Shop Vac The Carpets

Another great way to ensure you'll get most of your deposit back involves a shop vac. If you don't own one, I'm sure you know someone who does or this might be a great time to acquire one yourself. They can be amazing handy in cleaning and in emergencies. No matter how clean a person you are, you will leave your smell behind when you move out. If you cook a lot, have pets or are a smoker, the smell you leave behind will be even stronger. After you've moved everything out, instead of vacuuming, use the wide attachment on the shop vac and slowly work your way across all carpeted areas. You can even sprinkle a little carpet freshener down before you do this, it can give the air a clean smell. Depending on the size of your apartment or house, this could take awhile but the results are spectacular. Along with normal move out cleaning, this will remove all odors you've left behind. A landlord likes nothing better than to walk into a recently vacated apartment and it smells as if no had been living there. I use this method on my final two apartments and received my entire deposit back both times. Pretty good considering I have a cat and cook with mad amounts of garlic.

Change The Drip Pans

When moving out of an apartment, a major concern is always whether or not you get your security deposit back. There are a few things you can do to improve your chances of getting most or even all of your deposit back. If you have cooked at all, the drip pans under the burners on you oven will not be pristine and they're nearly impossible to get perfectly clean. Drip pans are very cheap. You can pick some new ones up at the dollar store for next to nothing. Your landlord will likely deduct several times the cost of new ones if you don't take the initiative and change them yourself.