Move in and move out cleaning

Getting your security deposit back

Most people who call us for a move out clean are thinking about one number, and it is the deposit.

New Jersey landlords can hold back for damage, but not for normal wear. The trouble is that a dirty apartment reads as damage at a walkthrough even when nothing is broken. Grease behind the stove, a bathroom that has not been scrubbed, marks along the baseboards, an oven nobody touched in two years. That is the list that turns into deductions.

So the job is not tidying. It is making the place look like the day you got the keys. Inside the oven, inside the fridge, inside the cabinets and closets, the tracks the sliding doors run in, the baseboards, the light switches, the inside of the windows where we can reach them.

Take photos when we finish. A clean apartment plus dated photos is a much harder thing for anyone to argue with.

Moving in is the other half

The move in clean is the one people forget to book and then wish they had.

Somebody else lived there. Whatever the listing said, the cabinets have crumbs in them, the bathroom has been used, and the fridge has a smell. Doing that yourself on moving weekend, around boxes, is miserable.

It is also the only time the house will ever be empty and easy to reach. Every cabinet open, every closet clear, no furniture in front of the baseboards. An hour of work in an empty house is worth three in a full one.

The best order is simple. Get the keys, let us clean it, then move the furniture in. Once the truck is unloaded that window is gone.

Timing it around a closing date

Closing dates move. We know that, so tell us the date you have and tell us again when it changes.

For a rental, the useful slot is after the last of your things are out and before the walkthrough. For a sale, it is usually after the truck leaves and before the buyer's final visit. Both are often the same forty eight hours, so the earlier you get on the calendar the better.

If your date slides, call or text and we will move you. There is no fee for that as long as we know by the day before.

Landlords, realtors, and property managers

We also work for the other side of the transaction. Landlords turning a unit between tenants. Realtors who want a listing to photograph properly. Managers with several units and a schedule to keep.

For repeat turnover work it is worth setting up a standing arrangement so you are not requesting a quote every time. It works the same way our short-term rental turnovers do, just on a slower clock.

If the unit has just been renovated, the dust is a separate problem and needs post-construction cleanup first. Fine drywall dust settles for days and a normal clean just moves it around.

What it costs

Empty homes are priced on size and condition. We come and look, or for a small apartment we can often quote from photos and the square footage.

The estimate is free and there is no obligation. If you also want the windows done or the garage swept, say so at the walkthrough and it goes in the same number.

We cover Middlesex, Somerset, Union, Hunterdon and Mercer counties. Payment is after the job, by cash, card, Zelle, or Venmo.

Questions we get about move in and move out