A unit turn is everything done to a rental unit between one tenant moving out and the next moving in — inspecting, clearing what was left behind, repairing, painting, dealing with the floors, servicing or replacing appliances, rekeying the locks, cleaning, and a final walk to check the work. The phrase comes from "turning over" the unit. Most turns take three to thirty days depending on how much of that list applies.

How long does a unit turn take?

A light turn is typically 3–5 days, a standard turn 7–10, and a heavy turn or full make-ready 14–30. The limit is usually drying time and trade sequencing rather than labour: paint has to be dry before flooring goes in, and flooring has to be down before the final clean.

Who pays for a unit turn?

The owner pays for normal wear — faded paint, worn carpet, anything that degraded from ordinary living. A tenant's deposit may generally be charged only for damage beyond normal wear, unpaid rent, and charges the lease allows, and in most states any deduction has to be itemized within a statutory deadline. Painting and carpet at the end of their useful life are the two most commonly disputed lines, because charging a full replacement for something already most of the way through its life is what gets deductions reversed.

What is a unit turn?

Q: What is the difference between a unit turn and a make-ready?

In everyday use, none — unit turn, turnover, make-ready and rent-ready all describe the same job. Where people do draw a line, "turn" tends to mean the whole period the unit is empty including the repairs, and "make-ready" the final push that gets it presentable to show. Some management companies use "rent-ready" specifically as the sign-off that the unit may be listed. If it matters to a contract you are signing, ask which one is meant rather than assuming.

Everything done to a rental between one tenant leaving and the next arriving. The word, the work, the order it has to happen in, and what it costs.

Unit turn (noun, also verb) — everything done to a rental unit between one tenant moving out and the next moving in: inspect, clear out, repair, paint, floors, appliances, rekey, deep clean, final walk. Short for turning over the unit. Also called a turnover, a make-ready, or getting a unit rent-ready.

Typical cost: $500–$8,000+, by level
Typical time: 3–30 days
Paid by: Owner, except damage beyond normal wear
Why it matters: The unit earns nothing while it runs

The short answer

A unit turn is everything done to a rental unit between one tenant moving out and the next moving in. Inspect, clear out, repair, paint, floors, appliances, rekey, clean, walk it. The phrase is short for turning over the unit, and it is used as both a noun and a verb — you have three turns this month, and you are turning a unit this week.

It matters because the unit earns nothing while it is happening. Every day of a turn is a day of vacancy, which is why the trade talks about turn time at least as much as turn cost, and why the sequence below is not negotiable.

Unit turn, turnover, make-ready, rent-ready

Four phrases, and in ordinary use they mean the same job. Where people do separate them: turn or turnover tends to cover the whole period the unit sits empty, repairs included; make-ready the final push that gets it presentable; and some management companies use rent-ready as a specific sign-off that the unit may now be listed and shown.

The distinction is worth pinning down in exactly one situation: when it appears in a contract you are signing or a job you are quoting. “Make the unit rent-ready” can mean a clean and a touch-up, or it can mean new flooring — a difference of several thousand dollars. Ask which, in writing, before you price it.

The work, in the order it has to happen

The sequence is what turns a five-day job into a nine-day one when it is got wrong. Paint before floors, floors before the final clean, the walk last.

Walk it and write it down. Before anything is touched. Photograph the condition with dates, because this is the only moment the evidence exists — once the painters are in, nobody can prove what the carpet looked like.
Clear it out. Whatever was left behind, plus anything the last tenant fixed to the walls. Junk removal is priced by volume, so this is one of the few lines you can estimate accurately from a photograph.
Repairs and punch list. Drywall, doors, hardware, fixtures, the toilet that runs. This is the line that decides whether you are doing a turn or a rehab, and the one nobody can quote over the phone.
Paint. Touch-up or full repaint. Has to come before flooring — cutting in over new floor covering is slower, riskier and gets you a paint-flecked floor.
Floors. Clean, or replace. The largest single swing on most turns and the line most likely to be argued about with a departing tenant.
Appliances. Service or replace. Age tends to decide this more than condition — a fifteen-year-old fridge that works is still a call-out waiting to happen in month two.
Rekey. Not optional and not expensive. The previous tenant's keys are still out there, and so are their friends'.
Deep clean, then the final walk. Last, because everything before it makes mess. The walk is what catches the switch plate nobody put back.

Light, standard, heavy

Almost every turn falls into one of three buckets, and naming which one you are looking at is most of the estimate.

Level	What it covers	Typical cost	Days
Light	Normal wear. Paint touch-up, a standard clean, a professional floor clean, minor repairs.	$500–$1,500	3–5
Standard	The ordinary between-tenants make-ready: full repaint or heavy touch-up, deep clean, appliance service, rekey, junk removal, a moderate punch list.	$1,500–$3,000	7–10
Heavy	A rehab in all but name. Full repaint, new LVP or carpet, one or more appliances replaced, a long repair list.	$3,000–$8,000+	14–30

Where the money goes

Line by line, for a 900 sq ft two-bedroom — which is the size these ranges are calculated against, because “flooring: $150 to $5,000” means nothing without a unit size attached to it. These are the same rates the unit turn calculator prices with, so the two cannot disagree.

Line	Range	What moves it
Paint — touch-up to full repaint	$150–$2,700	Whether the walls take a patch and a roller, or every surface including ceilings and trim.
Cleaning — standard to deep	$180–$405	A deep clean is a different job from a standard one — ovens, grout, inside cabinets, blinds.
Flooring — clean vs. replace	$150–$5,040	The single biggest swing on most turns. Cleaning carpet is hundreds; replacing it is thousands.
Appliances — service vs. replace	$80–$1,800	One service call, or two units replaced. Age decides it more than condition does.
Rekey the exterior locks	$75–$150	Barely varies, and it is not optional — the last tenant's keys are still out there.
Junk removal	$79–$400	A couple of bags, or a truck. What was left behind is the whole of it.
Repairs and punch list	$100–$2,500	The line that decides whether this is a turn or a rehab, and the one nobody can price from a phone call.

These are industry ranges from ordinary trade pricing — not a published standard, not a statutory schedule, and not audited job data of ours. Regional variation is large. They are here to tell you whether a quote is in the right postcode, not to replace one.

Who pays for which part

This is the question underneath most turn disputes, and it has a fairly clean answer: the owner pays for normal wear, and the tenant’s deposit may generally be charged only for damage beyond normal wear, unpaid rent, and charges the lease specifically allows. In most states any deduction has to be itemized in writing within a statutory deadline, and missing that deadline can forfeit the right to deduct anything at all.

Paint and carpet are where this goes wrong most often, because both wear out on a schedule. Charging a departing tenant for a whole carpet that was already eight years into a ten-year life is the single most commonly reversed deduction there is — the defensible version prorates it by the life left. The deposit deduction calculator does that arithmetic and prints the statement.

None of that is a legal opinion, and the wear-versus-damage line genuinely does move between states. What does not move is the evidence problem: you cannot argue about a condition you did not record. Which is the whole reason step one is a walkthrough.

Then what?

Knowing what a turn is and having the numbers are different jobs. The unit turn calculator prices your actual unit, gives a day count and a vacancy cost per day, and prints a make-ready checklist in trade sequence. The move-in / move-out condition report is step one done properly, with timestamped photos. The deposit deduction calculator works out what may fairly be charged at the end of it.

If you would rather not run one at all, we also do turnkey unit turns — materials and labor in one price, in our service area.