Moving house
Moving house checklist: what to do, week by week
Quick answer: Start about eight weeks out. Book removalists and give notice first, and book the clean as soon as the removalist date is fixed. Then sort utilities, mail and who to tell, and pack room by room in the last fortnight. Renters clean after the furniture leaves and before the final inspection, then hand back the keys and claim the bond.
One list, in the order things actually happen, for renters and owners. Enter your moving day in the checklist and each stage shows its own dates.
- End of lease clean
- From $423, live from our booking calculator, checked 5 October 2026
- Our record
- 1,726 completed end of lease cleans
Start with your situation
The checklist covers everyone. These take you to the parts that are only for you.
Your situation
- I'm rentingThe order that protects your bond, from notice to keys.
- I'm moving out of a rentalThe full renter's checklist, dated from your lease end.
- I've bought or I'm sellingChoose 'Bought or selling' in the checklist to see your steps.
- I'm moving inRecord the condition first, then clean before you unpack.
The moving house checklist
Work from your moving day backwards: the big bookings first, the paperwork in the middle, the packing and cleaning at the end, and the bond after you've gone.
Each stage then shows its own dates. Kept on this device only.
8 weeks before
Renters: your lease end and notice period set it. Buyers and sellers: your settlement date does.
Notice periods differ by state and by lease type, from 14 days to 30 days or more.
Ask what the price includes (hours, travel, stairs, taking furniture apart, the minimum charge) and whether your things are insured in transit.
Removalists, the clean, connection fees, overlap rent or bridging costs, and the bond gap if you are renting again.
Every box you don't pack is one you don't pay to move. Book a council collection early; some have a wait.
4 to 6 weeks before
Half of our customers book within a week of the clean. Saturdays and Mondays are our busiest days, so book early if you want one.
The final inspection compares the home with this report, so you'll want it on the day.
Electricity, gas, internet and water. Book connection for the day before you move in, not the day itself.
Renters: book it for the day after the final inspection, so the cleaner has power and hot water.
Strata buildings often need a booking for the lift and the loading bay.
Ask your removalist; many sell or lend boxes.
The fridge, couch and beds, against doorways, stairs and the lift. Sell or donate what won't fit before you pay to move it.
Book it early; short-term storage can fill up.
Of all the connections it is the one most likely to take weeks, so book it before the others.
2 to 3 weeks before
Australia Post redirects letters and parcels to your new address for a fee.
Label each box on two sides with the room and what is inside, number the boxes, and mark the fragile ones.
A simple inventory, with photos of anything valuable, makes a damage claim much easier.
Most won't take gas bottles, fuel, paint or chemicals. Empty the mower and plan how the barbecue bottle travels.
So neither runs out, or clashes, in moving week.
Frozen food doesn't travel well, and a removalist may not move open containers.
Your clean goes one to three days before it.
Buyers may do a pre-settlement inspection; leave the home as your contract requires.
Buyers: your contract and lender say when building insurance must start. Sellers: tell your insurer if the home will sit empty.
The final week
Times, access, parking, and who has the keys on the day.
Kettle, mugs, chargers, medicines, toilet paper, bedding, a towel each, basic tools and cleaning supplies.
Give it 24 hours to defrost if it is moving with you.
Refit the washing machine's transit bolts if you still have them; they protect the drum on the truck.
Moving day goes faster, and safer, with doors open and no one underfoot.
ID, contracts, your entry condition report, jewellery and chargers go in your car or bag, never on the truck.
Renters return every key and remote; sellers leave what the contract lists.
Cleaners don't remove rubbish or left furniture, and a clean can't start around it.
Moving day
Cupboards, the garage, the meter box, the letterbox. Take the garage remote out of the car.
A clean can start the same afternoon. One in six of our move cleans started at 3 pm or later. Cleaning it yourself? Use the room-by-room list.
Wide shots of each room and close-ups of any marks. Renters: these support your entry condition report.
And find the switchboard, the water main and the gas shut-off before you need them.
Note it on their paperwork and photograph it. Removalists and insurers set time limits for claims.
The first week
Usually within 5 business days to 2 weeks, depending on your state.
Each state sets its own deadline; check with your state's transport agency.
Make the beds on the first night; everything else can wait.
Owners: external locks, the garage remote, alarm and smart-lock codes. Renting: ask your landlord or agent in writing first; the rules differ by state.
Your council's pet registration and the microchip register both need the new address.
Bin collection, hard rubbish dates and resident parking permits.
After you move
In the ACT, unreturned keys can mean you are treated as still in possession.
Through your state's bond authority. How long it takes depends on the state and whether the agent agrees.
Then arrange a re-clean quickly, before any claim is decided.
Before you pay the balance.
General information, not legal advice. Notice periods, inspection rules and bond processes differ by state; check your lease and your state's tenancy authority.
Renting? The order that protects your bond
Do it in this order: notice, book the clean, removalists, the clean, carpets if your lease and state allow it, the final inspection, the keys, then the bond claim.
Give notice in writing
Your lease and your state set how much notice you give. Check both, and keep a copy of what you sent.
Book the clean once the removalist date is fixed
The clean goes after the furniture leaves and before the final inspection. Book it as soon as you know the removalist date.
Move your things out
A clean can't reach behind furniture or boxes. Take rubbish and anything you're leaving behind away first.
The clean
Keep the power and water on. In every state the duty is to leave the home reasonably clean compared with when you moved in; hiring a professional is your choice.
Carpets, if your lease and state allow it
A lease can't require professional carpet cleaning in every case. The rules differ by state, and often turn on pets and how the carpets were at the start.
The final inspection
Bring your entry condition report and photos. Where you have the right to attend, go.
Hand back the keys
Every key and remote, on the date the agent sets. Rent can keep running until you do.
Claim your bond
Agree the claim with your agent through your state's bond authority. If they raise items, get them in writing and fix them quickly.
Who to tell about your new address
Most of the work is in three places: Australia Post for your mail, myGov for the ATO, Medicare and Centrelink, and your state's transport agency for your licence and registration.
- Australia Post: set up mail redirection before you move so letters and parcels follow you.
- Electoral roll: update your enrolment with the AEC. It covers federal, state and local elections.
- ATO, Medicare and Centrelink: update your address through your myGov account.
- Licence and car registration: your state's transport agency. Each state sets its own deadline.
- Banks and super: every account, card and fund.
- Insurers: home and contents, car, health and life. Contents cover may need to move to the new address on the day.
- Utilities and internet: disconnect at the old home, connect at the new one.
- Work: your employer and payroll.
- Health: your GP, dentist, pharmacy and specialists.
- Schools and childcare.
- Subscriptions and deliveries: online shopping accounts, memberships, streaming bills.
- Your vet and pet microchip register.
- Friends and family.
When people book their move clean
About a week ahead, most often for a Saturday or a Monday. Move cleans are spread evenly through the year, and many start in the afternoon, once the truck has gone.
Simply Maid booking history · not today’s price
- 7 days
- median time between booking and the clean (middle half: 3 to 14 days)
- 53.5%
- booked within a week of the clean; 8.7% the same or next day
- Sat and Mon
- the busiest days, about 19% of move cleans each; Sundays about 1%
- 1 in 6
- started at 3 pm or later (17.0%), against 11.8% of other one-off cleans
- 72%
- were one- or two-bedroom homes
- 6.6%
- went on to book regular cleans, most of them at a new postcode: the home they moved into
1,716 completed move cleans (moving in and moving out together) on our previous booking platform, December 2015 to March 2025, for 1,604 customers; 82% of them in Sydney. Computed 5 October 2026.
Moving in: record first, then clean
Before you unpack, photograph every room and note anything that isn't clean or working on your entry condition report. Then clean while the home is still empty.
If you're renting, the entry condition report is what your exit is measured against, so write down what you find, including a home that wasn't left clean. Return it within your state's deadline (below).
An empty home is the easiest it will ever be to clean: inside cupboards and drawers, the oven, the fridge seals, the bathrooms, the window tracks and the floors. The full order of work is in our move-in cleaning checklist, and our move-in clean covers the same list as an end-of-lease clean.
When the entry condition report is due back
Within 5 business days in Victoria, 7 days in NSW, Queensland and Western Australia, and 2 weeks in the ACT.
| State | Return it within | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | 7 days | Residential Tenancies Act 2010 s 29(3) |
| Victoria | 5 business days | Residential Tenancies Act 1997 s 35(2) |
| Queensland | 7 days after moving in, or after receiving the report if it came later | Copy returned to you within 14 days (s 65) |
| Western Australia | 7 days | Only if you disagree; otherwise it is taken as accepted (s 27C) |
| South Australia | Check with CBS | Not verified in the Act text we read |
| ACT | 2 weeks | Residential Tenancies Act 1997 s 29(3) |
Sources are listed at the end of this guide. Checked 5 October 2026. General information, not legal advice.
What will the clean cost?
Our end of lease clean starts from $423, priced by bedrooms and bathrooms. The price guide shows every home size, what's included and how to compare quotes.
See end of lease cleaning costs for the full price table and the cities we clean in.
Questions people ask
What is the most forgotten thing when moving house?
Telling everyone your new address, especially mail redirection, the electoral roll and your licence. In a rental, people also forget the keys and remotes, and keeping the power on for the clean.
What should I do two days before moving?
Confirm the removalists, the clean and the keys handover, defrost the fridge, pack your essentials box, and put aside everything that stays with the home.
In what order should I pack?
Rooms you use least first (spare rooms, storage, books, out-of-season clothes), then living areas, then the kitchen and bathrooms last. Your essentials box goes in the car, not the truck.
What is the first thing to do in a new house?
Photograph each room before you unpack, check the hot water, power and smoke alarms, then clean the kitchen and bathrooms before your things go in.
Does the house need to be empty for the end-of-lease clean?
Yes, as far as possible. A cleaner can't clean behind furniture or inside full cupboards, so the clean goes after the removalists.
How far ahead should I book the end-of-lease clean?
As soon as your removalist date is fixed. Our customers' median is about a week ahead. Saturdays and Mondays are our busiest days.
Is a professional end-of-lease clean required by law?
No. In every state the duty is to leave the home reasonably clean compared with when you moved in. A few narrow lease terms, mostly about pets and carpets, differ by state.
When you're ready
Moving out? Check your end-of-lease clean price
A fixed price for your home in about a minute. Nothing is booked or paid until you choose a time.
Moving in instead? See the move-in clean
Sources
The laws, regulators and services this guide relies on, with the date we read each one.
- Mail redirection and mail hold, Australia Post. Read 5 October 2026. Mail redirection.
- Enrol to vote or update your details, Australian Electoral Commission. Read 5 October 2026. Updating your enrolment.
- myGov, Australian Government. Read 5 October 2026. Linked services such as the ATO, Medicare and Centrelink.
- Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW), NSW Legislation. Read 5 October 2026. Entry condition report s 29(3); notice ss 96–97.
- Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic), Victorian Legislation. Read 5 October 2026. Entry condition report s 35(2); notice s 91Z.
- Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld), Queensland Legislation. Read 5 October 2026. Entry condition report s 65.
- Residential Tenancies Act 1987 (WA), WA Legislation. Read 5 October 2026. Condition reports s 27C.
- Ending a tenancy, Consumer and Business Services SA. Read 5 October 2026.
- Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (ACT), ACT Legislation Register. Read 5 October 2026. Entry condition report s 29(3).
- The Renting Book (January 2026), ACT Government. Read 5 October 2026. Keys and possession at the end of a tenancy.
General information, not legal advice. Tenancy law differs by state and changes; check the official source for your state before you act.