You have the keys, the place is empty, and no box has come through the door yet. That clean runs $450 to $750 by bedrooms and bathrooms: at JAS, move-in and move-out are the same service, on the same 38-item checklist and the same published table. There is no separate move-in price to hunt for.
What does change is everything around it: you are buying a clean for a property you have not lived in, did not make dirty, and probably only ever saw furnished. This guide is that part — the table itself is published on our move-in / out cleaning page, which stays the source.
The direction does not change the price
Starting prices per visit, exactly as published. It is the same table our move-out cleaning cost guide walks through, read from the other side of the move.
- 1 BR · 1 bath · from $450
- 2 BR · 1 bath · from $500
- 2 BR · 2 bath · from $575
- 3 BR · 2 bath · from $625
- 3 BR · 3 bath · from $700
- 4 BR · 3 bath · from $750
It is a 5–7 hour visit with a 2–3 person team, 38 items, and a full photo archive PDF at the end. And it carries a condition written on that same page: the starting price applies to a vacant property in normal condition. Final price depends on size, scope, condition, access, parking, and additional services.
Why a move-in usually lands on the starting row
That condition — vacant, normal condition — is exactly what a move-in is. On a move-out, plenty of people book with the couch still in and the truck half loaded; the booking form has an occupancy field for that reason, and occupied or furnished properties require scope and price confirmation. On a move-in, the empty part is handed to you already done.
An empty unit also cleans faster, and hours are what the price is made of: with nothing in the way, a crew reaches every cabinet, drawer and baseboard without working around boxes. The flip side is the wildcard — the condition is not one you chose. Years of kitchen grease, hard-water buildup on shower glass, or a unit that never got a professional clean across a whole lease all add hands-on time, and you do not find out until you open the oven.
“On a move-in you are buying the part of the home you can’t see: the inside of the cabinets you’re about to fill.”
The two add-ons almost every new resident wants
The 38-item list already includes empty cabinet, drawer, closet and shelf interiors when reachable — which is to say, precisely the spaces where your clothes and your plates are going this week. What it does not include is two appliances, and on a move-in those are the two you notice most.
They are quoted separately, at published prices: empty refrigerator $65 · inside oven $65 · oven + refrigerator bundle $115 · interior windows from $10 per pane · trash/junk removal by separate quote. Range-priced work, occupied properties, and extreme residue require review. Adding two published numbers, a 1 BR · 1 bath with the oven-and-refrigerator bundle is $565 — that is addition, not a new rate.
Why those two: on a move-out they get added to leave the place presentable; on a move-in, so you can cook in it tomorrow. What each line covers is laid out in what is included in a move-out cleaning.
You are pricing a property you do not know
This is the real problem with a move-in clean, and almost no pricing page mentions it. To get a number you have to describe the condition of a place you saw once, furnished, in afternoon light, with somebody else still living in it. The Terms take that head on: we price before you commit: you request a quote, see it, and then request a time.
And the line that actually protects you when the mess you are describing is a stranger’s: quotes reflect what you told us about the property. If the scope on arrival is materially different (for example, additional rooms or heavy build-up), we will re-quote with you before doing extra work — never silently. There is no payment at booking; the invoice comes after the completed visit.
The practical version: at the final walkthrough, count the bathrooms instead of estimating them, open the oven, look at the shower glass, and photograph anything that reads as buildup. Five minutes there is worth more than any national average.
The gap you have to book into
A move-in clean is scheduled between the previous occupant’s exit and your arrival, so cabinets, appliances and bathrooms are clean before you unpack a single box. In Miami that gap is defined by the building, not by you. In Brickell and Miami Beach high-rises, most associations require a reserved freight elevator and a firm move-in window — and the cleaning crew needs a slot of its own, or it waits in the lobby.
Our apartment and condo guide documents the rest: vendors registered at the front desk, a certificate of insurance on file before a crew gets past the lobby, quiet hours. As a brand-new resident you do not know anybody there yet, so that paperwork lands exactly when you have the least time for it. JAS carries $2,000,000 general liability with every cleaner background-checked; the certificate is requested at bookings@jascleaning.com with “COI” in the subject, and most are returned within 2 business hours.
On the date itself: booking needs at least 24–48 hours of lead time, and end-of-month dates fill first because most leases turn over then — the same days you are moving in.
What an empty unit does here while it waits
Between one tenant and the next, a unit can sit shut for weeks with the A/C off or turned way up. That shows here: humidity and salt air leave a film on glass and in slider tracks, pollen comes in year round, and in the towers the dust arrives finer and grayer off the bay. Hurricane season, June through November, stretches those shut-up spells and leaves fine grit in those same tracks. It is not dramatic dirt; it is buildup, and buildup is exactly what a 38-item list is built to take off.
A closed-up place smells closed-up, and it is worth being plain about what a cleaning visit does: it removes the film, dust and grit it can reach. It is not remediation. The Terms reserve the right to refuse or stop service where conditions are unsafe for our team — mold, infestation, biohazards — and if we stop early for safety, a partial refund applies for the unworked portion. If something worries you before you sign, that assessment is not ours to make.
When this is not the service you want
If the unit was just renovated, this is not a move-in: it is post-construction cleaning, starting at $650 for the first 1,000 sq ft, because fine construction dust gets into tracks, vents and fixtures, and the exact scope and price are confirmed before scheduling. And if you already live there and want a reset, a deep clean starts at $375 and works around your furniture. Move-in cleaning exists for the short window when the place is empty and not quite yours yet.
Quick answers
Is move-in cleaning cheaper than move-out cleaning?
No — it is the same service on the same published table, the same 38-item checklist worked by a 2–3 person team. What differs is your odds of landing on the starting row: the published price assumes a vacant property in normal condition, and on a move-in the property is usually vacant.
The unit looks clean at the walkthrough. Do I still need this?
Sometimes the honest answer is no. If the previous occupant paid for a move-out clean and you were forwarded the photo report, a Standard clean starting at $225 may be all you want. A move-in clean earns its price when nobody can tell you what was done — because it opens cabinet, drawer, closet and shelf interiors rather than trusting the surfaces.
Who pays for it — me, the landlord, or the seller?
That is between you and them; JAS invoices whoever books. What we can tell you is when the money moves: there is no payment at booking, and after each completed visit we issue an invoice for the quoted amount with a secure hosted payment link. The paid invoice serves as your receipt, which is the document to forward if someone else is reimbursing you.
My closing date keeps moving. What happens to the booking?
Move it. You can cancel or reschedule free up to 24 hours before the appointment; inside 24 hours a $25 cancellation fee applies. Booking needs at least 24–48 hours of lead time and end-of-month dates fill first, so the practical move is to hold a date early and shift it as the handoff firms up.
Can you clean it if the previous tenant left furniture behind?
Yes — we work around the furniture and clean what is safely accessible, and empty cabinet, drawer, closet and shelf interiors are still included when reachable. Occupied or furnished properties require scope and price confirmation, so say so on the form: the quote reflects what you told us, and anything materially different on arrival is re-quoted with you before extra work, never silently.
The short version
A move-in clean in Miami runs $450 to $750 by bedrooms and baths, because it is the same 38-item service as a move-out clean. Because the place is empty, it is the visit most likely to land on the published starting row. Add the oven and refrigerator if you plan to cook this week, describe honestly what you saw — anything materially different gets re-quoted with you, never silently — and hold the date before the building assigns your elevator window.
This guide is part of the JAS operating playbook — written to answer in public the question the rest of the industry prefers to answer on a phone call.