Moving Out
If you are planning to move out of your rented home, the first thing to do is notify your Property Manager. This notice must be in writing and may be acceptable by email, fax, a posted letter, handing in a letter at the office or submitting a prescribed form. Remember your notice period will commence once the notice has been received in the office – not from the time is was sent.
Notice periods vary from state to state and whether you are in a fixed term lease, or on a periodic lease. To ensure you give the correct notice contact your Property Manager.
Your Property Manager will send you confirmation of your vacating date and provide a Vacating Checklist – the best way to ensure you get your bond back.
Condition Report
The condition report is the most important document that your Property Manager checks when you move out. As a tenant, it is your responsibility to hand over the property to the owner as it was given to you given fair wear and tear. The condition report helps the Property Manager compare the property when you moved in to when you moved out. In case you have caused any damage to the property, or it is not clean, the Property Manager may ask you to cover the cost of the repair. This amount may be settled separately, or adjusted in the bond refund.
Moving Out and Handing in the Keys
The vacate date is when you hand the keys to your Property Manager at the office – not the vacating date. You must provide vacant possession of the property – meaning you need to have moved out all of your possessions and handing back the keys.
When you hand back the keys you will need to pay for any outstanding rent, outstanding water invoices, and water usage to vacate date. Your Property Manager will check your keys against those given to you when you signed the lease to ensure all keys are returned. If there are missing keys you may be asked to replace them (at your cost).
At the time of handing in your keys you will be invited to the outgoing inspection – it is up to you whether you attend or not.
Bond Refund
Your bond refund should not be a hassle to as long as you have adhered to the conditions of the lease agreement and have handed back the property in good shape – given fair wear and tear. You can also use the photos you have taken when you moved in to check if the property has been maintained as it was let out to you.
The bond is not held by the agency and may take between 7 to 14 days after your outgoing inspection, to be returned to you. Providing your bank details to your Property Manager is the quickest way for the bond to be returned.