Moving out of a rented room

A rented room moves in an afternoon and goes wrong in the last ten minutes, at the deposit. This is the order that keeps the money and the belongings intact, written for the people who rent rooms: students, first-job workers, anyone between leases in a city where the next room is not always ready when this one ends.

Updated September 2026

Three Tủ Mây crew carrying boxes from the open van on a Ho Chi Minh City street

The short answer

Tell the landlord in writing, on the date the agreement says, usually a month before. Screenshot the message and the reply.
Read the electricity and water meters together on the last day and photograph them. Room rents are billed by the landlord's own rate, so the reading is the only number that matters.
Everything that fits in two motorbike trips moves by motorbike. Furniture, a fridge, a bike or more than a dozen boxes needs a vehicle.
If the next room starts later than this one ends, a Small plan holds 12 boxes plus a bike or a fridge for 1,250,000 VND a month. Collected from the room, delivered to the next one.
The deposit comes back on the day, against the empty room and the meter readings. Anything "later" needs a date in writing.

Notice and the agreement

Most room agreements are a page long, and some are verbal, but the deposit rule is nearly universal: one month, returned when you leave, less anything unpaid or broken, and forfeit if you leave without the agreed notice. Give the notice the way the agreement says and, whatever it says, also in writing. If there was never a written agreement, a message that states the date you leave and asks the landlord to confirm the deposit return does the same job, and it is the document you will show if the return is refused.

The last day, in order

Empty the room completely, including the things on top of the wardrobe and behind the door. A landlord charges for clearing what you leave.
Sweep and wipe. Not a deep clean, but a room that looks cared for gets its deposit back faster.
Read the meters with the landlord present. Photograph each meter with the date visible. Settle the last electricity and water bill from those readings at the agreed rate; a rounded "about 300,000" is how deposits shrink.
Walk the room together. Point out anything that was already damaged when you arrived, ideally with the photographs you took on your first day. If you did not take them then, take them now for the next room.
Hand over the keys, the remote controls and the access card, and count them out loud.
Get the deposit in cash or by transfer before you leave the building. If the landlord asks to return it later, get the date and the amount in a message and screenshot it.

What moves how

Moving a room
What you have	How it moves	Cost
Clothes, laptop, books, bedding, a fan	Two motorbike trips, or one Grab car	Fuel or a ride fare
The above plus a small fridge, a desk and a rice cooker	A small truck or a van, one trip	A driver's fee for an hour or two
A furnished room you own the contents of: bed, wardrobe, fridge, washing machine	A truck with two people	A short move quoted per job
Any of the above, with a gap before the next room	Collection into a Small or Medium storage plan, delivered to the next room	From 3,300,000 VND collection plus 1,250,000 VND a month

The honest rule: if everything you own fits on a motorbike, move it on a motorbike, and store nothing. Storage earns its keep when there is furniture, an appliance or a bike, and a gap of more than a couple of nights that would otherwise mean a friend's floor and a corner of their room.

The gap between rooms

Rooms rarely change hands on the same day. A new room is free from the first of the month and this one ends on the 25th; or you are going home for Tết or the summer and the next place is not chosen yet. The Small plan is the fit: 12 boxes, or fewer boxes and a bike or a small fridge, collected from the room by the crew, photographed and listed, and delivered to whichever address you give when you are ready. 1,250,000 VND a month standard, and the collection fee from 3,300,000 VND one way covers the crew, the boxes and the transport. For a whole furnished room, Medium at 2,450,000 VND.

Rooms in Districts 1 to 5, Bình Thạnh, Phú Nhuận and Gò Vấp have no trip fee; other districts add 150,000 VND to the collection, once. Rooms up narrow alleys are normal for the crew; note the alley and the floor when booking.

Students and summer

A student room emptied for the summer is the most common version of this page. The room is often given up to save three months' rent, the landlord may or may not hold it, and the belongings go home on a bus or stay in the city. Storing the desk, the fan, the books and the winter clothes in a Small plan and moving only a bag home costs less than the rent saved, and the plan delivers to the new room in September. Two friends can share one plan; the catalogue lists whose is whose.

Things landlords charge for that you can prevent

Nail holes and sticker marks on the walls: fill and wipe them the week before.
A fridge or a fan left behind "as a gift": it is not a gift, it is a removal charge. Take it, sell it, or ask in writing whether they want it.
The last electricity bill estimated rather than read: read the meter together.
Keys and cards: a lost card at a building with a card system is charged at the building's rate; find it before the walk-through.
Rubbish: bag it and take it to the collection point yourself.

Collection, paid once
Size	Collection only	Collection and return
Small	3,300,000 VND	5,100,000 VND
Medium	6,000,000 VND	8,900,000 VND
Large	11,300,000 VND	16,600,000 VND

Tủ Mây price list · standard / air-conditioned

Valet · Small · 12 boxes1,250,000 VND / 1,550,000 VND

Valet · Medium · 24 boxes2,450,000 VND / 3,050,000 VND

Valet · Large · 48 boxes4,900,000 VND / 6,150,000 VND

Self storage · Small1,550,000 VND / 1,950,000 VND

Self storage · Medium3,050,000 VND / 3,800,000 VND

Self storage · Large6,150,000 VND / 7,700,000 VND

Collection only, paid oncefrom 3,300,000 VND

Collection and return, paid oncefrom 5,100,000 VND

A delivery in between, per trip500,000 VND, 5 boxes included

Store 3 / 6 / 12 months5% / 10% / 15% off

Frequently asked

The landlord will not return my deposit. What can I do?

Show the notice, the meter photographs and the empty-room photographs, in writing, and ask for a date. Most returns follow. If it does not, the ward's people's committee mediates tenancy disputes, and a written record is what they ask for first.

Can the crew collect from a room up an alley with no lift?

Yes. Note the alley width and the floor when booking; the crew brings a small vehicle and carries.

Do I need to pack before the crew arrives?

No. Gather your documents and valuables to keep with you; the crew packs, labels and photographs everything else.

Can two people share one plan?

Yes. Each item is listed by name, so a shared Small plan between roommates is simple to split at delivery.

How soon can I get things back?

The next day at the earliest. Book the return two days ahead for the standard fee; sooner adds the 400,000 VND rush fee.

Store it, get it back when you need it

We come to you, pack, photograph every item and keep it in climate-controlled storage. One message brings any of it back.

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