Moving Out Of Home:
The Complete Guide
ENDING YOUR TENANCY
Regardless if you are on a fixed-term or a month -by-month tenancy agreement, it is your responsibility as a tenant to give your landlord written notice about your vacating the property.
What Should The Written Notice Include?
The date you are planning to leave (also take into account the required notice period in contract).
It must be signed by you or an authorized representative.
LETTER DELIVERY
Delivering the end of tenancy letter to your landlord can be done in several ways. However, before doing this, check if they've specified how they prefer getting a notice of ending tenancy. Once you've done this the best ways to send them the notice are:
E-mail- if they have specified they wish to receive documents of this sort via e-mail.
Post- sometimes the best way to communicate if the oldfashioned post.
Hand-Delivered- They may prefer you give them the termination of tenancy letter personally.
NOTE: Keep in mind that whatever you agree upon during a discussion must be put in writing.
FORMAL ARRANGEMENTS
Q: What Does Formal Arrangement Mean?
A: Sharing a lease with your flatmates is form of formal arrangement.
If you' re living under formal arrangements with your roommates this means you'll have to sign rental agreement and contracts regarding any maintenance services related to the condition of the property. This will include electricity, gas, water and internet. As the contract are legally binding you'd have to.
So, before moving out of your old flat, make sure you don't have any financial obligations.
NOTE: You might have problems with the payments when you move out if you haven't read the contracts carefully. You might have missed or misunderstood the obligations you'd have to continue making payments for the different services even though you have changed your address. You will not be able to defend yourself if the splitting the costs for a certain service are not on paper.
INFORMAL AGREEMENTS
Q: What's an informal agreement?
A: Logically, an informal agreement is when you' re renting a part of an apartment or a house, but have not signed a formal lease agreement. If your signature is not present on such a document, this means your friend is a ' head-tenant' .
If you' re in a similar situation and you haven't signed any contracts which clearly define your financial obligations, you might end up paying the whole rent even if you' re not living there. It would be best if you have both of your signature.
PROPERTY CONDITION
The property you have rented and are now moving out from must be left in the same condition in which it was when you moved on. This would mean you need to leave it as clean as you found it on the day you started living.
Fantastic end of lease cleaning experts in Melbourne say landlords and real estate agents often insist on meticulously cleaning every inch of the property before returning the bond back to tenants. This matter has become the reson for quarrels between the two parties.
PROPERTY CONDITION
If you have made any alternations like hanging wall art, installing fixtures and fittings, you should restore the proeprty to its original state. If you fail to do this, you might have problems with your landlord and lose part of or the whole deposit.
It would be best, if you have a professional, clean or rerpair something to keep the receipts.
What might be even better, you can have an inspection of the property in the presense of the landlord and agent, so they don't make claims to your bond. However, remember you cannot insist on their presense.
GETTING YOUR BOND BACK
Once, you've made sure everything in the rented property is in order and the inspection has been completed, you should be able to get your bond back.
At the end of the tenancy, the real estate agent or landlord should decide how the bond should be paid back. After reaching an agreement, both sides must sign a Bond Claim. The document is then sent to the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority who later pay the deposit back in accordance with the form.
END OF TENANCY CLEANING
HACKS
The property you'll vacate needs do be reasonably clean which will grant you your deposit back.
Tip # 1: Pack and move your belongings first - Once you have moved your personal items away you will be able to clean the rooms easier. You wouldn't have to move the boxes all over the place.
Tip # 2: Make sure the rooms you vacate won't be used frequently during the cleaning. This way you will keep them stainless.
Tip # 3: Make sure your shoed are not dirty, so you won't stain the flooring. As an alternative to cleaning your shoes everytime you come back to the property, you can use plastic overshoes.
Tip # 4: Make sure you follow a detailed checklist, so you don't miss a spot and you get your deposit back.
MOVING WITH
PETS 101
Moving can be very stressful for you and your pet, as well. So, being prepared is essential.
1. Prepare an overnight kit, outside the moving boxes. Put your pet's favourite toys, treats, grooming tools. This way you'll be able to to provide them with everything without chaotically unpacking everything in search for the cat food.
2. If you'll be moving to an area which is far away, make sure your vet recommends another vet, so you don't have to look for one when you move.
3. Make sure your pet is in the quitest room possible, so they don't feel stressed when you start moving.
4. Take your dog or cat with you to the new property. Make sure they can't get out of the vehicle, as they can easily get lost in an unfamiliar area. Leave the kennel or carrier open once you've moved to the new place. This way your pet will get to know the new place, once they feel safe enough to come out.
5. Make sure you've moved and unpacked all of your stuff. This way, you won't stress the animal even more.
6. Once you move, make sure you update their tags and micro chips, so the information is accurate.
