Moving out sounds simple until you’re on your hands and knees scrubbing oven grease at midnight while the landlord’s walkthrough is at 9 AM. I’ve done that. It’s miserable.
Here are 15 things to check off before that final inspection. Get your deposit back. Don’t leave money on the table.
1. Patch every hole in every wall
Nail holes from picture frames. Anchor holes from shelves. Even the tiny ones you think nobody will notice. The landlord will notice. That’s literally their job.
Spackle, let it dry, sand flush, touch up with matching paint. If you don’t have the original paint, chip off a dime-sized flake from an inconspicuous spot and have the hardware store color-match it.
2. Fill deep door dents
Doorknob dings in the drywall behind every door. Stop and doorstops exist for a reason — but apparently the previous tenant didn’t install them either.
Patch, sand, paint. Same process. Annoying but five minutes per hole.
3. Deep clean the oven
Gross but necessary. Oven cleaner spray. Let it sit overnight with the door closed. Wipe it out in the morning. Pull the racks and soak them in the bathtub with degreaser.
If your oven has a self-clean cycle, run it a day early. It smokes and stinks for hours. Don’t do it the morning of the walkthrough or the whole unit will smell like burnt carbon.
4. Scrub every inch of the bathroom
Shower tracks, faucet bases, toilet bolts, behind the toilet — the spots you skip all year. Get the mold out of the caulk lines. If the caulk is beyond saving, cut it out and redo it. A $6 tube of silicone saves you a $200 cleaning deduction.
5. Clean the windows — inside tracks too
Windex the glass. Vacuum the tracks. Wipe down the sills. Dead bugs in the window track are universally disgusting and universally noticed.
6. Replace burnt-out light bulbs
Every single one. Even the one in the closet you never use. Even the one in the fridge. A missing or dead bulb signals neglect.
7. Wipe down baseboards and door frames
Dust sticks to these like glue. Damp cloth, top to bottom. All four walls in every room. It takes half an hour and makes the whole unit look cleaner than it actually is.
8. Clean or replace HVAC filters
If the unit has a return air grille, pop it open and swap the filter. A clogged filter says you didn’t maintain anything for your entire lease. Fair or not, that’s the impression.
9. Clear the drains
Bathroom sink, kitchen sink, tub. Pour boiling water down each one, then a half cup of baking soda followed by vinegar. Flush again after ten minutes with more hot water.
Snake the hair out of the tub drain too. Wear gloves. It’s foul.
10. Defrost and clean the fridge
Unplug it the night before. Let the freezer defrost with towels on the floor. Wipe every shelf, drawer, and door seal. Pull it away from the wall and clean underneath — you’ll find things you wish you hadn’t.
11. Check under appliances
Slide the stove out. Slide the fridge out. Sweep and mop what you find. Landlords look here specifically because tenants never clean here.
12. Test every smoke detector
Press the test button. Replace the battery if it chirps. One dead detector is a lease violation in most places and it’ll get flagged.
13. Fix sticky doors and squeaky hinges
WD-40 on the hinge pins. If a door sticks, check if the screws in the top hinge are loose — they pull the door against the frame when they back out. Tighten them first before you start sanding.
14. Touch up scuffed floors
Hardwood — use a stain pen that matches the floor color. Vinyl — magic eraser for light scuffs, a dab of seam sealer for deeper ones. Carpet — rent a steam cleaner. Pet smells don’t come out with vacuuming alone.
15. Take photos of everything
After you’re done cleaning, before the walkthrough. Every room, every wall, every appliance, every floor surface. Close-ups of anything that was already damaged when you moved in. Date-stamp the photos. This is your only defense against unfair deductions.
And that’s it. A lot of work, sure. But losing $1,500 of your deposit over stuff you could fix in a weekend hurts way worse.
Fact-Check Checklist
- Hardware stores can color-match paint from a small chip sample — [VERIFIED]
- Oven cleaner requires several hours of dwell time for best results — [VERIFIED]
- Self-cleaning oven cycles produce smoke and odor that lingers — [VERIFIED]
- A tube of silicone caulk costs approximately $6 — [NEEDS HUMAN CHECK]
- Replacing HVAC return filters is typically the tenant’s responsibility during a lease — [NEEDS HUMAN CHECK]
- Baking soda and vinegar can help clear slow drains — [VERIFIED]
- A dead smoke detector is a lease violation in most jurisdictions — [NEEDS HUMAN CHECK]
- Tightening loose top hinge screws can fix a sticking door — [VERIFIED]
- Steam cleaning is the most effective method for removing pet odors from carpet — [VERIFIED]
- Taking date-stamped photos before the walkthrough is recommended as evidence in deposit disputes — [VERIFIED]