Bay Area Apartment Moving Checklist: From Notice to Keys

Moving out of a house is mostly a muscle problem. An apartment move is more of a logistics puzzle, and around here the puzzle comes with bonus pieces: an elevator you have to book two weeks out, a property manager who wants a certificate of insurance worded just so, those 72-hour parking signs, and a landlord who’s going to inspect your walls with a flashlight before parting with the deposit.

So we wrote out the apartment moving checklist we kind of wish every customer had stuck to their fridge. It goes from the day you hand in notice to your first night on a mattress in the new place, plus a separate apartment move out checklist for getting the deposit back and a moving into apartment checklist for the other end. Call it a moving apartment checklist, a to-do list, whatever you like. Jump around, it’s built for that.

First Thing: Actually Read Your Lease

We know, nobody has opened that PDF since the day they signed it. Search your inbox for “lease” anyway, because there are three little details buried in there that end up setting your whole schedule:

• How much notice they want. Plenty of Bay Area leases ask for 30 days in writing and some ask for 60, and if you miss it you can end up paying rent at two addresses.
• What “clean” means to them. A few leases spell it out, right down to requiring a professional carpet shampoo, and you don’t want to find that out from the deduction letter.
• The building’s rules. Move-in hours, elevator booking, insurance paperwork. Sometimes that’s tucked into a separate “house rules” sheet, so if it’s not in the lease, email the manager and ask.

8 Weeks Out

Not a lot of lifting yet, mostly decisions, and they’re the ones that save you real money later.

• Notice goes out first. A breezy text to the landlord usually doesn’t count, so send the signed letter or email the lease actually asks for and keep a copy somewhere you’ll find it.
• Pick your date. We’d steer you toward a Tuesday or Wednesday mid-month if you can swing it, since around the 31st it feels like every lease in San Francisco flips at the exact same time and crews (us included) are booked solid.
• Call two or three licensed movers for quotes. The questions worth asking are in our guide on how to choose a moving company.
• Grab a tape measure and check the new place’s doors, hallway corners and stairs, then go measure your sofa, because this is usually the moment people learn their sectional and a Victorian staircase aren’t going to be friends.
• Start three piles, sell, donate and toss, since each box you don’t move is crew time you don’t pay for.

6 Weeks Out

• Book the mover. A phone “yeah, we’ve got you” isn’t a booking until the estimate is sitting in your inbox.
• Fire off an email to both property managers asking about allowed move hours, how to book the elevator, whether there’s an elevator deposit, and if they need a certificate of insurance (COI) from the mover.
• Whatever wording they send back for the COI, copy and paste it to us or whoever you hired. Buildings can be picky down to a missing “LLC” in the owner’s name, and a rejected COI can mean a truck idling at the curb while the clock runs.
• Start cooking your way through the freezer and the pantry, because nobody wants to move half a bag of frozen peas and three open boxes of pasta.
• If you’re not cleaning the place yourself, book a cleaner for move-out day now, as end-of-month slots go fast.

4 Weeks Out

• Get internet and power set up at the new address. Comcast or Sonic installs in SF and Oakland can take a week or two, so don’t leave this for the last minute.
• Schedule the shutoff at your old place for the day after you’re out, not the day of, unless you enjoy cleaning an oven in the dark.
• Start packing the stuff you won’t miss for a month, meaning books, winter coats, framed photos and that bread maker you used twice.
• Pick up boxes, tape and paper, or just ask your mover, since most sell supplies or bring them along with a packing service.
• Ask your landlord, in writing, for a pre-move-out inspection (we explain why below).
• Kick off your change of address. Our change of address checklist covers everyone from USPS to the DMV to your dentist.

2 Weeks Out

• Double-check the elevator booking at both buildings and get the confirmation in an email you can forward to your movers.
• Sort out parking for the truck. In San Francisco, SFMTA temporary no-parking signs generally have to go up at least 72 hours before the move, so apply with plenty of cushion.
• This is the big packing push. Go room by room and scribble the room name and a hint of what’s inside on the side of every box (“KITCHEN, pots + the good knives”), because tops disappear the second you stack them.
• Before you unplug anything, take a picture of the spaghetti behind the TV and the desk. At 11 p.m. on move night you will not remember which HDMI went where, nobody does.
• Kids or a dog who’ll be underfoot? Grandma, a neighbor or doggy daycare for the day is worth every penny.

Moving Week

• Send the crew the building manager’s number, where the truck can park and your elevator window. Otherwise they’re standing on your sidewalk figuring it out on the clock.
• Taking the fridge? Unplug it a full day ahead and throw an old towel under it, because defrosting freezers leak more than you’d think.
• Pack the “first night” box: sheets, a towel per person, TP, chargers, meds, two plates, the coffee setup. If your morning doesn’t happen without it, it goes in this box.
• Laptop, passport, the ring from your grandmother, the folder with the lease, all of it rides in your backpack and never touches our truck.
• Do one final lap through the closets, the medicine cabinet and that weird cabinet above the fridge nobody ever opens.

Apartment Moving Elevator and Building Rules

Building rule	What it means for you	How to handle it
Elevator reservation	You get a set time block for the move	Book 2–3 weeks ahead and get it in writing
Elevator pads	Walls need protective blankets	Ask if the building or the mover provides them
Certificate of insurance (COI)	Proof the mover is insured, naming the building	Send the building’s exact wording to your mover early
Move hours	Moves only allowed in certain windows, often weekdays	Book your mover to match those hours
Loading dock or curb space	Where the truck can park	Reserve the dock or get street parking permits

Got a freight elevator? Beg for it. Even a creaky one beats squeezing a dresser into a passenger car the size of a phone booth eight separate times. And if there’s no elevator at all, tell the mover when you call, because a fourth-floor walk-up changes how many people they send and how long it all takes.

Apartment Move Out Checklist: Getting Your Deposit Back

This is the moving out of apartment checklist that actually protects your money, and California gives renters a few real protections worth knowing about.

Ask for a pre-move-out inspection. Most renters have never heard of this, which is a shame. Under California law your landlord has to tell you that you can request an initial inspection, up to two weeks before you leave, and then hand you a list of what they’d ding you for. Basically you get a cheat sheet and time to fix it yourself before they charge you $250 for a cabinet door.

Clean it like someone’s grading you, because someone is. Landlords look in the places you forgot: inside the oven and the fridge, the microwave ceiling, the filter in the dishwasher, every drawer including that sticky one under the sink, the grout, the base of the toilet, the tops of the baseboards and windowsills, the light switches, and the dust bunny city that was living under your bed.

Knock out the small repairs. A $6 tub of spackle covers a lot of picture-hanging sins, and while you’re at it, swap the dead bulbs, tighten the wobbly cabinet handle and put a fresh battery in the smoke detector.

Film everything. Once the place is empty and clean, walk through every room taking video and photos, then email them to yourself so there’s a timestamp nobody can argue with.

Hand back the keys and leave a forwarding address in writing. California landlords generally have 21 days after you move out to return the deposit or send an itemized list of deductions, and they can’t do either without knowing where to send it.

One more thing worth knowing: since mid-2024, California has generally capped new security deposits at one month’s rent, with a narrow exception for some small landlords, and a 2024 law now requires landlords to take photos of the unit at move-out before deducting for damage. Laws shift, so check the California Courts self-help site or a local tenant union if your deposit gets stuck.

Moving Into Apartment Checklist

Truck’s empty, you’re exhausted, the pizza’s on its way. Before you collapse onto the mattress, though, a few things are worth doing:

• Walk the place with your phone out and get every scuff, carpet stain and chipped tile on camera, then email the pics to the landlord that same week so nobody blames you for them in two years.
• Let the shower run hot for a minute, plug your phone into a few outlets, press the smoke detector button and try every window latch.
• Were the locks rekeyed after the last tenant moved out? If the manager kind of shrugs, ask them to do it.
• Hunt down the breaker panel and the water shutoff now, while you’re calm, instead of at 2 a.m. standing in a puddle.
• Get renters insurance going if it isn’t already, since a lot of leases require it anyway.
• Unpack the kitchen and the bedroom first and let everything else wait for the weekend.

Apartment Moving Tips From Our Crews

A few things our guys see over and over on apartment moves around the Bay:

• Books and dishes go in small boxes. A big box of books is basically a back injury wearing cardboard, and on a walk-up it’s worse.
• Bathroom stuff gets packed last and unpacked first, because you’ll need a toothbrush and a towel long before you need the throw pillows.
• Leave clothes on their hangers. A wardrobe box or a big trash bag pulled over a bunch of them works great.
• Take the bed frame apart the night before and tape a zip bag with all the screws to the headboard.
• Don’t overload the elevator. A few quick trips beat one heroic trip that gets stuck between floors.
• Bring less. Moving to an apartment that’s smaller than the one you’ve got is the perfect excuse to finally let go of the treadmill-turned-clothes-rack.

How Much Does an Apartment Move Cost?

Local apartment moves in the Bay Area are usually billed by the hour for a crew and a truck. Across the industry, a studio or one-bedroom tends to come in around $500 to $900 and a two-bedroom more like $900 to $1,500, with stairs, elevators, distance and how much you’ve packed yourself all nudging that number. Our deep dive on how much movers cost for a 1-bedroom apartment breaks it down hour by hour.

Moving from apartment to a house this time? Then the truck gets bigger next round, and our local moving crews handle both.

Ready to Plan Your Apartment Move?

An apartment move goes way smoother when the movers already know about the elevator, the COI and where the truck can park. CEO Moving’s crews do apartment moves across San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and the Peninsula every week, and we’re happy to deal with the building paperwork alongside you. Request a free quote and tell us a little about both buildings so we can plan it right.

Frequently Asked Questions