Hi everyone,

My wife and I are moving out of a furnished apartment we have been living in for the past 5.5 years (yes I know that renting a furnished apartment for this long is a bad idea - somehow it just happened !).

In any case, I'm wondering what is usual when moving out of a furnished apartment. Until now we've had a pretty good relationship with the landlady (who lives in the apartment above us).

Now however, I'm starting to get an idea that she has very high expectations over the return of her apartment. For example, she is talking about us washing the (very low quality) curtains and - in my view - not returning the good faith we've put in to rent her somewhat mouldy and very old apartment. We've had a good time here - but my point is that this apartment is not in some new apartment block, its in a 1930's style block and the apartment itself reflects that no full renovation has been carried out (although it has been cheaply decorated before we moved in).

I'm reluctant to get the association of locataires involved just yet, as its not clear to me as to whether this is just a communication / cultural difference or something more sinister. Accordingly, anyone know what is normal when handing back furnished apartment after 5.5 years (during which surely normal wear and tear must be accepted...?)

Suffolk

Our first apartment in Switzerland was furnished too. We didnt live there for as long as you did, just almost two years but the handover standards were just as high, in fact higher because you simply have more things to clean. From the normal cleaning - which I hired professional cleaners to do, I washed the curtains (yup cheap Ikea ones), table cloths, bedsheets - everything. Gave all the surfaces and internal parts of the cupboards, wardrobes a wipedown as well.

Never again! You are best hiring professional cleaners with a handover guarantee. One of them will be present with you at the handover which will probably give the old dear a peace of mind that you hired the professionals to give her flat a proper wipe down, which will hopefully give you a psychological edge

Good luck with your handover.

i'd be thanking my lucky stars to have tenants for 5.5 years paying off my mortgage, but i guess some people are never satisfied. judging by some of the horror stories, i would advise to err on the side of caution and be safe rather than sorry.

Please let us know how it turns out! We are renting a furnished flat - only hope to be here about 6 months but it was just refurbished before we moved in so we are the first to use the kitchen, bathroom, furniture, dishes etc.. so even basic wear and tear will all be down to us. I think I'd rather have had something a few years old. Good luck.

If you have a good relationship with her I would ask her specificially what she expects you to do. If she wants you to wash the curtains I would do so. You might need a reference for further housing rentals and you don't want her to give you a bad reference for something so little as having to wash curtains!

I would also suggest getting in professionals to clean the place and make sure they will give you a guarantee and / or are present. That way they will have to deal with additional wishes. But it is common to clean everything (it must be very proper). That doesn't change if it's an old house. A

sk her if she's going to repaint the apartment because if she does you might not have to fill in holes in the wall etc which you usually would have to do. But be aware, she's not obliged to do that after 5 years.

Hello.....

I just want to know where is the apartment, my husband and i are moving to lausanne in aprox 1 month and we cant find an apartment..

where is yours.. i know the landlady is not too good,... but i really desperate..

thanks!

Here's an interim update - the advice from everyone I know (as well as EF) has been to use a professional cleaning company - so I am doing this, and am hoping it will solve any problems. I'm also joining the association of tenants, just in case there is a problem and I need some support. Will post an update when I've seen if this approach works.

yeye1303 - the apartment will not be rented out again; the landlady is moving her family in - but believe me you're not missing out ...! If you want to find somewhere, take a look on comparis and look at Pully / Lausanne - there are usually quite a few apartments for rent in my experience ...

Good luck with your handover.

Oh another tip: when I handed over the apartment, apart from having the cleaners with me, I proactively showed the landlord all the stuff that I've washed. Folded all the tea towels nicely, and I even arranged all the pots and pans in the cupboard really neatly.

Basically the key is to go on the "psychological" offense that you are returning the apartment with everything as clean and neat as possible. By all means, put a vase of fresh flowers on the table. Make the flat look like a "show flat" if possible - no matter how old.

Not sure if it will work on your landlady - worked for my landlord! Got my deposit back within the week.

thanks a lot summerain - that sounds like a great idea, will certainly be following your advice.