A unit between tenants earns nothing. Every day it sits waiting on repairs is a day of rent you don’t get back. So a good make-ready turn is mostly about two things: getting the whole list done in one pass, and not finding surprises after the listing photos go up.
Here’s what a typical turn covers. Not every unit needs every item, but this is the list we walk with landlords and property managers.
Walls and paint
- Patch nail holes, anchors and dings from furniture and TV mounts
- Repair larger damage, like door-knob holes, and match the texture so it disappears
- Touch up or fully repaint, depending on how long the last tenant stayed
- Clean lines at the ceiling, trim and baseboards
Repainting in one standard color across your units saves time on every future turn, because touch-ups match.
Floors
- Spot-repair damaged plank or tile instead of replacing a whole room when the material is still available
- Replace sections where water or pets did real damage
- Re-secure loose transitions and baseboards
Doors, hardware and fixtures
- Adjust doors that stick or don’t latch
- Replace broken handles, hinges, stops and cabinet hardware
- Swap worn or mismatched light fixtures and faucets
- Replace bent or missing blinds
The small stuff that holds up a listing
- Outlet and switch covers that are cracked or missing
- Caulk around tubs, showers and sinks
- Smoke detector batteries (check your local rules on what’s required between tenants)
- Anything a prospective tenant will notice in the first 30 seconds of a showing
What makes a turn go fast
One crew for the whole list. The slowest part of most turns is waiting for the next trade to show up. One crew that handles paint, patching, flooring repair and fixtures cuts out the gaps.
A line-item quote before work starts. You know the cost up front and can forward it to the owner without rewriting it.
Photos when it’s done. You can list the unit the same day instead of driving out to check.
If you manage rentals in Magnolia, Tomball, The Woodlands or Conroe and want a crew that handles the whole turn, see our make-ready service or send us the unit details for a free walk-through.