Move-In Cleaning Checklist for New Tenants

The first week in a rental does two jobs at once. One is obvious: getting the place to a standard you're happy to live in. The other is quieter and worth more - building the evidence that decides your bond dispute two years from now, before a single box is unpacked.

Do this before you clean anything

This order matters. Cleaning destroys evidence.

• Read the condition report properly and walk the place with it in your hand. In Victoria you generally have a short window - five business days after moving in - to note your disagreements and return it. Use it. A report you never contested is treated as accurate.
• Photograph everything, dated, in daylight. Wide shot of each room, then close-ups of every mark, chip, stain, scuff, worn carpet lane, mouldy silicone bead and scratched benchtop. Open the oven and photograph inside it. Photograph the rangehood filter. Photograph window tracks.
• Take a short video walkthrough narrating what you see. It takes four minutes and it's the single most useful thing you can have later.
• Note whether the property was professionally cleaned and whether the report says so. That one line determines what you'll be expected to match on the way out.
• Check what actually works: every tap, the hot water, the exhaust fans, the oven, smoke alarms, window locks, and whether windows open. Report faults in writing immediately.

The move-in clean itself, in priority order

Kitchen first. It's where the previous tenant's cleaning most often ran out of energy.

• Inside all cupboards and drawers, then the runners and the underside of shelves
• Fridge cavity and seals, including the door gasket folds
• Oven interior, racks and the inside of the door glass
• Rangehood filter - lift it out and check; it's the most reliably skipped item in Australia
• Sink, drain and the seal around the sink edge

Bathroom second. Shower grout and silicone, behind the toilet and the cistern base, exhaust fan cover, the vanity's inside and underside, and the plugholes. Replace the toilet seat if you'd rather not think about it - they're inexpensive.

Then everything at contact height: door handles, light switches, remote controls, blind wands, wardrobe rails, taps. High-touch surfaces are what make a place feel like someone else's home.

Then floors and soft surfaces: carpets last. If the carpets weren't professionally cleaned before handover and there's any smell, get a steam clean before your furniture goes down - it's cheaper and far easier with an empty house, and it resets the baseline in your favour.

Things new tenants regularly miss

• The tops of door frames and the top edge of the shower screen
• Window tracks and flyscreens - fine grit collects here fast, particularly near busy roads like Nepean Highway
• Inside the washing machine's detergent drawer and door seal, if one's supplied
• Air conditioner and heater filters - pull them and check before the first cold or hot week
• The balcony or courtyard drain
• Under the sink, where past leaks show up

One habit that pays for itself

Keep a folder - photos, the condition report, every maintenance email, and receipts for any cleaning you paid for. Two years later you won't remember which mark was already there, and neither will the agent. The folder will.