Thinking of moving out? There are a couple of key things you need to take care of to finish up your tenancy without any unnecessary complications.

Firstly, you need to issue your vacating notice.

If you’re intending to leave just after your lease is up, you need to provide the notice required in your state. If you want to move out before your lease is finished, there may be some complications to work through with your property manager – including some potential additional costs for breaking the lease. 

Once applicable notice has been provided, you’ll be issued with a vacate date. This informs you of the latest date that you can return the keys to your property manager.

You’re required to have all your personal items – including furniture – out of the property, and to have left it in suitable condition for new tenants on this date.

You’re also required to continue paying rent until this date, regardless of whether you choose to remain living at the property until the final day or not.

You’ll have some obligations to fulfill in regards to ensuring the acceptable condition of the property. Some of these will include cleaning, ensuring functionality of appliances, smoke detectors, and more.

Cleaning before you vacate should be an extensive process, not just a simple tidying up. Some of the fundamentals include:

• Cleaning of the oven, cooktop & range hood inside and outside and around and under knobs
• Carpets vacuumed and cleaned properly. In many situations, professional carpet cleaning is required, but it is always recommended to ensure floors are in acceptable condition
• All walls need to be lightly cleaned and all marks must be removed

If you’re worried that you’ll forget something, or that you won’t complete the job to a satisfactory level – we’d recommend hiring professionals. Connectnow can assist with this process.

It’s worth considering this option to save yourself time and effort. If the property is left in insufficient condition after an attempted clean, professional cleaners are hired anyway – and the cost may be deducted from your bond.

Notify your energy suppliers

Give your energy suppliers plenty of notice that you are leaving, so they can organise final meter readings. To ease the moving process, you should also provide your new address to your suppliers.

Getting your bond back

You should receive your bond back swiftly if you follow the processes in your state correctly. Your property manager can provide helpful guidance during this time, but there is plenty of information available online – and you can browse below to start getting informed:  

• For Queensland tenants
• For tenants in NSW
• For Victorian tenants

If you met all the conditions of your lease, and you left your property in reasonable condition, you should get the full amount of your bond back. 

To help avoid problems:

• Check the property against the condition report from when you moved in
• Compare the property now to any photos taken at the start of the tenancy
• Remember to take photos when you leave.

We hope the transition period between leaving your current property and entering your new home runs smoothly. Our property managers are available and happy to help every step of the way.