Wayne State move-out junk removal in Midtown

The short answer

Plan two weeks before your lease ends. Sell or give away what works, put what you can out for the City of Detroit's weekly bulk pickup by 7 a.m. (up to 2 cubic yards), and book one pickup for the rest, split with your roommates. Flat prices: futon $111, twin mattress $82, full mattress $94, standard desk $83, office chair $61, bookshelf $72. The order minimum is $100, so combining items in one booking makes sense.

Midtown is a renters' neighborhood

Midtown covers about 2.09 square miles and around 14,550 residents. Wayne State, founded in 1868 and Michigan's third-largest university, sits in the middle of it. The ZIP code 48201 is 11.0% owner-occupied, which means almost everyone around campus rents, and a lot of leases end around the same time.

The buildings range from newer mid-rises with elevators and loading docks to older walk-ups and Brush Park mansions split into apartments. Know which you are in before you plan the move-out.

Two weeks out

• Read your lease for the move-out date, the condition the unit must be left in, and any fees for items left behind.
• List what sells: a decent desk, a working mini fridge, a TV, a bike. Other students moving in are the buyers; post early.
• Give away the rest that works. Free, porch pickup, gone by tonight.
• Ask building management about elevator reservations and whether a certificate of insurance is required for vendors.

It also helps to agree with roommates, in writing or a group chat, who owns what. Shared items like the futon, the TV stand and the kitchen table are the ones that get left behind because everyone assumes someone else is dealing with them. Decide now whether each shared piece is being sold, given away, curbed or picked up, and how the cost is split. That one conversation prevents the most common move-out problem: a landlord deduction for furniture nobody claimed. Take photos of the empty rooms on the last day, too, in case the deposit is ever questioned.

Using the city's bulk pickup

If your building uses City of Detroit curbside collection, bulk goes out weekly, up to 2 cubic yards, about the size of two stoves, at the curb by 7 a.m., never in front of a vacant lot. If not collected, it must be off the curb by 9 p.m.

Two cubic yards is about one sofa or futon, or one mattress with its box spring. If several roommates put out their furniture on the same morning, the pile can be well over the limit, and Outlier Media reported in 2022 that exceeding it can bring a $1,500 fine. In larger managed buildings, ask management how bulk works; it may not be the city's curb at all.

Do not leave furniture by the building dumpster or in the alley. That is a deposit deduction, a dumping ticket, or both. Detroit's dumping fines, per Outlier Media, start at $200 for a first offense.

Splitting a pickup with roommates

One booking for the whole unit is easier and keeps everyone over the $100 minimum. Prices are per item, so it is easy to split.

Three roommates, each leaving a twin mattress and a desk, plus a shared futon: $82 + $83 + $82 + $83 + $82 + $83 + $111 = $606, or $165 per roommate plus a $37 share of the futon each.

Three typical Midtown move-outs

• Studio in a mid-rise near campus, elevator and dock: full mattress, metal bed frame, desk and office chair: $94 + $68 + $83 + $61 = $306. Book the elevator, then the pickup, and request the COI the same day.
• Two-bedroom in a converted Brush Park house, third floor, no elevator: two twin mattresses, a bookshelf and a bean bag: $82 + $82 + $72 + $53 = $289, carried down the stairs at the list price.
• Grad student leaving Detroit after a program ends: everything in a one-bedroom except what fits in a car. Usually priced as a truck tier from photos, often a quarter truck at $241 or a 3/8 truck at $338.

Small single items like one mini fridge ($115) clear the $100 minimum on their own. A lone office chair ($61) does not; add the desk or a moving box or two.

Moving day logistics

• Book the elevator, then book the pickup into the same window. You choose a 2-hour arrival window.
• Walk-up? Crews carry items out from any floor, with no stairs fee.
• COI: if the building needs one, it is emailed within 1 hour.
• Same-day: book by 4 PM. We run 7 days a week, 8am to midnight, which helps when the elevator is only free in the evening.
• Not there? If a roommate or the building can let the crew in, you do not need to be.
• Month-end crunch. Elevators, docks and street parking around campus are busiest in the last days of the month. A few days early is easier.

Other campuses

The same plan works for Eastern Michigan students in Ypsilanti, Oakland University students in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, and University of Detroit Mercy students in the University District. Check your own city's bulk rules, since only Detroit's are described here. Get a price from a photo, and see apartment cleanout cost in Detroit for full-unit truck pricing.

Frequently asked questions