Leaving Ireland with a full apartment
Moving abroad, or heading home after years of living here, usually starts with a job offer and a flight. The apartment comes later, and suddenly there are ten days to go and every room is still full. What you can take is limited by a baggage allowance or a shipping quote, and everything else has to be sold, given away or cleared before you hand back the keys.
We clear apartments for people in exactly that position, across Dublin and all of Leinster. This page is about the planning: what to do with your things, when to book the clear-out, and how to leave the apartment ready for the deposit inspection, even if you're on a plane when it happens. The building side of things, such as lifts and loading bays, is covered on our main apartment clearance page.
Sell, ship, give away or clear
Everything in the apartment ends up in one of four groups. Deciding early stops the last week turning into a scramble.
| Group | What usually goes in it | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Sell | Newer furniture, bikes, TVs, appliances you own, anything people search for by brand | Start four weeks out. Buyers collect on their schedule, not yours |
| Ship | Things that matter or are hard to replace: documents, photos, artwork, a favourite chair | Get shipping quotes early, since sea freight can take weeks to arrive |
| Give away | Usable things that won't sell: lamps, plants, kitchenware, a desk chair | Friends, colleagues and local giveaway groups in the last fortnight |
| Clear | Everything else: worn sofas, used mattresses, broken bits, whatever nobody claimed | One booking in your last week |
Be realistic about the sell column. Second-hand furniture often fetches far less than people expect, and a sofa that hasn't sold after a week rarely goes in the final three days. Charity shops are worth a call, but many can't accept upholstered furniture or used mattresses, so ask before you carry anything over.
The last four weeks, planned backwards
Work back from the flight. This timeline suits most one- and two-bed apartments:
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Four weeks or more before | Give the notice your lease requires, list what you're selling, get shipping quotes |
| Three weeks before | Sell the big pieces; ask the agent when the final inspection can happen |
| Two weeks before | Send us photos and book the clear-out for two or three days before you fly |
| The last week | Pack the suitcases first, so nothing you need is in a room we're clearing; chase buyers who haven't collected |
| Clear-out day | We take everything on the clear list while you walk through every press and drawer |
| The day after | End-of-tenancy clean, meter photos and a dated video of every empty room |
| Before the flight | Keys and fobs back to the agent, or left as agreed |
Booking the clear-out a few days early leaves room for the cleaner, a buyer who lets you down, and a proper last look round. Most people stay with friends or in a hotel near the airport for the final night or two. If you need to keep the bed until the last morning, tell us when you book and we'll talk through what's possible.
spotless.ieOn the day
You don't need anything sorted beyond the suitcases. Tell us what's flying with you, put it in one room or the hall, and we'll clear around it. As we go, we check drawers, presses and coat pockets, and anything that looks as if it matters, such as documents, cards, cash, chargers and spare keys, goes on the kitchen counter for you.
Everything we take is sorted as it's loaded. Furniture and household things that can be used again are set aside where possible, books go into crates for reuse, metals and electricals are recycled, and the remainder goes to licensed facilities. Spotless is an authorised waste carrier with permit NWCPO-25-13287-01 and is fully insured, so nothing from your flat turns up dumped with your name on it after you've left the country. Our article on what happens to furniture after a clearance explains the sorting.
Flying out soon? Send photos of each room and your flight date on WhatsApp. We'll give you a fixed price and a clear-out date that leaves time for the cleaner and the inspection.
Keys, the agent and the deposit inspection
The inspection decides your deposit, so plan for it rather than hoping it happens before you go.
- Agree the date early. If the landlord or agent can inspect before your flight, be there. If not, agree in writing that it will happen after you leave, and ask a friend to attend if you'd like someone there for you.
- Leave only what was there when you moved in. Check the inventory, and make sure the only furniture left is the landlord's.
- Record the handover. Take a dated video walking through every room, inside presses and appliances, plus photos of the meters.
- Sort the money side. Give the landlord or agent the bank details for the deposit. Keeping an Irish account open for a few months makes this simpler.
- Tie up the loose ends. Final readings for electricity and gas, broadband cancelled, and post redirected through An Post.
A carpet clean is often the last job before an inspection. We offer carpet cleaning too, and the guide to end-of-tenancy carpet cleaning sets out what a landlord will expect to see.
Already gone, or coming home?
Plans change, and sometimes the flight comes before the clear-out. That's fine. Arrange for the agent, a friend or the concierge to hold the keys, send us photos (or ask whoever has the keys to take them), and tell us what, if anything, should be kept. We'll clear the apartment and send photos on WhatsApp when it's done.
If you own the apartment and plan to let it while you're away, property clearance covers clearing your personal things and leaving the furniture for tenants. For just a few large pieces, furniture removal may be all you need. Living in a block with a concierge and a booked lift? Read apartment clear-outs in managed Dublin blocks for the building side.
The same planning works in reverse for people moving back to Ireland. If you've been living abroad and the apartment you let out while you were away needs emptying of old furniture, or of things a former tenant left behind once the tenancy has ended, before you move back in, send photos from wherever you are. We'll agree the price and the date over WhatsApp, so the place is clear and ready by the time you land.
