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What Is in This Moving Out Checklist

This moving out checklist has 177 items in 21 groups: everything to pack, the move-out clean, and the paperwork of leaving, from giving notice to getting your deposit back. 44 of the items are about moving out alone, and the rest is the full packing list.

It covers the old home only. If you are moving into a new place as well, the free moving checklist adds the new home's own tasks: paying the deposit there, setting up electricity, booking internet, finding a doctor. You can add those to this list with Add an Item, then Or Add From Another List.

How Much Notice Do You Have to Give?

Read your lease first: it sets the notice you owe, and local law can set a minimum.

A month-to-month rental usually asks for 30 days of written notice. A fixed-term lease often asks for 30 to 60 days before it ends, and across tenancy types notice runs from about 7 to 60 days. In Alberta, Canada a monthly tenancy takes one month of notice.

Date the notice and keep a copy. It starts the day the owner or agent receives it, not the day you write it, so send it by certified mail or hand it over and ask for a signed, dated copy. Keep that copy until your deposit is back.

How Clean Does the Home Have to Be?

Most leases ask for the same condition as when you moved in, minus normal wear and tear.

That means a full clean, room by room, from the top down, with the floors vacuumed and mopped last. Most leases also say nothing can be left behind: what you leave can be taken away and the cost taken off your deposit. Cleaning costs can come off it too, so a stain or a smell that will not come out is worth a rented carpet cleaner.

Renters are usually not expected to repaint. You are expected to take down the hooks and shelves you put up and fill the holes.

What Happens at the Move-Out Inspection

The owner or agent walks through the home and compares it with the move-in report. The difference between the two is what you can be charged for.

Ask for the inspection early enough to fix the small faults they find, and bring your move-in report and photos. Take your own photos and a video of every room after you clean and before you hand back the keys, with the date showing. Get anything they find in writing.

In Alberta, Canada the reports are not optional: a landlord who skipped the move-in or the move-out report cannot take damage or cleaning off your deposit.

Getting Your Deposit Back

How long they have depends on where you rent.

  • US: most states give the owner 14 to 30 days after you move out, and in many of them the clock only starts once they have your forwarding address in writing.
  • UK: the deposit sits in a government-approved scheme, and it must come back within 10 days of you both agreeing the amount. While the amount is in dispute, the scheme holds it.
  • Alberta, Canada: 10 days from the day you give the home back, with an itemized statement inside the same 10 days and the final statement within 30 days.

If money is kept, they have to send a written, itemized list of what was taken off and why. If the deadline passes, write to them, keep a copy, and ask for the deposit and a statement of account.

Watch the mail as well. Forwarding takes at least 7 to 10 business days to start and lasts 12 months, and once the mailbox key goes back, mail that is not forwarded goes back to the sender.

What to Pack Last When You Are Moving Out

Pack the cleaning products, the tools and the trash bags last. You need them after the boxes are gone.

  • Clean each room as it empties, and leave the floors until everything else is done.
  • Keep the filler, the putty knife and the touch-up paint out until the holes are filled and dry.
  • Keep the vacuum, the mop and the bucket out of the boxes until the final clean is over.
  • Keep every key, fob, remote and parking permit in one place. They are handed back together.
  • Keep the deposit receipt, the move-in report, your notice and the final bills in one folder until the money is back.

Print, Share or Change This List

This list works like every list on the site: check items, change them, add your own, print it or share a link.

How to Use This Moving Checklist App shows every control on a phone and on a computer.Printable Moving Checklist and PDF covers printing and saving a PDF file. Your list is saved in this browser as soon as you check, add or change an item, with no sign up.

Moving Out Checklist FAQ

  1. How much notice do I have to give my landlord before moving out?

    Read your lease first. A month-to-month rental usually asks for 30 days of written notice, a fixed-term lease for 30 to 60 days before it ends, and notice periods run from about 7 to 60 days. Your notice starts the day the owner or agent receives it, not the day you write it, so keep a copy and proof that it arrived.

  2. How clean does an apartment need to be when you move out?

    Clean enough to match the condition it was in when you moved in, minus normal wear and tear. In most leases that means every room cleaned from the top down, the oven and fridge included, the floors vacuumed and mopped last, and nothing left behind. Cleaning costs can be taken out of your deposit.

  3. How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit?

    It depends on where you rent. In most US states it is 14 to 30 days after you move out, and in many of them the clock starts once they have your forwarding address in writing. In the UK it is 10 days from the day you both agree the amount, with the deposit held in a government-approved scheme. In Alberta, Canada it is 10 days from the day you hand the home back.

  4. What do landlords look for in a move-out inspection?

    They compare the home with the move-in report: damage beyond normal wear and tear, holes in the walls, carpet stains and burns, missing or broken fittings, and anything left behind. What is different from the move-in report is what you can be charged for. In Alberta a landlord who skipped the move-in or move-out report cannot take damage or cleaning off your deposit.

  5. What should I do before moving out of a rental?

    Give written notice, book the move-out inspection, and stop or move the services in your name. Then pack, fix the damage you caused, clean every room and take dated photos after the clean. Hand back every key, fob and permit at once, and give the owner or agent your new address in writing. The list above has all of it, grouped by Before the move, Moving day and After the move.