew size. When it’s done you get room-by-room photos and the completed checklist, kept with the property in your Bricks account. Rental turnovers are cleaned on a checklist you approve.
FAQ
What should a move-out clean include?
Inside appliances and cabinets, bathrooms top to bottom, baseboards, switches, doors, windows and tracks, closets, light fixtures and floors, plus any balcony, garage or locker. The checklist on this page covers it room by room.
How long does a move-out clean take?
It depends on the size of the unit and its condition. An empty unit is much faster to clean than one with furniture still in it, so schedule the clean after the move.
How do landlords document a move-out clean?
Photograph each room after the clean, date the photos and keep them with the move-out condition report for the unit, so the next move-in report has something to compare against.
Can Bricks arrange the clean?
Yes. Request a quote for a move-out, turnover or pre-listing clean. It’s quoted in writing, and you get room-by-room photos and the completed checklist when it’s done.
Written by the Bricks team. Figures that cite regional market research are labelled as such; Bricks rates are starting points and tailored per booking.
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