Ten years of handing keys back across Sydney and we can tell you the exit report is almost never a surprise document. It's the same dozen items, over and over, in Surry Hills studios and Kellyville four-bedders alike. So if you're asking what do real estate agents check end of lease Sydney landlords actually care about, the honest answer is simple: the things a phone camera can prove. Grease that smears on a paper towel. Hair in a shower drain. A dust ridge on top of a door frame. Nobody gets flagged for a vibe.
Below is the list our crews work to, in the order agents tend to walk a property, plus what it costs to put each one right in 2026.
What do real estate agents check at end of lease in Sydney?
They check the ingoing condition report. That's it, really. The agent walks in with the report you signed on day one (usually on an app like Inspection Manager or PropertyMe), photographs anything that's worse than it was, and writes it up. The legal standard in NSW isn't "spotless" — it's returning the place in the same condition, fair wear and tear excepted, and reasonably clean.
In practice, though, agents in Sydney's competitive rental market have a re-let inspection booked within days. They want the property photograph-ready. So the report leans harsh on anything greasy, hairy, dusty or scaled — because those are cleaning issues, not wear issues, and cleaning issues are chargeable against your bond.
Timing matters too. Most agents inspect within three to seven days of keys coming back, and under the Residential Tenancies Act the landlord has 14 days from the end of the tenancy to lodge a bond claim through Rental Bonds Online. If they miss that, your claim usually gets paid out. Keep your own date-stamped photos regardless.
Which items get flagged most often on a Sydney exit report?
Here's the list, ranked by how often we see it come back on a report, with real 2026 Sydney pricing if you'd rather hand it to someone.
| Flagged item | Why it fails | DIY time | Typical Sydney pro cost, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oven interior, racks, glass door | Carbon between the door glass panels | 90 min | $90–$150 |
| Rangehood filters and canopy | Sticky film you can feel with a fingertip | 30 min | Included in exit clean |
| Shower screen and tile grout | Mineral scale and pink mould in silicone | 45–60 min | $60–$120 as an add-on |
| Window tracks and sills | Wet-wiped mud turns to sludge | 45 min whole home | Included in exit clean |
| Carpet stains and traffic lanes | Vacuuming alone doesn't lift them | — | $130–$200 for a 2-bed |
| Ceiling fans and exhaust fans | Dust on blade tops, lint in fan covers | 20 min | Included in exit clean |
| Skirtings, door tops, architraves | Never touched during the tenancy | 60–90 min | Included in exit clean |
| Wall marks and scuffs | Furniture rub, kids' hands, blu-tack shadow | Varies | $0 (spot clean) to $350+ (patch and paint) |
| Balcony, garage, courtyard | Cobwebs, leaf litter, oil drips | 45 min | $60–$140 |
| Full exit clean, 2-bed unit | — | — | $330–$480 |
| Full exit clean, 3-bed house | — | — | $450–$680 |
Those bond clean figures reflect what Sydney's paying in August 2026 for an insured crew with a re-clean guarantee. Our current rates are on the pricing page, and they're per-property, not per-hour, so nobody's watching the clock.
How do agents inspect the oven, cooktop and rangehood?
They open the door and run a finger along the bottom lip of the frame. That's the tell. A cleaner who's rushed will wipe the visible floor of the oven and skip the seal channel, the door hinges and the space between the glass panels — and the glass is what gets photographed, because the brown haze is obvious in a flash photo.
Fixing it properly: pull the racks and soak them in the bath on old towels with hot water and a scoop of soda crystals. Selleys Oven & Grill on the cavity, twenty minutes minimum, then a nylon scraper on the baked spots — never a steel scourer on a self-clean liner. Most modern ovens let you slide the inner glass out with two thumbscrews under the door lip. Honestly, skip the supermarket all-purpose degreaser here; it just moves grease around.
Rangehood filters go in a sink of near-boiling water with dishwashing liquid and soda crystals for fifteen minutes. Cooktop trivets and the burner caps get the same treatment. Then Bar Keepers Friend on stainless, wiped with the grain, buffed dry with a microfibre.
Why do carpets, window tracks and shower screens fail so often?
Because all three need a method, not effort.
Carpets. A vacuum lifts loose soil. It does nothing for the grey traffic lane down the hallway or the coffee ring in the lounge. Hot-water extraction — proper carpet steam cleaning — is what shifts those, and it's what agents recognise on a receipt. Worth knowing: in NSW, an agent generally can't force you to produce a professional carpet cleaning receipt unless your agreement has a pet-related clause. You still have to return the carpet in comparable condition, though, so most tenants get it done anyway. Budget $130–$200 for a two-bedder and let it dry six to eight hours with windows open.
Window tracks. The classic mistake is spraying them wet first. Sydney tracks collect brick dust and pollen, and water turns that into a paste that packs into the corners. Vacuum dry with a crevice tool, work a stiff 25mm paintbrush along the channel, vacuum again, then wipe.
Shower screens. That cloudy film is mineral scale, not soap. White vinegar in a spray bottle, ten minutes' dwell, then a cream cleanser like Gumption on a damp non-scratch pad. For mould in the silicone, lay strips of toilet paper along the bead, saturate with diluted bleach, leave an hour, remove. It looks ridiculous. It works.
Our guarantee is straightforward: if your agent flags anything on the exit report that was on our scope, we're back within 72 hours to re-clean it, free. No arguing over who missed what. Every crew is police-checked and fully insured, and we send you the before-and-after photos to forward to your agent.
What counts as fair wear and tear versus a cleaning charge?
This is where most bond disputes actually live. Faded paint from northern sun, carpet flattened under a couch leg, a slightly loose tap handle, minor scuffing in a hallway after a three-year tenancy — that's wear and tear, and you don't pay for it.
A crayon mural, a nicotine film on the ceiling, blu-tack grease patches, a burn mark on the benchtop, mould grown behind a wardrobe you never moved — those are damage or neglect, and the landlord can claim.
The grey zone is walls. Sugar soap and a damp microfibre lifts most marks, but go too hard on matte paint and you'll burnish a shiny patch that reads worse than the original mark. Test in a wardrobe first. If the mark won't budge and it's clearly not wear, a small patch-and-paint from a handyman runs $250–$400 in Sydney and usually beats a bond deduction, which agents tend to quote at painter rates for the whole wall.
How much does a failed exit report actually cost you?
More than the clean would have. When an agent organises the re-clean themselves, they use their preferred contractor at short notice and pass on the invoice — we routinely see $180–$350 for what's genuinely twenty minutes of oven work. Add a carpet re-do and you're at $400 gone from a bond.
There's a time cost too. A disputed claim in NSW goes to Fair Trading conciliation and then NCAT if it doesn't resolve, and that's four to ten weeks of your bond sitting frozen while you're finding a deposit for the next place. Most people fold rather than fight, which is exactly why the flag list is worth taking seriously.
How do you pass the re-inspection first go?
Work backwards from the report. Pull up your ingoing condition report on your phone and walk the property room by room, comparing. Anything that's changed, address it or photograph it with a note.
- Clean top-down, wet-last: fans and door tops before benches, floors dead last.
- Do the four "forgotten five" — inside the dishwasher filter, the washing machine detergent drawer, the fridge seals, the letterbox, and the meter box cupboard.
- Empty the property completely first. Agents flag anything left behind, including a broom in the garage.
- Take date-stamped photos of every room the moment you finish, before you lock up.
- Book the carpets for the same day as the clean, after it, not before.
Our free end of lease checklist mirrors the categories NSW agents mark against, so you can tick it off as you go. If you'd rather not spend a Saturday with your head in an oven, our end of lease cleaning crews cover Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, and the 72-hour re-clean guarantee travels with every job. Give us a bell on 0468 490 764 or send through the property details and we'll price it the same day.
More on this: End of Lease Cleaning in Sydney.
