Most of the damage that will cause you to lose out on your deposit will obviously occur during the time that you are living in your apartment, but there are important things to remember and to do before you move in, while you are living in your place, and when you move out that can make sure you get full value back.
Step 1: Before You Move In
When you first move into your place make sure that you do a thorough inspection so that if there is any pre-existing damage that you can identify it and make sure that it is fixed or, at the least, that you are not held responsible for it.
Many times, the landlord will give you a form to fill out while you do the inspection by yourself. This usually isn't much of a problem but if you would feel more comfortable with a representative of the apartment management team preforming the inspection with you, then request that someone accompany you during the inspection.
Mostly look for:
-broken appliances
-missing lightbulbs
-stains on carpets
-stains on walls
-holes in walls
-uneven or incorrect paint on the walls
Before you move in, almost always, the apartment or home is in fantastic condition so this is the easiest part.
Step 2: Living In Your Rented Home
Again, this is most critical part of making sure your deposit comes back. The two most important things to care for are the carpet and the walls. These two things are the largest parts of your rented home and will draw the most attention to your landlord during your final inspection so it is clear that most of your attention and diligence will have to go toward preserving these two things as much as possible.
Here are some best practices to enact to make sure that your place stays in great shape while you are living there.
-Don't wear shoes in the house
-Don't hang things on the walls using nails (try to stick to lighter things and use push-pins)
-Don't smoke in your house
-Bring your own light bulbs and store the apartment complex's light bulbs in a safe place; re-install their bulbs when you move out
-Put foil on the bottom of your cooking stove (this will make cleaning it MUCH easier when you move out)
-Purchase a bottle of shower cleaning spray and use it after every shower. It will prevent mold and mildew from growing in your shower.
-Always use your fan and/or shower with the door open (preventing mold)
-Every 6 months or so have the carpets shampooed. Or rent a shampoo machine from Walmart and do it yourself. This will help preserve the health and lifespan of the carpets.
-Vacuum once a week!
Part 3: Moving Out and Cleaning
This is where all of your hard work during your time lived in your apartment will pay off. The first thing to do is to move all of your things out of your place and either into a storage unit or your new home. Obviously a storage unit will cost you so it would be nice if you could have the leases on your new place and old place overlap a little bit so you don't have to pay for storage.
First order of business will be cleaning the kitchen and the bathroom(s). These areas usually take the heaviest use and will require the most attention to make clean. A really handy cleaning tool is a Pumice Stone that makes cleaning porcelain and bathtubs really easy.
Take the foil out of the stove and hit the walls with a wet towel. Make sure to scrub the walls gently as you want to make sure that you don't wear the paint off. On really dirty parts of the walls you should use a Magic Eraser; they are really easy on the walls and they do a great job of getting tough dirt off.
The last thing you want to do is vacuum your place, starting with the room farthest away from the front door. There should be nothing in the place except for you and the vacuum and you want to vacuum backward out of the room so that when the room is finished being vacuumed, you are no longer in the room. Do this throughout your place so that when you reach the front door each part of the carpet looks new and freshly vacuumed. This will make a great first impression on the landlord when they preform the final inspection.
When it comes time for the final inspection, make sure that you are there with the landlord so that you can discuss anything that they find unsatisfactory. Do the final inspection a day or two before your lease expires so that you have time to fix whatever they don't like about your freshly cleaned place. Make sure that you have a signed copy of the final inspection sheet so that you can wash your hands of your place after you hand the keys over. Without a signed copy of the final inspection it will make it hard for you to defend yourself if the complex tries to blame you for anything once you hand the keys over. Typically deposits are send in the mail a couple of weeks after you move out so in that time frame it can be a little stressful waiting to see how much you get back and what they might try to peg on you.
