Your home is the most important thing to maintain. Most Australians will rent a home at some point in their lives and, if you do, you may be subject to periodic inspections as stated in your rental contract.
Target areas that worry landlords most.
Focus on features that you think the agent or landlord would look for first. Clean the bathroom (including the bathtub and basin), the kitchen fittings and the carpets. Make sure you scrub the parts you might not do daily, such as the corners of the shower screen. If you have an inside pet, try and get the pet hair out of the carpet as much as you can for a cleaner look.
There’s cleaning and there’s clutter. A house can be clean, but still look messy because everything is out on display. Whilst you’ll need to clean your home properly for a rental inspection, you can change the appearance of your house for the better by clearing out the clutter.
If you do have an inside pet, it’s ideal to put them somewhere else for the day. Rental inspections can be very stressful for pets, especially if you’re not present while the landlord or agent is there.
The exterior appearance is just as important as the interior. Gardens and landscaping are a huge investment of time and money for landlords. Make sure your lawns are mowed, gardens are weeded and plants are maintained. If there are cobwebs around the house, try and remove these as best you can.
Scratches and rips are part of everyday wear, and your landlord will be able to include repairing them as a business expense. There seems to be a bit of a grey area with whose responsibility it is to fix things in the home but a good rule of thumb is that if it’s your ‘fault’ you need to fix it. This includes changing broken lightbulbs.