The expensive part of a rental turnover isn't the paint or the cleaning — it's the calendar. Every day a unit sits empty waiting on the next trade to show up is lost rent, and the most common cause of a slow turn is sequencing: cleaners arrive before the drywall dust, the painter comes back after the carpet goes in, the yard gets cut the week after the photos are taken.
Here's the order we run turnovers, and a checklist you can reuse on every unit.
Step 1 — Walk the unit and document it the day the tenant leaves
Documentation done on day one protects your security deposit decisions and gives whoever is doing the work a complete scope instead of a series of surprises.
- Photograph every room, including inside cabinets, appliances, and closets.
- Note damage beyond normal wear: holes, burns, pet damage, missing hardware, broken blinds.
- Check under sinks and around toilets and water heaters for slow leaks.
- Test every outlet, switch, smoke detector, and HVAC filter.
Step 2 — Repairs before anything else
Drywall patching, trim repair, door adjustments, plumbing fixes, and hardware replacement all create dust and debris. They come first, always. Doing repairs after cleaning guarantees you pay for cleaning twice.
- Patch and sand all wall and ceiling damage.
- Re-caulk tubs, showers, and sinks.
- Replace damaged trim, doors, and closet hardware.
- Handle light plumbing repairs — running toilets, dripping faucets, slow drains.
Step 3 — Paint
A full repaint in a durable neutral resets the unit and photographs well. If the walls are in good shape, targeted touch-up in the same paint and sheen can be enough — but only if you kept a record of the color and sheen from the last turn. Keep that record. It saves a full repaint on the next cycle.
Step 4 — Flooring
Carpet replacement or LVP installation happens after paint so drips and roller spatter don't land on new flooring. If the existing carpet is salvageable, a professional clean at this stage is far cheaper than replacement, and it's the last messy step before the final clean.
Step 5 — Deep clean
Move-out cleaning is not the same as recurring house cleaning. It's a full reset, and it's the single biggest factor in how a unit shows to the next applicant.
- Appliances inside and out, including behind and underneath.
- Cabinets and drawers, inside and out.
- Bathrooms — full sanitize, including grout and fixtures.
- Windows, sills, tracks, blinds, baseboards, vents, and ceiling fans.
- Floors last, after all dust has settled.
Step 6 — Exterior and grounds
Mow, trim, edge, clear the beds, and pressure wash the entry, walkway, and siding if it's dirty. Curb appeal determines whether a prospective tenant gets out of the car. It's the cheapest step on this list and the one most often skipped.
Step 7 — Final walkthrough and photos
Re-walk with your day-one photos in hand, confirm every item was addressed, then take listing photos in daylight with lights on and blinds open.
Why one company matters here
The checklist above involves repairs, painting, flooring, cleaning, and lawn care. Coordinating four contractors across those steps is how a five-day turn becomes a three-week vacancy. W.R. Crump Enterprises handles all of it under one company and one schedule — painting, cleaning, and lawn care — so the sequence is planned once and executed in one pass.