If you rent your current home and will be moving to a house in another state soon, here are a few things you should do to before you leave.
1. Deep clean after the removalists have taken your goods
If the home that you're leaving is rented, then it is extremely important to deep-clean the property before you return the keys to the landlord. This will help to minimise the risk of the owner of the property withholding your deposit (something that landlords can do if they think the property needs to be professionally cleaned).
It is best to do this after the interstate removals team has taken all of your boxed-up possessions and furniture out of the property. The reason for this is as follows; moving house is a messy process. When the removalists are taking your items out of your current home and then putting them into the van, they may end up tracking some dirt from the outside into your home (particularly if it is raining and the ground is quite muddy as a result of this).
If you deep-clean before they arrive and you don't set aside any time to mop or sweep up after they have finished, you may have to simply leave the property in less-than-pristine condition. If the landlord is unhappy with this and threatens to withhold your deposit, it will hard for you to rectify the issue, as you won't be able to easily come back to the property and clean things up (as you will already be in another state). This could then result in you losing a portion (or even all) of your deposit.
As such, it is best to ensure that you have some spare time to clean your current home after the removalists have come and collected your belongings.
2. Walk around your home and create a list of items that cannot be left behind
It's very common for people to forget to pack certain items when moving from one home to another, particularly if they are busy planning their house move and if the items in question are stowed away in an area that is rarely visited (such as the attic, for example). In instances where people are moving to a property in the same area, this isn't too much of a problem, as they can simply go back to their old home and collect the forgotten items.
However, if you move to a different state and forget to bring along an essential item, it could leave you feeling frustrated and stressed-out during your first couple of days of living in your new home. For example, if you move just before Christmas and forget to pack up the decorations and artificial Christmas tree, this could spoil your first Christmas at your new property. In this situation, you may not ever be able to retrieve these items, as the new tenants who moved into your old home may end up throwing them out.
As such, it's worth walking around your home and making a list of any items you see that you absolutely have to take with you. Then, just before you are due to leave, you can look at this list and ensure that you have packed up everything that you need.
