A make ready clean is the full clean of a vacant unit between tenants. It covers the kitchen and every appliance inside and out, the bathrooms, floors and baseboards, closets, windows, blinds and fixtures. It happens after maintenance and paint and before the final walk, so the next resident moves into a unit that looks cared for.
What does a make ready clean include?
A make ready clean includes every surface the next tenant will see or touch. Kitchens and appliances get cleaned inside and out, bathrooms top to bottom, floors and baseboards throughout, closets and shelves emptied and wiped, and windows, sills, blinds, light fixtures and switch plates done last. The checklist below is the room by room version.
Kitchen
- Oven, racks, range top, drip pans and hood, inside and out
- Fridge and freezer, shelves and drawers pulled and wiped
- Microwave and dishwasher, inside and out
- Cabinets and drawers, inside, outside and on top
- Counters, backsplash, sink and faucet
Bathrooms
- Tub, shower walls, doors or rod, and fixtures
- Toilet, base and the floor behind it
- Sink, vanity, cabinet inside and mirror
- Exhaust fan cover, light fixture and towel bars
Every room
- Floors vacuumed and mopped, baseboards wiped
- Closets, shelves and rods wiped
- Windows, sills, tracks and blinds
- Doors, frames, knobs, switch plates and outlet covers
- Light fixtures and ceiling fan blades
When should the clean happen in the turn schedule?
The clean should come after maintenance, paint and any repairs, and right before carpet cleaning or the final walk. Painting and repairs throw dust onto every surface, so cleaning first means cleaning twice. A clean that lands the day before the walk leaves the unit fresh for the new resident and gives the leasing office time for a last look.
A common order for an apartment turn looks like this:
- Move out inspection and photos
- Trash out of anything the tenant left
- Maintenance and repairs
- Paint and touch up
- Make ready clean
- Carpet cleaning or floor care, if the unit needs it
- Final walk by the leasing office
How long does a make ready clean take?
It depends on the size of the unit and how the last tenant left it. A lightly used one bedroom is a much shorter job than a three bedroom with a heavy kitchen. The practical answer is to send photos or let the cleaner walk the unit first, then get a time window with the quote and build the turn schedule around it.
What gets missed most often?
The spots a new tenant finds in the first week: the top of the fridge and the gap beside it, the oven drip pans, the inside of the dishwasher door, blinds, window tracks, the exhaust fan cover and the tops of door frames. A written checklist that names each of these is the simplest way to make sure the unit passes the walk the first time.
How do property managers book make ready cleans?
The easiest way is one list per property: the unit numbers, the move out dates and the date each unit needs to be ready. With that list, a cleaning crew can schedule several units together, work through them in order and text the leasing office as each unit is finished.
Southern Charm Cleaning books make ready cleans for apartment communities and rental homes across Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Arlington and the cities around them, priced per unit. Text the property, the units and the turn dates to (469) 383 8216 for a quote.
Frequently asked questions
Is a make ready clean the same as a move out clean?
They are the same job seen from two sides. Tenants call it a move out clean because it happens when they leave. Property managers call it a make ready because it gets the unit ready to lease again. Either way it covers the kitchen, bathrooms, floors, closets, windows and fixtures of a vacant unit.
Who pays for the make ready clean?
The property owner or management company books and pays for the clean as part of the unit turn. Whether any of it is charged back to the departing tenant depends on the lease and the move out inspection, so that is a question for the leasing office, not the cleaning crew.
Should carpet cleaning happen before or after the make ready clean?
After. The make ready crew walks through every room and wipes baseboards right next to the carpet, so carpet cleaning should come last, just before the final walk. That way the carpet is dry and untouched when the new resident moves in.