Chicago leases turn over in bulk on October 1 and May 1, so movers, freight elevators, parking signs and cleaning slots all sell out at once. Work backward from move day: four weeks out, book movers and both cleanings; three weeks out, transfer utilities and photograph your current unit; two weeks out, pack the perimeter and request parking signs; move week, clean the new place before the boxes arrive and the old place after the last item leaves.
Why October 1 is Chicago’s biggest moving day
Chicago leases cluster on two dates, May 1 and October 1, more than almost any other city. It is a leftover from decades of landlord habit, and it means a very large share of the city tries to move in the same 72 hours. Movers book out, high-rise freight elevators fill up weeks ahead, the city’s temporary no-parking signs for moving trucks get requested faster than they can be posted, and every cleaning company in town has the same three days spoken for.
Most October moves that go badly do not fail on effort. They fail on timing: something that needed to be booked three weeks out got booked three days out. This timeline is built backward from move day so nothing lands late. Everything here works for May 1 as well; swap the dates.
Four weeks out: lock the things that sell out
- Give notice. Check your lease for the required notice period and give it in writing. Thirty days is common; some Chicago leases require sixty.
- Book movers. For October 1, four weeks out is already the middle of the pack. Get a written quote and a confirmed time window.
- Reserve the freight elevator and loading dock at both buildings if either is a high-rise. Many management offices allow only one move per slot and will not bend on October 1.
- Book your cleanings now. A move-out clean at the old place and a move-in clean at the new one are two separate appointments on two of the busiest cleaning days of the year. Late September slots go first.
- Start the purge. Every box you do not move is a box you do not pack, carry, or unpack. Schedule a donation pickup for two weeks out while you are at it.
Three weeks out: the paperwork that follows you
- Utilities. Schedule the electric (ComEd) and gas (Peoples Gas) transfers so service stops at the old address the day after you leave and starts at the new one the day before you arrive. Overlap by a day on each side; a dark apartment on move night is miserable.
- Internet. Installation appointments around October 1 book out. Get on the calendar now.
- Change of address with USPS, then the short list that matters most: bank, employer, insurance, and anything that ships to you automatically.
- Photograph the current unit room by room, including inside cabinets and closets, before packing gets serious. Time-stamped photos of the condition you are leaving behind are the single most useful thing you can have if a deposit conversation goes sideways. Our Chicago move-out checklist and deposit guide covers what landlords actually look at.
Two weeks out: pack the perimeter, sort the parking
- Pack everything you will not touch in fourteen days: off-season clothes, books, decor, the good dishes. Label boxes by the room they are going to, not the room they came from.
- Parking. If either building is on a street with tight parking, the City of Chicago sells temporary no-parking signs for moving trucks. They need lead time to be issued and posted, so this is the week to request them, not the night before. Ask your alderman’s office or the city’s permit site.
- Confirm the walkthroughs. Ask the current landlord for a move-out inspection time, and ask the new landlord for keys or a walkthrough as early as they will allow. Even a two-hour window before the truck arrives changes the whole cleaning plan below.
- Reconfirm movers, elevator reservations and both cleaning appointments. A two-minute email now saves a bad surprise on the 30th.
Move week: the two cleans, in the right order
This is where cleaning fits, and the order matters more than people expect.
- Move-in clean first, if you can get access. An empty apartment is the only time anyone can clean inside every cabinet, behind the fridge and along every baseboard without moving furniture. If the new landlord gives you keys even a day early, the move-in clean goes there, before a single box arrives. The full room-by-room list is in our move-in cleaning checklist.
- Move-out clean after the last item leaves. Not before, not during. A move-out clean done around furniture misses exactly the spots a landlord checks: the floor under the couch, the wall behind the headboard, the oven and fridge interiors. Schedule it for the afternoon of moving day or the morning after, and leave enough time before the walkthrough.
- If there is zero overlap, which is common on October 1, the sequence becomes: movers load in the morning, move-out clean in the afternoon at the old place, and at the new place a kitchen-and-bathroom clean the first night so you can shower and make coffee, with the full deep clean in the first week once the boxes are out of the way.
Pack an essentials box that rides in the car, not the truck: toilet paper, a shower curtain, phone chargers, a change of clothes, basic cleaning supplies, and the coffee setup. It is the difference between a rough first night and a fine one.
Move day and the day after
- Take the same room-by-room photos of the empty, cleaned old apartment that you took three weeks ago of the full one. Now you have before and after.
- Do the move-out walkthrough with the landlord present if at all possible, and get anything they note in writing.
- Return keys, fobs, parking passes and mailbox keys together and get a receipt or an email confirming it.
- At the new place, check that heat or AC, hot water and every outlet work on day one, and report anything wrong in writing immediately. Problems reported on day one are the landlord’s; problems reported on day thirty become arguable.
The security deposit, briefly
Chicago has stronger tenant protections than most cities, and a properly cleaned, properly documented move-out is what turns those protections into an actual refund. The timeline above builds the documentation in automatically: photos going in, photos going out, a professional move-out clean in between, and a walkthrough on record. For the details of what landlords can and cannot deduct, and what to do if a deposit comes back short, see the deposit guide.
The short version
- 4 weeks: notice, movers, elevators, both cleans, purge.
- 3 weeks: utilities, internet, address change, photograph the unit.
- 2 weeks: pack the perimeter, parking signs, confirm walkthroughs, reconfirm everything.
- Move week: move-in clean before boxes if possible; move-out clean after the last item leaves.
- Move day: photos, walkthrough, keys, report issues at the new place in writing.
Common questions
When should I schedule a move-out cleaning in Chicago?
Book it three to four weeks before October 1 or May 1, for the afternoon of moving day or the morning after, once every item is out and before the landlord walkthrough. Cleaning around furniture misses the spots landlords check, such as under large pieces and inside the oven and fridge.
Do I need both a move-out clean and a move-in clean?
They do different jobs. The move-out clean protects your deposit at the old apartment. The move-in clean happens at the new one while it is still empty, which is the only time cabinet interiors, the space behind appliances and every baseboard are fully reachable. Most October 1 moves have no lease overlap, so the two are scheduled on consecutive days or the same day.
How far ahead should I book movers for an October 1 move in Chicago?
Four weeks out is already mid-pack for October 1. Six weeks is safer. Freight elevator and loading dock reservations at high-rise buildings, and temporary no-parking signs for the truck from the City, also need lead time and should be arranged in the same window.