Quarterly Inspections - to what extent do you clean?

[Jaycee]

Just wondering to what extent everyone cleans for quarterly inspections?

Usually I go a little nuts and my generally tidy home turns into a show home for the day, give it a few hours and it's back to the generally tidy home

We have an inspection today and I didn't clean at all yesterday as DS wasn't well and I'm sitting here at work feeling a little embarrassed to have a stranger walk through my house the way it is. It's certainly not dirty, the bathrooms are clean, the dishes are done (although in the drainer, not put away) and the beds are made. However, there's a few toys scattered about the place and some clothes not put away on the dresser, just little things like that.

The yard's probably not the best it could be either, not completely weed free.

So, tell me how much you clean for your inspection??

[Pandora]

Quarterly? Is that common?
I know it's been a while since I rented but we never had more than one inspection annually.

Anyway used to clean the place thoroughly, skirting boards etc, lawns mown etc Not just a tidy up

[kylieb77]

I would have it about as clean as yours is today I have heard that they really only look for major problems anyway so why bother going to extremes.

[Early Kids]

When we were renting I never went into a cleaning frenzy and made it spotless, but I always made sure it was clean and tidy just like I do everyday. When you have kids they cannot expect it to be spotless, a few toys here and there is not untidy IMO. But then not all agents are nice about it either...

[toomanyshoes]

I don't do anything out of the norm, it doesn't need to be spotless anyway, just tidy but lived in, they are there mainly to make sure 1, there are no extra people 2, you haven't put holes in the way and 3, it isn't "dirty".

I'm sure whoever is doing the inspection probably wont give it a second thought :P

But having said that, I can't wait to be back in our own place next year! We've been renting the last couple of years because we've moved 4 times in 2 years and I HATE it!

[Mother Goose]

we are also "show home for a day" although it is usually only an hour! we don't have much "living" space so DD's stuff is everywhere. We keep it clean but it is often messy.

[skybie]

i used to do the show home clean, not anymore! lol theyre lucky if i vaccum b4 i leave the house!!!
They arent there to see how good u clean and tidy, just making sure the property is being cared for and structually all good. Trust me they'll have seen worse hun
xx

[toomanyshoes]

i used to do the show home clean, not anymore! lol theyre lucky if i vaccum b4 i leave the house!!!
They arent there to see how good u clean and tidy, just making sure the property is being cared for and structually all good. Trust me they'll have seen worse hun
xx

Yep! much worse...my SIL wont even move because she knows all too well her RE will give her a shocking reference lol

[CinderToriella]

Normally i clean to the max( silly i know) last inspection i cleaned as well the house was normal.

We had a new woman that came, she told me to clean all the cobwebs from the ceilings, mow the lawns..hhmm it had been raining for two weeks straight...Told me how she uses sugar soap on the walls and near her bin lol yeah your point? lol

Here i was with a new born and she was having little digs at me about a few cobwebs in the corners ..when she mentioned the lawns i was so angry ..

she came back later and apologised and said she hoped i was not offended by her comments coz she can tell we keep the house clean and tidy pppffftt get out lol

[Raupe]

@Pandora: Yes, it is common when you rent through an agency. We have inspections every 3 months, too.

@Jaycee: I'm exactly the same as you and always have it SPOTLESS! Until the last inspection...For some (strange) reason I was CONVINCED we were having the inspection on a wednesday. So there I was sitting in my untidy, uncleaned (alright it wasn't that bad) house on Tuesday morning when our agent knocked on the door. I was in SHOCK!! I thought I'd still have sooo much time to clean up, but nope, there she was and wanted to come in (*gulp*). I walked her through the house, head hung in shame. OMG I was sooo embarrassed!!!! It wasn't dirty, just REALLy untidy. The bed wasn't made, I had paperwork all over the desk and the floor (I was working on a huuuge assignment for uni) there was laundry hanging EVERYWHERE around the house (we usually do all our clothes on one massive washing day and it was rainy outside) and I mean EVERYWHERE. There were socks hanging on the doorknobs , pants over the curtain rails (all to dry cause it was wet outside and we didn't have 'hanging space') and so on. Did I mention I was super embarrassed? At the end she thanked me and said (because I kept apologising) "I'm very pleased with the way you keep the house" (WTF?!? ) "This is what you call dirty?" and smiled at me.... So she was happy and despite my worries apparently the inspection "went very well". I think I was just so annoyed, because my house normally is very tidy and clean and she saw it on the WORST day imaginable. So I guess what I'm saying is don't worry about your place!!! If the agent is happy with my place in that state, she'll be thrilled with yours! One of my friends is an agent too and said it's amazing what feral houses they get to see. So your place will be absolutely fine! Yours is clean and tidy, so you've got nothing to worry about. I hope my story gave you a bit peace of mind. I am *normally* always soo pedantic when it comes to cleanliness and what other people think of my house. Put apparently I care waaayyyy more than the agents do

Hope you feel better now!

[toomanyshoes]

oh shell they are silly sometimes aren't they.

When we were moving out of a house in brisbane we had an inspection, they said nothing, walked through the house and left. A week later we get a notice that the house wasn't up to scratch and the lawns needed mowing. The house was spotless all bar packing boxes stacked up in 1 corner of every room and Brisbane had had a month long flooding and we had a foot of water in the back yard! Some of them are just stupid. They tried to screw up over with the bond too, worst RE EVER!

[Jaycee]

Shell - wow, what a nasty woman! How dare she give you tips on keeping a house clean ggrrr!!

Raupe - your story made me laugh! You did make me feel a bit better, thanks

Toomanyshoes - they expect you to mow your lawns when it's under a foot of water?? wow they sound a little unreasonable!

Thanks for your replies everyone!

[Ms_Fi]

We've got an end of lease inspection next Thursday and we've already starting cleaning!

We're not dirty people by any stretch of the imagination but with 3 kids and 2 dogs in the house it gets a little grubby, especially as my OH has been off her feet for the past 5 months following surgery and I work full time.

We're very aware of any potential dog smell so we're disinfecting the patio every night and burning candles in the house almost constantly!

I'll be so glad once the inspection is over and we've got our lease extended - it's just too much stress!

[ladybird11]

We usually go for the 'show home' look lol, kind of like a spring clean lol! Inside and outside

Usually they just look in the door - say that they've seen enough and leave! All that effort you would have thought I'd have learn't by now lol!

[ss_storm]

we have quarterly inspections too..bit of a change from our last real estate where we were lucky to have annual inspections! Lol.

I just do a 'normal' house clean- do bathroom/toilet, vaccuum and mop, tidy up Hayley's toys and have a go at weeding the garden. It's not spotless and I know it could be cleaner, but our agent is really lovely and she always comments how lovely the house looks so she's obviously quite happy with it! I think as long as it doesn't look like a pigsty and there are no holes in the walls etc then it should be fine..especially with quarterly inspections they can't expect you to go OTT 4 times a year cleaning the house, particularly when you have young children!

[toomanyshoes]

Jaycee we should have known is was coming as it was the 2nd house we rented through them and when we moved out of the first they tried to get us to pay for extra carpet cleaning because a stain that was listed on the entry inspection had "moved" once we had the carpets cleaned by their prefer carpet cleaner. Never ever again, every agent including the owner of the RE was just awful, very unprofessional as well.

[nirenotrom]

Good luck Jaycee, hope it goes well. I think they are the second worst type of inspections... The worst by far being mother-in-laws. Speaking of which, mine is coming over now. Best I go do the dishes.

[blessedatlast]

I have a cunning plan when it comes to inspections.. I clean the place thoroughly, but leave a few dishes on the sink then when they come I say "Oh I am terribly sorry about the mess, I have been so busy" I am hoping they think I am a massive clean freak, even though I'm not! I amuse myself anyway!! Lol