How much does an apartment turnover cost?
A turnover is priced from what the move-out inspection finds and from how far the unit has to go: a touch-up turn, a full repaint, or a repaint with new flooring and repairs. Flooring is the single item that moves the number most. We do not publish a per-unit price because a unit that needs paint and blinds and a unit that needs carpet, a vanity and a subfloor repair are not the same job. You get a written price per unit before we start, and portfolios get a standing scope so every unit prices the same way.
The three tiers of a turn
A light turn is patching, touch-up paint, blinds, a few fixtures, caulk and a clean. It is the cheapest and the fastest, and it is what a well-kept unit after a short tenancy needs.
A standard turn adds a full repaint of walls and often ceilings and trim, carpet cleaning or replacement in one or two rooms, and the inspection items: detectors, GFCI protection, door hardware.
A heavy turn is a repaint plus flooring through the unit plus repairs the last tenant left behind: a cabinet door, a countertop, a bathroom fan, a soft spot in the floor. It is the one that stretches the schedule, and the one a written scope protects you from being surprised by.
Flooring moves the number most
Paint is predictable. Flooring is not, because it depends on what is under the carpet or the plank. A unit that needs new carpet in two bedrooms is a small flooring job. A unit where the pad is soaked through and the subfloor smells is a flooring job plus a subfloor job, and new carpet over it would smell again in a month.
Many owners move rental units from carpet to LVP at the turn. It costs more that turn and less every turn after, because plank survives tenants in a way carpet does not and a damaged plank is a one-plank repair.
The items the inspection will check
Rental licence inspections in Maryland counties and in the District check working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, GFCI protection in kitchens and bathrooms, secure locks, windows that open and lock, handrails, and no peeling paint. In housing built before 1978, Maryland and DC lead rules make deteriorated paint a compliance item that has to be fixed before a new tenant moves in.
Those items are small on their own. Left off the scope, they fail the inspection and the unit sits empty another two weeks, which costs more than the items did.
Why a standing scope matters for a portfolio
A single unit is priced from its walk. A portfolio should not be. A standing unit scope sets the paint colours, the flooring product, the fixtures and the finish standard once, so every turn is priced from the same list and only the exceptions get priced separately.
That is what lets a manager budget per unit, schedule the trade in advance, and sign off on photographs instead of walking every unit. It is also what makes the number steady from one turn to the next.
How to read a turnover estimate
It should list the rooms and what is being done in each, name the paint and the flooring product, say whether removal and disposal are included, state the inspection items, and give a finish date tied to your move-in. It should also say what happens if the walk finds something the inspection missed, because something usually does.
Send the move-out inspection report or photos through the estimate form, or book a walk. You get a written price per unit before we start. The estimate is free.
The Work Behind This Answer
Still Want Someone to Look at It?
Send photos and a description and you get a written price with the scope spelled out. Open every day, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. Emergency response in 24–48 hours for urgent property damage.