Most disputes over a security deposit aren't about damage. They're about cleaning — and they come from the same handful of places every time. Landlords and property managers walk a move-out with a checklist, and they know exactly where tenants cut corners. Here's what they look at, in roughly the order they look at it.
The kitchen comes first, because it's where grease and food build up. Expect them to open the oven, look inside the microwave, pull open the refrigerator and check the grates or drip pans on the stovetop. They'll look at the range hood and at the cabinet fronts around the handles, where fingerprints and cooking film collect. Inside the cabinets and drawers matters too — crumbs and sticky shelf liner are an easy deduction.
Bathrooms are next. Soap scum on the shower glass, grime in the grout lines, and anything left around the base of the toilet are the usual problems. Hard-water marks on taps and showerheads that looked fine day to day often don't pass a close look.
Then the details that don't get touched in regular cleaning: baseboards, door frames and the tops of doors, light switches and outlet covers, window sills, blinds, and the tracks of sliding doors and windows. Ceiling fans and vent covers collect dust that becomes obvious once the furniture is gone and the light hits them.
Floors are last. Carpet should be vacuumed thoroughly, edges included, and hard floors mopped — with particular attention to the corners and the strip along the baseboards that a quick pass with a mop never reaches. Marks left where furniture stood are worth dealing with before the inspection rather than after.
Timing makes a big difference. The best time to clean is after everything is out and before you hand over the keys, when every surface is reachable and nothing gets tracked back in. Cleaning around boxes and furniture almost always means going back to redo parts of it.
Two practical tips: take dated photos of every room once it's clean, so you have a record if there's a dispute, and ask your landlord for their move-out checklist in advance. Many will give you one, and it tells you exactly what you'll be judged on.
If you'd rather hand it over, a professional move-out clean covers all of this in one visit. Call Luxurious Cleaning Services LLC at (225) 341-0384 for a free estimate anywhere in the Greater Baton Rouge area — and book it for the day after the movers leave.