Ring, ring: Our real estate agent who manages our apartment called today to set up an appointment to see the condition of the apartment, before we move. Here in Switzerland it’s an art form to move out of your apartment and there are many steps you need to do, just to actually leave your apartment and get your three-month security deposit back in one piece.
Here are my 4 wagging tips of moving out of your Swiss apartment
- Read your lease and see how much notice you need to give. This is super important, due to notice periods here in Switzerland can be as much as four months in advance. Ours was three months which will give us a move out date of 31, March, 2013.
- Also your notice must be in writing and I do not mean a simple and convenient email. I mean that you need to write out a letter, have everyone who is on the lease sign it and post it in the mail. Also you need to send it registered mail. This will ensure that they received it and when.
- Next, your agent will contact you to view your apartment and see what needs to be taken care of before the handover at the end of termination, which is another thing all together.
- Okay now come they expensive part: When you do your hand over, your apartment needs to look exactly like it was when you first moved in. That means no holes in the walls, your personal fixtures removed, all walls back to the original colour, and on and on. Actually when we first moved in, we had to be here for the handover and it took 3 hours, while everyone (a total of six people and one beagle) checked every nook and cranny! So you can do it yourself, just be aware that if you clean it yourself, you really need to be thorough. Another option is to hire a “professional move-out cleaning team” to do the job.
Why?
I think it’s worth the effort and cost to get someone to assist in cleaning up the few dog paw marks and a bit of hair that is floating about. Also, on the handover, if something is not cleaned and you did it yourself, if it’s not up to snuff, you either clean it again or it comes out of your bond to have a professional clean it that the agent will hire on your behalf. So by hiring professionals from the start, the handover is included and someone will be there on the handover day from the cleaning company, so that if something is not clean properly, they will do it again.
- It will save you the hassle.
- hopefully lets you keep your deposit
Make sure you shop around and get quotes from various companies and make sure that they guarantee their work. Prices vary as well as exactly what they will and will not do in regards to getting your apartment back in shape. But I would advise you go with the professionals if you can as I can only imagine the troubles if your cleaning is not up to howling good.
Maggie’s travel journal will be updated as we plan our move.
My thoughts about all this organization? Moving out of a rental is a lot of work, and the house needs to be cleared of all our furniture before the cleaning crew even starts! Wonder what we are going to do with all this stuff that we have? Where are we going to stay while the work is getting done? What’s been your experience?
