The months leading up to the end of your tenancy can bestressful if not thought through and planned out adequately. If you have decided to move out of the current premises, you should start to look for a place to move to as early as three months before your tenancy expires. This will give you enough time to look around for suitable places without rushing at the last moment.
Although you can choose to pack your things and hightail it out of there never to look back again, this will be a short-sighted decision. You will not only lose your security deposit but also lose a good recommendation should your next landlord require it. Starting with your search for a new place three months in advance, plan your exit by jotting down everything that needs to be done including an end of lease clean to hand over the premises in an appropriate fashion suited to you and your landlord.
Any tenant who wants to leave in an orderly and amicable fashion should consider the following tips on how to end a tenancy period the right way.
Notice of intention to vacate: look at your lease agreement to check the required notice period and make it a point to inform your landlord in writing of your intention to vacate the premises by the agreed date. Depending on what the lease agreement specifies, not informing your landlord in time could mean that you will be paying for an extra month in rent or losing a portion of your deposit.
Clean up: this is an important part of your exit process. Once you have packed all your things and moved to your new premises, have the entire place cleaned up, ideally professionally so that you can hand over the premises in the same condition you got the place. Attend to any repairs and damages Once cleaned, have your landlord inspect the premises for approvalbefore you hand over the keys. Once approved by your landlord, document the state of the premises with photographs and any notes to indicate damages or repairs attended to. Include damages present when the premises were handed over o you. This will safeguard you against any unwarranted claims after you have vacated.
Meter readings: once the inspection is complete go over the utility meter readings with your landlord and record the readings. You can choose to pay outstanding amounts and hand over bills along with the key or ask the landlord to deduct utility bill payment dues from the security deposit.
Return the keys: make sure you return all copies of the keys that were handed over to you when returning the original set. This should be done ideally at the premises itself and if you have paid off the utility bills then hand over these as well. Remember to keep copies of the paid bills with you in case there is a query to resolve later on.
