The Terrorist Move-In Solution: Taking Charge When Your New Home Is Less Than Perfect, To Say The Least

You’ve hunted for treasure in your new place, met with your landlord (or real estate agent), held your garage sale, organized (or disorganized) what you still own into perfectly labeled (or perfectly unlabeled) boxes, and hired a moving company. Do you think the battle is over? Check if there is light at the end of the tunnel because there may not be yet.

You show up at your new abode only to discover that the last few occupants not only left their mark with damaged, dirty and unhomey features (holes in the walls, broken light switch covers, missing nuts and bolts, stained floors, not to mention leftover scrap metal). , etc.), your landlord or real estate agent never bothered to fulfill their end of the bargain and do the patch themselves.

Your landlord or real estate agent may not have the bad intentions you may first suspect. It’s hard to fill a real estate property with trustworthy people and some are still learning the trick. Unfortunately they made a mistake and their last tenant was a headache. But the fact is, you’re inside now, and your stuff can’t go where you want it to go until the place is ‘clean and clean’. Here are some tips to help you deal with compensation issues and get your home back in proper condition as quickly and efficiently as possible.

First, when you arrive, get out your digital camera and start scanning each room like you’ve got a toothpick and a white glove on your hand. Capture all the problems so you have proof to show later. If you have already signed a lease and/or moved out, unfortunately you will have to deal with the likelihood that you own your property now and can only expect monetary compensation at the end of it. Remember, you won’t necessarily find yourself fighting gruesome legal battles, but for the sake of clarity when negotiating a fair deal for what you had to go through, photographs can be helpful.

Next, be structured. Make a list of exactly what work needs to be done. Once you’ve got that figured out, figure out what supplies you’ll need to get the job done. Maintenance supplies may include paint and brushes, nails, a hammer, wood finishes, etc., depending on your needs. Cleaning supplies for later include rags (about two for each task), paper towels, wide duct tape or lint rollers, spray bottle-type cleaning products, as well as powdered and liquid bleach, degreaser, a few boxes of baking soda and gloves.

removing garbage

If there is leftover trash, dispose of it yourself or call a trash removal company and bill the landlord. Junk removal companies are more common than once thought and can be easily found online or in the yellow pages. If the leftover items have any value, consider selling them at a garage sale or through sites like Craigslist.com and E-Bay and you could make a buck or two off of it.

Get help with moving

Unless you’re moving alone, you can save a lot of time by working from room to room in pairs. That way, once the maintenance person has finished their task, the cleaner can immediately move on with the rags and the job will be done simultaneously instead of consecutively. Of course, the more the merrier and even if you’re moving alone and asking your friends for help, even co-workers can make this all a bonding experience for everyone involved. People are more willing to help than we often assume. Not only that, you can learn a lot about people skills that you never knew before. (For example, your co-worker at the office might have lived a previous life as a construction worker, which for you would mean experience at your fingertips that you won’t have to pay for or learn on your own.) The resources are out there, you just have to find them.

doors and cabinets

WD-40 could become your chemical of choice. It has multiple uses, but the most common use is to repair sticky or rusty metal parts. If you have a door that squeaks, whether it’s on the hinges, the latch, the keyhole, or the lock, this is what you should cover it with.

Walls

With walls, small holes can be easily repaired, while larger ones may require new pieces of drywall to be put up. Where there are nails, there was probably a painting hanging there before. See if you can save yourself the trouble of making patches by repurposing the spot for one of your own decorative items. For marks and stains, find out exactly what color code and brand of paint was last used on the wall or make it clear with the owner that everything will need to be repainted to match.

Floors

Here you can go one of two ways: hire a carpet cleaning service or rent a steam cleaner and do it yourself. Be sure not to soak the mat too much or you may ruin the installation below the surface. Don’t walk on it until it has dried completely (usually about 12 hours). Fans and open windows and doors can speed drying. If you have bleach stains, they can’t be removed, but a professional carpet dyeing service can hide the stains so they blend in again. For crayon marks, spilled liquids, and other stains, the dishwasher detergent on the white carpet or otherwise the WD-40 you used on the squeaky doors should suffice.