When you move out of your rental home, it needs to look as good as it did when you moved in.
If it doesn’t, you miss out on getting the hefty amount of your bond back. And that could add up to thousands of dollars.
Auckland property manager from Anne Duncan Real Estate, Shane Ryder, says the rules state the property must be cleaned to a “reasonable” standard.
However, it’s quite a stretch as the definition of reasonable varies from tenant to tenant, Ryder says.
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He suggests when a final clean is done that tenants should aim higher - better than ‘reasonable’. He suggests leaving the property as clean as you’d want to receive it and, definitely, no dirtier than how you originally received it.
“It has to be a detailed clean – you’re doing inside the cupboards in the bathroom and kitchen, you’re pulling the stove out and get all the food out from the sides that have fallen there over the years.”
Pay attention to detail and make bathroom surfaces, windowsills, light fixtures and switches shine.
It’s often not necessary to hire cleaners, Ryder say, estimating that only around 30 per cent of renters do.
“If tenants don’t have the time or don’t think they can do a good job, then they might hire someone.”
Ryder admits he can’t tell the difference between the cleaning job renters and what professionals do.
The company asks tenants to do a compulsory carpet steam to get their bond back, which is stated in the tenancy agreement and costs around $150 for a three-bedroom house.
A lot of dirt doesn’t get picked up by vacuum cleaners, especially if tenants have pets, Ryder says.
“If they [tenants] kick up a fuss, we keep the sample of dirty water from the machine and use it as proof. We’ve taken this issue to court and have won every single time,” he says.
A property manager also has photos of property taken before the move to prove what state the house was in, which is helpful in case of a dispute.
Use original inspection photos from your landlord or property manager if you need to refresh your memory on the house’s original condition.
Despite previous tenants cleaning Ryder recommended new tenants do another clean of the house when moving in, regardless.
“You just don’t know what people used to clean. It could be the same dirty cloth they cleaned the toilet with that they used to clean the kitchen bench,” he says.
