How Long Does it Take to Turnover an Apartment?

How Long Does it Takes to Turnover an Apartment

It usually takes seven days to complete an apartment turnover if all repairs are outsourced. However, if it is a DIY apartment turnover and with the basic maintenance tools, it can take up to 2 weeks, and you will probably have to subcontract some additional repairs if necessary, for example:

Additional Repairs
Bathroom and/or Closet Mirror Door Replacement
Carpet Replacement and/or Shampoo Cleaning
Kitchen and Bathroom Flooring Replacement
Bathtub and/or Countertops Re-Glaze
Air Conditioning and Heater Repair
Window Glass Replacement
Apartment Turn-Over Additional Repairs

Related: Tool list for apartment maintenance

How to Complete an Apartment Turnover in Seven Days

When all repairs are subcontracted to complete the turnover, usually all steps will be reflected as follows. First, you will need to access the apartment. Let’s say the tenant has just returned the move-out keys, and you can now access the vacant apartment.

On the day of the move-out, you should make a thorough inspection of the apartment to create your schedule and have a clear view of what should be scheduled with your vendors. Remember that the goal is to complete the turnover in seven days. In some cases, you can even do an apartment turnover in less than seven days. This is true when apartment properties are new.

Now that you have inspected the apartment and created your list of what should be scheduled with the vendors let’s say the first day of the schedule will start on a Monday. I recommend that on the first day, you schedule with the vendors as follows:

  1. Monday: Schedule Full Paint.
  2. Tuesday: Schedule Janitorial.
  3. Wednesday: On this day, you’ll have to be careful because, let’s say, for example, maybe the apartment needs a bathtub and or countertops re-glaze. If it needs re-glaze, then schedule the re-glaze before you continue with any schedule. These also might prolong the finish goal by a day or two now; if the unit doesn’t need re-glaze, then for these days, schedule flooring replacement if needed and carpet shampoo.
  4. Thursday: If the apartment only needed carpet shampoo on Wednesday, then on this day, Thursday is when the technician is going to start the turnover repairs. Remember, the older the property is, the more time will be required to complete the turnover.
  5. Friday: This day is expected for the technician to be working on the turnover repairs.
  6. Saturday: On this day, the technician should be finishing the turnover repairs, including the locks rekey.
  7. Sunday: On this day, the porter performs and finishes the spiff the same day.

What Is The Average Cost of an Apartment Turnover?

The average turnover cost ranges from $1000 to $5000. After a tenant moves in, prospective and current owners often ask me about the average cost of their rental property. The answer depends on the condition, but I have found a sort of average turnover cost.

For example, some general costs when we need to do paint touch-ups on the property are usually around $100 per wall for standard paint preparation and paint touch-ups. I usually tell landlords to budget around $500 in miscellaneous maintenance repairs just for odds and ends. Refreshing the caulking by changing things here and there and just some of those various property items. 

Some other things to consider are getting the property to rekey, usually around a hundred and twenty dollars depending on your market. These will require to be done after the property is ready and before the new tenants move in.

Move Out Inspection Tips for Apartment Turnover

Once the tenant moves out and turns over his or her keys as indicated in the lease agreement, it is time to perform the move-out inspection. This can be done on a checklist or even on a mobile application on your phone or tablet. If you are using a printed checklist or a mobile application here are a few tips to keep in mind.

  1. What to bring with you to reduce multiple trips to the property includes a key box, new or re-keyed locks to replace existing locks, a camera, a screwdriver, a tape measure, and a clipboard to name a few.
  2. If you are doing the work yourself, bring necessary supplies including light bulbs, window screen material, air conditioner filter, smoke detectors, and WD-40 to name a few.
  3. Your checklist or application should include a place to document any damage or potential charges during any move-out inspections you encounter.
  4. The checklist should also include everything that needs to be checked while on the property, including the interior and exterior.

I recommend using an app or even iPads to do the move-out inspections because you can take pictures and notes, it is very well documented, and it is difficult for the tenants to discuss it.

I want to give you a couple of techniques if you go to opposite corners as if you were standing in a corner. If you are doing video or photo inspections, you take a picture down the middle and up in a video camera that you want to pause every 3-5 seconds.

If you go to the opposite corner, do it again for that room, and you will have the whole room, all the walls, everything. To make sure you haven’t missed anything, choose a direction. I like to start from the right wall. I would go in and follow the right wall that takes you through the whole property until you get back to the front door, and hopefully, you haven’t missed anything.

So I would look at the wall, back up, and look at the outlets’ cleanliness to start following my checklist and make my way through the entire property that way. For example, to cover the entire property, an apartment with a two-bedroom one-bathroom takes five to eight minutes depending on the amount of damage and things to take note of.

Here’s a tip: take a photo or even a video of anything you find during the move-out inspection that you might have to charge the tenant for. I use cell phones and tablets for this; if you are using an application, it will have a place to put the photos while you fill the room; it will insert the pictures and store them electronically.

A straightforward way to do this without having to have all the devices is to take a photo and send it to an email address for your photographs; this puts a date and time on each. And in the subject line, you want to put the property or apartment number that they are all stored there. If the tenant has any questions, then just send them to the tenant; usually, these take care of most disputes.