Move-In Cleaning Checklist for an Empty Home

What to clean before moving into a new house

An empty house is the easiest house you will ever clean. Nothing stands on the floor and every shelf is bare. Once boxes and furniture come in, drawers, closet shelves and the floor under the bed stay untouched for years, so the move-in clean is the easiest time to get to them.

A house that looks clean on a walkthrough can still need a full clean. The previous owner or tenant cleaned to their own standard, and a house that sat empty for a few weeks collects dust on every horizontal surface. In a newly built home, fine dust from the final trim and paint work settles inside drawers and in window tracks.

What to do yourself the day you get the keys

Some jobs are yours, and they belong in the first hour, before anyone cleans or moves anything in. The photos give a renter a record for move-out and give a buyer proof of anything the builder or seller should fix.

Photograph every room from the doorway, then take close-ups of scratches, stains, chips and holes on floors, walls, counters and doors
Open and close every cabinet, drawer, door and window, and note anything that sticks
Run each faucet and shower for a minute, flush every toilet, and look under each sink for drips while the water runs
Check that the fridge cools, the oven heats, and the dishwasher, washer and dryer start if they came with the home
Switch on every light and ceiling fan and set the thermostat to confirm the air conditioning starts
Keep the photos with your lease or closing papers, and make sure water and electricity stay on through the cleaning day

When should I book a move-in clean?

Book the clean for a day after you have the keys and before the moving truck. For buyers that window opens at closing; for renters it opens on the lease start date. If both fall on the same day, try to move the truck back a day, because drawers, closets and cabinets cannot be cleaned inside once your things go in.

Lilly Maids is closed on Sunday, so if you close on a Friday and the truck comes on Monday, the clean has to fit on Saturday. Put both dates in the booking form at lilly-maids.com/booknow, or call or text (813) 761-7600. Rescheduling is free when you tell us by the day before the visit; a later cancellation is $50. Before you book, you can read our 77 reviews on Thumbtack, where 91% are five stars and Lilly Maids is listed as a Top Pro.

In what order should you clean an empty house?

Work from the top of each room to the bottom, from inside storage out to the open room, and from the back of the house toward the front door, so dust only falls on surfaces not yet cleaned and nobody crosses a finished floor.

Light fixtures
Inside drawers, then closet shelves and rods, then the cabinets if you add them ($45)
Blinds, then window sills and tracks
Walls spot-cleaned
Bathrooms and the kitchen sink and counters
Baseboards around each room
Floors last, starting in the room farthest from the entry

Move-in cleaning checklist, room by room

The kitchen and bathrooms get your things on the first night, so they lead the checklist, and the bedrooms follow because the beds go up the same evening.

Kitchen: inside every drawer, pantry shelves, counters and backsplash, the sink and faucet, the stovetop and the outside of each appliance
Kitchen extras worth adding: inside the cabinets, inside the fridge and inside the oven, $45 each, since you will use all three within days
Bathrooms: the toilet including the base, the shower, tub, tile and grout, the sink, the mirror and the floor
Bedrooms: closet shelves, rods and floors, window sills and tracks, blinds, light fixtures, baseboards and the floor where the bed will stand
Living areas and hallways: blinds, sills, light fixtures, baseboards and wall marks at hand height
Laundry area: the floor and baseboards before the washer and dryer go in
Sliding glass doors, a $15 per door extra: the glass on both sides of a door that will collect handprints from the first day

What does a professional move-in clean include?

A Lilly Maids move-in clean is an empty-home clean. It covers the inside of all drawers and closets, window sills and tracks, blinds, light fixtures and baseboards, spot-cleaning of walls, the kitchen and bathrooms, and vacuuming and mopping of all floors.

The inside of the cabinets, the inside of the fridge and the inside of the oven are $45 add-ons each. Interior windows are $55 in a home up to 2,000 sq ft, or $7 per window with blinds and $5 without blinds in a larger home, and sliding glass doors are $15 per door for both sides. Green cleaning products cost nothing extra.

Can you clean a new construction home before moving in?

A move-in clean works for a newly built home once the builder has finished and the house is complete and empty. The checklist above targets what a new house needs: fine dust in drawers, on blinds, in window tracks and on baseboards, and floors walked on by trades and inspectors.

Post-construction cleanup is not part of a move-in clean, and neither is construction debris removal. If you see leftover materials, paint drips or adhesive residue at your walkthrough, ask the builder about them before closing and book the move-in clean for afterward.

Move-in cleaning in Wesley Chapel, Lutz and Land O' Lakes

Lilly Maids is based in Wesley Chapel, and Wesley Chapel, Lutz and Land O' Lakes have many newer homes in planned communities. For buyers there, the move-in clean is less about someone else's mess and more about clearing the dust a new or vacant house collects. If your community has a gate, add the gate details to the booking form.

The same clean and prices apply in Tampa, including Tampa Palms and New Tampa, Temple Terrace, Zephyrhills and Thonotosassa. Renters moving into an older place get the same checklist.

How much does a move-in clean cost?

Move-in cleans use the deep cleaning price table and depend only on square footage, not bedrooms or bathrooms, at the same price in every city served. Prices reflect booked cleaning time at $55 per hour with a 4-hour minimum, and homes over 5,499 sq ft are quoted by phone or text.

Two examples with the cabinets, fridge and oven added are below. The hours are booked cleaning time on the booking form, not how long the crew stays, which depends on how many cleaners are sent.

1,650 sq ft home: $440 move-in clean (8 hours booked) plus $45 cabinets plus $45 fridge plus $45 oven, total $575
2,900 sq ft home: $660 move-in clean (12 hours booked) plus $45 cabinets plus $45 fridge plus $45 oven, total $795

Prices

Priced by square footage. A move-in or move-out clean is a one-time visit, priced on the same table as a deep clean. Minimum booking 4 hours. Extras and details.

Home size	Price	HoursCleaning time
Up to 999 sq ft	$220	4 h hours
1,000 - 1,499 sq ft	$330	6 h hours
1,500 - 1,999 sq ft	$440	8 h hours
2,000 - 2,499 sq ft	$550	10 h hours
2,500 - 2,999 sq ft	$660	12 h hours
3,000 - 3,499 sq ft	$770	14 h hours
3,500 - 3,999 sq ft	$880	16 h hours
4,000 - 4,499 sq ft	$990	18 h hours
4,500 - 4,999 sq ft	$1,100	20 h hours
5,000 - 5,499 sq ft	$1,210	22 h hours

From our customers

★★★★★

This is THE BEST PLACE!! I found them to be affordable, so sweet and I needed them last minute for a move out and they were able to make it happen. My place that I just moved out of literally looks like someone can literally move right in. The cleaners that were used were not overbearing at all. Our lady was sooooo freakin sweet. I will definitely be booking again for my new place for just a monthly maintenance cleaning. Thank you ladies, you guys are the best!!!

3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, Move out cleaning, Fridge cleaning, Baseboard cleaning, Window cleaning (interior), No pets, Just once

Nicole G. · Thumbtack · Aug 23, 2026
★★★★★

lily maids was very attentive to all questions with no delays. they did a good job on cleaning our place before our move in

2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, Deep cleaning, No pets, Just once

Kaliyah N. · Thumbtack · Aug 6, 2026

Common questions

Should I clean a house before moving in if the seller already cleaned it?

Usually yes, because a seller cleans for the walkthrough, and drawers, closet shelves and window tracks are rarely part of that. With Lilly Maids the inside of the cabinets can be added for $45. Doing it while the house is empty is far easier than after you unpack.

Is the inside of the cabinets included in a move-in clean?

The inside of the cabinets is a $45 add-on in a Lilly Maids move-in clean, the same as the inside of the fridge and the inside of the oven. The inside of drawers and closets is included.

Is construction debris removal part of a move-in clean?

No, a move-in clean is meant for a finished home that is already empty.

Do you do move-in cleaning in Wesley Chapel?

Yes, Lilly Maids is based in Wesley Chapel and also serves Lutz, Land O' Lakes, Tampa, Temple Terrace, Zephyrhills and Thonotosassa at the same prices.

Can I book a move-out clean for my old home and a move-in clean for the new one?

Yes, book them as two visits, each priced by the square footage of its own home.

Move-In Cleaning Checklist: What to Clean Before You Move Into a New House