Why it matters
"Clean" at handover covers a wide range. The sellers or previous tenants were packing, tired and focused on their next place. They cleaned what they could see. The places they did not get to are the ones you will be putting your own things into.
Think of a family getting the keys to a resale home in Mission on a Friday, with the moving truck booked for Saturday morning. The house looks fine at the walkthrough. On Saturday night they start unpacking the kitchen and find crumbs and grease in the drawers, a sticky ring on every fridge shelf, and a layer of dust on top of the cabinets. The bathroom fan is furred with lint. Now the choice is to wash every cupboard at 9pm with boxes stacked in the way, or to put the dishes in and live with it.
That is the real case for a move-in clean. It is about timing more than dirt:
Empty rooms clean faster. With no furniture, the crew reaches every baseboard, closet shelf and corner without moving anything. The same clean six months later means working around beds and sofas, and it takes longer.
You only get one chance at some spots. Inside cupboards and drawers, closet shelves, behind the fridge and stove, the floor under where the couch will sit. Once you unpack, those are covered for years.
You start from a known point. You know when the oven, the fridge and the bathrooms were last properly cleaned, because you saw it done.
It matters most if anyone in the home has allergies or asthma, if the last occupants had pets or smoked, or if the home sat empty for a while and collected dust.
How Honourable Cleaning helps
Our move-in clean and move-out clean are the same service, because the work is the same: an empty home, cleaned inside the appliances, inside cupboards and drawers, baseboards, window tracks, vents, bathrooms and floors. It starts at $250 plus GST for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom home and $380 for three bedrooms and two bathrooms. A three-bedroom house takes a crew of two a little over five hours.
The simplest way to do it is to book for the gap between getting your keys and the truck arriving. If that gap is only one evening, we have evening slots from 4pm. If you get the keys days ahead, book the clean for the first day and let the home air out before you move in.
You pick the home size online and see the flat price before you pay. If something was missed, tell us within 24 hours and the crew comes back to re-clean it at no charge. If you are away at closing, you can leave a lockbox code in the booking notes, and you do not need to be there.
Key takeaways
- Book the move-in clean for after you get the keys and before the furniture arrives. Even a few hours' gap is enough.
- Ask for inside cupboards, drawers, the fridge and the oven. Those are the places previous occupants skip most.
- If the landlord says the rental was professionally cleaned, check inside the oven and one kitchen drawer. That will tell you.
- Renting? Do your move-in condition inspection and photos before the clean, so the report shows how you received it.
See your exact price
Pick your home size and service. Your flat rate shows up in about a minute, no phone call needed.
See my price →Call (604) 751-6260Questions people ask
Should I get a move-in clean before moving into a new house?
Yes, in most cases. An empty home is the easiest and cheapest it will ever be to clean properly, and you have no way of knowing how well the last people cleaned on their way out. The main exception is a rental where the landlord has just had it professionally cleaned and you can see that it was done well.
Related pages
Move-in and move-out cleaning in Abbotsford House cleaning in Mission