How Much Our Tenant Turnover Cost Us
TL;DR - The grand total came out to $9,454.52.
It’s easy to look up how much a tenant turnover costs online. You’ll find a million results saying the same thing.
Go ahead, do it.
Better yet — we did it for you.
The top search result says that a tenant turnover costs — on average — $1,000 to $5,000.
And for us…
True real estate investors…
Those numbers are way off!
Random websites will tell you what statistics say. That’s because they’ve never invested in real estate themselves.
If you want a real example of an actual tenant turnover, don’t miss this.
How Much Our Tenant Turnover Cost Us
Why Fixing Up Your Rental Is Smart
We recently went through a tenant turnover at one of our rental properties.
Our tenant moved out and we had to prepare the unit for new tenants. This is also commonly referred to as a “make-ready”.
Preparing a rental for new tenants can be costly…
But it’s important to do it right.
If you don’t take the time to fix up your rental, you’ll end up with:
Lower quality tenants
More tenant turnover
Lower rental income
It’s not worth it to cut corners when it comes to preparing your rental for new tenants.
We’ve seen too many investors try to save a few bucks only to end up costing themselves thousands in the long run.
Don’t be one of those investors!
By the Numbers
For this make-ready, there was a lot that needed to be done.
We’re going to go over each item and how much it cost, then put the grand total at the end of this section.
Let’s break down each fix by the area of the property it was in.
Entry
Door Weather Strip: $70.92
Painting Door Only: $39.00
Living Room
Safety Smoke Alarm Battery: $13.00
Safety Carbon Monoxide Detector – Regular: $62.40
HVAC Wall Register (14x8): $33.98
Front Bedroom
Safety Smoke Alarm Battery: $13.00
Misc. Outlet Wall plate: $6.50
Window Screen Mesh: $65.20
Bathroom
Plumbing Bathtub Spout w/ Diverter: $64.71
Bathroom Caulk All: $182.13
Toilet, Shower, Sink
Glaze Tub Only: $325.00
Glaze Surround Only: $325.00
Kitchen
Window Mini Blind Up to 64" Length: $144.30
(1) 27x64
(1) 23x64
(1) 32x64
Kitchen Microwave Filter(13 x 5.5): $45.50
Appliance Stove Gas Stainless (Recond): $715.00
Reattach All Items in Fridge/Microwave: $15.85
Upstairs
Safety Smoke Detector – Regular: $36.40
Safety Smoke CO2 Battery: $13.00
Left Bedroom
Flooring Transition (2): $65.00
Safety Smoke Alarm Battery: $13.00
Window Mini Blind Up to 64" Length: $48.10
27x64
Reattach Closet Doors: $15.85
Right Bedroom
Safety Smoke Alarm Battery: $13.00
Door Interior Plane and Fix: $97.63
Basement
Misc Furnace 1" Thick Filter (Leave 1 Extra): $16.25
16x25x1
Safety Smoke Alarm Battery: $13.00
Safety Carbon Monoxide Detector – Regular: $62.40
Basement Bath
Light Bulb Changeout: $4.10
Outside
Tighten 4 Handrails on Deck Stairs: $105.63
Cleaning Power Washing Wood Deck – 240 sq. ft.: $546.00
Clean Power Wash 1 Story: $552.50
Replace Downspout, Elbow, Straps: $123.50
Overall (MISC.)
Painting Deck – 240 sq. ft.: $421.20
20x12
Color - Brown
Painting Interior (All Inclusive) – 945 sq. ft.: $3,525.80
Main Level and Upstairs
Includes All Prep/Cracks/Holes
Wall - Drift of Mist
Ceiling - White
Closet - White
Trim - White
Door - White
Door Stopper Package - Plate Type: $123.50
Demo Flooring Carpet/Pad Removal (Re-install Carpet NO) – 116 sq. ft.: $149.29
Flooring Luxury Vinyl Plank – 116 sq. ft.: $678.60
Junk Removal Full Service: $195.00
Cleaning Interior Make Ready: $514.28
Grand Total
Drum roll please…
$9,454.52!
So, yeah. A little more than the $1,000 to $5,000 average that a Google search came up with.
Our Questions
Here are some questions we had for the contractors that helped us with this make-ready:
1. In your opinion, is this a standard make-ready or did the tenants take poor care of the unit?
2. There is $1k+ of work to power wash the outside. Is this a concern for the occupancy inspection or is the outside particularly dirty that you think we need this?
3. Is the $3.5k+ paint job to paint the entire inside? Do we use the same color and paint across all units? I ask because I wonder if using the same paint across all rooms and units might allow us some saving should the unit not need painted entirely. For example, if only one or two rooms needed painted. Of course, if the whole place is trashed then it would need to be painted.
4. Where is the LVP flooring being installed? Generally, I’m in favor of LVP over carpet, I just didn’t know the detailed flooring for all of our units.
5. Is the stove damaged or just dirty? The report said dirty, but the make-ready seems to indicate it needs to be replaced or reconditioned.
The questions you ask your contractors will be different, but it’s good to ask them!
That way you know exactly what’s happening with your property and if a fix is necessary or just good to have.
So there you have it!
A real case on tenant turnover and how much it costs.
We hope you learned a lot and are more prepared for when you have tenant turnover.
As always…
Happy Hunting!
How We Can Help You
Does investing in real estate sound intriguing to you? Would you like to learn more? We’d love to be of value!
At Undoor, we pride ourselves on teaching new and experienced investors how to maximize their gains with minimal stress. Our goal is to help you fall in love with real estate and real estate investing!
Do you want to get key insights and advice that’ll help you get ahead of the game? Don’t hesitate to contact us for any and all real estate wants or needs.
