Cleaning our apartment to rent out.

Anyone have any tips on what to do to prepare our unit for renting it out? I have no idea what to think of in this circumstance cause I have never rented myself, nor has DH.
TIA :)

Basically, how you leave it is how the next tenant must leave it.

If you leave the house with a dirty vent, the tenant is not obliged to clean the vent fully, they can throw the old 'it was like that when I moved in' response and if it's on the entry report theres not much you can do.

As renters, we are expected to have the carpets professionally cleaned (and flea sprayed if we have pets) when we move out, so we expect to move into a house that has had the carpets professionally cleaned and sprayed.

Basically, how YOU leave it is how the tenant is expected to leave it, so you want it as clean as you can! Any marks on the wall gone, oven and vents clean, dishwasher cleaned. Walk through the house, and think how would I feel if a tenant left it like this. If you feel ok, then leave it. If you think "oh thats a bit dirty... oh thats stained... oh there dust there..." then clean it. Remember things like on the tops of ceiling fans, window tracks, skirting, above doorways, on powerpoints. Clean out bugs from light fittings. Clean doors, including the front and back door.

Oh and if you have tiles on the floor or in the bathroom, whiten the grout so that your next tenants have to leave it clean. Otherwise they just have to leave it as they found it. And when they move out make sure they haven't used WHITEOUT to whiten the grout because I moved into a house where the previous tenants had done that and it was really feral underneath. I made the real estate get someone in to clean it as the owners expense. I guess they *could* have called the previous tenants but the owners ended up paying for it.

My advice is to get it professionally cleaned including the windows and carpets. Then that can be a condition of exit that the tenant must also have the place professionally cleaned.

Also take a photo of EVERYTHING, every little mark, bump etc for the condition report - with the date stamp on the pictures.

As Leash says above, however you leave it is how they will leave it.

i would give the keys to the real estate and get them to get it cleaned.
Get the reciept and claim on tax.