The bond-back clear-out checklist

The sequence

• A WEEK OUT Decide what's leaving for good. Walk every room plus the balcony and the storage cage, and sort into coming-with-you, selling or giving away, and going. The going pile is always bigger than you think, and it's the pile with a deadline.
• A WEEK OUT Book the going pile's exit. If the council's free pickup fits your items and your building's slot is free, book it now, it runs weekly but wants bookings by 2pm the day before, through your building manager for apartment buildings. If the timing's tight or the items don't qualify, book a paid clear-out instead, and give them your inspection date.
• A WEEK OUT Line up the lift. Big items can't leave a tower without the goods lift, and goods lifts get booked out at month's end when every lease in the building rolls over. If a crew is doing your clear-out, they should make this call, ours does.
• TWO DAYS OUT Clear-out day. Everything not coming with you leaves: furniture, boxes, the cage, the balcony. Do this BEFORE the cleaner comes, a bond clean around furniture is money spent twice.
• TWO DAYS OUT Check the hiding spots. Under-sink, top of the wardrobe, behind the laundry door, the car space. Anything found at inspection gets charged against the bond at someone else's hourly rate.
• THE DAY BEFORE The bond clean happens in an empty apartment. Whether you're doing it yourself or paying for it, this is why the clear-out came first.
• HANDOVER MORNING Final walk-through with the condition report from when you moved in. Photograph every room empty, including inside cupboards and the cage. Time-stamped photos end arguments before they start.
• HANDOVER Keys, fobs and remotes back, all of them, they're counted. Keys on the bench or at the agent's desk as instructed, and the bond claim goes in.

Where it goes wrong

Three failures cover most lost bonds on the clear-out side: furniture still in the apartment when the cleaner arrives, the storage cage nobody remembered existed, and the "we'll just leave it by the bins" move, which building managers photograph and agents bill back. All three are schedule problems, not effort problems, which is why this list is ordered the way it is.

If you'd rather hand the whole sequence to someone: that's literally our lead service, and the Handback Board will draft the plan from your date in about ten seconds.