10 Aug 2021

Moving out of home is super exciting, and while you’re thinking about all the house parties and shared meals with your new flatmates, it’s easy to get a little caught up in the excitement and ignore some of the fine print stuff. But when we’re talking about getting your bond back, making sure you know your stuff could be worth hundreds of your hard earned dollars. Here’s a quick little guide on how to make sure you get as much of your bond back as possible:

Before You Move In:

Hey Siri, play If I Could Turn Back Time by Cher? Hopefully you’re reading this before you move in to your new place, but hey - if not, here’s some tips for next time:

  • File out that condition report super carefully: It’s a pain in the ass to go around to every nook and cranny, but the more detail you have about how the house looks before you’ve put your furniture in there, the better off you’ll be down the track.
  • Take more photos than you need: As they say, a picture’s worth a thousand words, and they work great as proof about how something might not be looking up to scratch or not working.
  • Stuff to look out for: things that can get you later on are things like marks on the walls, locks that don’t work, and any scratches and stains on the floor or the carpet.

While You're Living There:

It’s impossible to live in a home and not have a couple of bumps and scrapes, so that’s where the idea of wear and tear comes in. 

Wear and tear is natural deterioration that happens over time and using stuff respectfully, even if you take care of it. Stuff like faded curtains from the sun, indents in the carpet left by your furniture, faded or cracked paint and water stains from a leaking roof or bad plumbing.

Damage is a bit different - it’s stuff that happens if you do stuff on purpose, or you’re irresponsible or careless with the apartment. Stuff like damage to the paint caused by sticky tape or blu-tack, water stains from plants, holes in the walls left by you putting pictures up, stains on the carpet caused by you when you spilled some goon by accident.

Some tips to cut down on some of those iffy damage cases include:

  • Get some heat mats for hot pans so you don’t burn countertops
  • Buy some felt feet for your furniture - it’s like a few dollars at Kmart or whatever, but if you’re lucky enough to have wooden floors, it could save you a whole lotta cash.
  • If your paint is super old, even your special gentle-on-walls blu tac or masking tape could be a bit iffy. Nothing worse than taking down those photos at the end of the lease and taking some paint off at the same time.

Moving Out And Actually Getting The Bond Back:

When you move out, you’ll have to fill out a from from your state government asking for your bond back. You’ll then give that form to your landlord or property manager to fill out or vice versa. If you’re both fine with the agreement, you should get your bond back within 2 business days if you supply the right info.

Pro tip: If they send you a blank form and ask you to sign it DON’T sign! It’s like signing a blank cheque, ‘cause they can claim whatever they want and it’ll look like you’ve agreed to it.

If either of you disagree about how much you should be refunded, you’ll either negotiate it for a little while longer and then send the claim form in, or either you or the property manager can send it in without you signing. Don’t worry though - if that happens to you, you still have a chance to apply to your state tribunal. If you’re looking for a full guide to your states’ procedures check these links out for NSW, VIC, TAS, WA, QLD, NT and SA. 

The main thing here is to make sure you have loads of evidence ready to show that the damages being claimed were already there when you moved in, or that they were out of your control. Keep a record of any communication you have with your landlord or property manager, so that it’s not just your word against theirs.

Also, here's a fun fact I learned when writing this article - there are some items that can’t be charged to you to get replaced if they’re old enough - for a list of those google ‘ATO Effective Life Table (whatever year it is)’.

Bond is just one of those things that’s super important, but nobody really teaches you about in school. For loads more life essentials, head on over to our Academies page where we can set you up with all you need to know about navigating life in the big wide world!