🇺🇸United States

Excessive Turnover and Make‑Ready Costs per Unit

3 verified sources

Definition

Industry data places the average cost of a residential unit turnover at about **$4,000 per unit**, including repairs, inspections, cleaning, and vacancy.[3] Inefficient make‑ready processes inflate labor, materials, and overtime beyond what is necessary to achieve rent‑ready condition.

Key Findings

  • Financial Impact: At $4,000 per turn, a 100‑unit property with a 40% annual turnover rate incurs ≈ $160,000/year in turnover‑related costs; even a 10% process inefficiency in make‑ready steps equates to ≈ $16,000/year in avoidable expense.
  • Frequency: Every turnover; portfolio‑wide impact is annual and ongoing
  • Root Cause: Lack of standard scope for make‑ready inspections leads to over‑ordering supplies, redundant work, and inefficient vendor sequencing. Extended vacancy days embedded in that $4,000 figure reflect both direct work costs and excess time to complete them.[2][3][7]

Why This Matters

This pain point represents a significant opportunity for B2B solutions targeting Leasing Residential Real Estate.

Affected Stakeholders

Property managers, Maintenance supervisors, Make‑ready techs, Owners/asset managers

Deep Analysis (Premium)

Financial Impact

$10,000/year (20-25 military turnovers/year × $400 inefficiency) • $10,000/year (4-5 Section 8 turnovers/year × $2,000 compliance rework delay + potential HUD fines $5-10k for non-compliance) • $10,000/year (50 student units × 10% compliance delay cost + rework + potential fines/liability if defects missed)

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Current Workarounds

Ad-hoc job assignment via WhatsApp; technicians manage own schedules on phone calendar; parts ordered manually by each tech; no centralized inventory; duplicate vendor contacts per tech • Corporate contract-specific checklist; photos approved by corporate client; compliance report emailed; re-inspection if client rejects quality; compliance docs stored in shared drive; rework discovery late • Detailed paper checklist per federal guidelines; photos documenting compliance emailed; re-inspection if non-compliant; rework compliance docs filed manually; no audit trail for HUD defense

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Methodology & Sources

Data collected via OSINT from regulatory filings, industry audits, and verified case studies.

Evidence Sources:

Related Business Risks

Lost Rent from Extended Make‑Ready and Inspection Cycles

For a $1,500/month unit, a 14‑day make‑ready instead of 5 days loses ~9 extra vacancy days ≈ $450 per turn; at 100 turns/year this is ≈ $45,000/year in lost rent portfolio‑wide.

Unrecovered Tenant Damage Due to Weak Move‑Out/Make‑Ready Documentation

If avoidable damage averaging $200–$400 per move‑out is missed or cannot be substantiated in 10% of 100 annual turns, unrecovered costs can easily reach $2,000–$4,000/year for a small portfolio and scale into tens of thousands for larger portfolios.

Rush Labor, Overtime, and Premium Vendor Charges During Peak Turn Season

If rush labor and overtime add even $150 in extra contractor or in‑house labor per unit across 50 turns in peak season, that is ≈ $7,500/year in incremental, largely avoidable cost.

Repeat Work Orders and Re‑Inspection from Incomplete Make‑Ready

If 20% of turns generate an extra $75 truck roll and minor material due to missed items, a portfolio with 100 annual turns incurs ≈ $1,500/year in direct rework cost, plus any rent concessions (e.g., $50–$100 each) layered on top.

Delayed Move‑In Dates and Slower Time‑to‑Cash from Prolonged Make‑Ready

A 3‑day delay to move‑in at $1,500/month rent costs ≈ $150 in lost rent per unit; across 50 delayed move‑ins per year this is ≈ $7,500 in cash‑flow delay and permanent revenue loss.

Bottlenecks in Turns Reduce Effective Leasing Capacity

If inspection bottlenecks add an average of 2 idle days to 100 annual turns at $1,500/month rent, that is ≈ 200 idle unit‑days, or about $10,000/year in lost leasing capacity.

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