Before you move out of your rental, you'll need to get it looking spick and span enough to get your bond back. While some people are happy to do this final clean themselves, others prefer to hire end-of-lease cleaning companies to do the job for them. These companies can give your rental the kind of professional clean that you may not be able to do yourself without hours of work, especially if you have pets. Do you need the help of end-of-lease cleaning if you have a dog?

What Does Your Lease Say?

Before agreeing to allow you to keep a dog in your home, your landlord may have set conditions in your lease about cleaning up before you leave. Typically, this happens if the landlord is worried that your pet might damage the property or leave traces that may put off future tenants.

So, for example, you may have agreed to steam clean your carpets before you move out to get rid of doggy smells, stains and pet hair that has escaped your regular cleaning routine. If you've agreed to this, then you should have it done. If you don't, then you may have problems getting your full bond back.

Tip: Your lease may also specify that your rental must be pet-fumigated after you leave to make sure that your dog hasn't accidentally left fleas in the property. If this is the case, you may also need to hire a pest control specialist.

Can You Do an End of Lease Clean Yourself?

If your lease only mentions general clean-up conditions—like leaving the property as you found it—then you can do an end-of-lease clean yourself. However, hiring a professional cleaner may save you a lot of time and may give you a better guarantee of getting your bond back. No matter how well you look after your dog, it can't help shedding hair, and if you've been living in the property for a while, it may have left marks on floors, walls and furniture that you don't even notice anymore. Apart from having the professional experience to see exactly what needs to be cleaned, an end-of-lease cleaner's tools may be much better at getting rid of stuff like dog hair than your own vacuum cleaner.

Even if your landlord has set conditions on things you have to do before you move out, you may be able to take on some of these jobs yourself. For example, some landlords that require a steam-clean may be happy with you hiring a machine and cleaning the carpets yourself; other landlords may want to see a receipt from a cleaning business that proves that the work has been done. It's worth checking what your landlord wants if you've committed to a specific type of clean in your lease.

If you're thinking of hiring an end-of-lease cleaner, remember to tell them that you have a dog. This may affect the jobs they recommend doing and the cost of the job if cleaning up after your pet increase the time it takes to get your home in good shape again.