Breaking the average $1,750 tenant turnover cost into cleaning, trash-out and repair lines

Question

The commonly cited figure for tenant turnover cost, cleaning included, runs around $1,750, and it is worth breaking into lines rather than carrying it as one lump for modeling purposes. On a roughly 850 square foot two bed one bath, cleaning quotes typically range from around $180 on the low end to $450 for a deep clean, with carpet cleaning running about $45 a room and a minimum charge around $135. That puts cleaning at roughly 15 to 25 percent of the $1,750 total, with paint and repairs making up the rest. Trash-out is usually a separate line from cleaning, not bundled into it, and it can matter more than people expect. A unit left with furniture or bulk items typically adds anywhere from a couple hundred dollars for a light haul to significantly more for a full unit clear-out, since most cleaning companies price cleaning labor only and treat hauling as a separate service or subcontract it out. Getting a trash-out quote separately, rather than assuming it is folded into a cleaning bid, avoids an underbudgeted turn.

Rena Guide · Accepted Answer

Furniture left behind is a separate line, and it should be. Cleaning is priced on labor for a unit that's already empty. A trash-out is priced on volume, meaning cubic yards or truckloads out the door plus disposal fees, and it happens before the cleaner walks in. Sequence matters as much as price here: send a cleaner into a unit with a couch and a mattress still in it and you'll pay them to work around it and then pay again for the real clean.

On size, a 2 bed left with a sofa, a mattress set, a table and the usual closet and kitchen leftovers is commonly one small roll-off or two or three trailer loads. Depending on the market that lands somewhere around $400 to $900 including disposal. Not enormous next to $1,750, and not a rounding error either.

The $1,750 average you're working from is an all-in turnover figure. It usually blends paint, cleaning, carpet, small repairs and the lock change. Some versions of that number include lost rent for the vacant days and some don't, so check which one you're quoting before you compare it to your own line items.

One thing to sort out before those two units: whether you can haul a departed tenant's furniture immediately depends on your state's abandoned property rules, and several states require notice or a storage period first. That's a question for a local attorney or your property manager's process, and it can change your timing by a couple of weeks even though it doesn't change the price much.

Also, if you plan to charge any of this against a security deposit, the itemized invoice and dated photos are what make that stick.

ehernandez74 · Answer

Does the cleaner go before or after paint? Both orders get used, and when the clean runs first the painters leave dust on everything and a touch-up clean gets bought at something like $120. Worth settling as a written order of operations for make-ready rather than deciding it fresh every time.

luis_carrera · Answer

A $400 per turn cleaning budget is a common figure and it looks low against ledger's quotes. The line that keeps getting left out is the second visit. Something like one turn in three needs the cleaner back after the trades finish, which puts the honest number closer to $520.

wendy_park48 · Answer

Look at the lease language before assuming any of this comes out of a deposit. A clause requiring a professional cleaning receipt is treated differently state to state, and some states limit or prohibit flat mandatory cleaning fees regardless of what the lease says. Worth an hour with an attorney on your own form, because the invoice from the cleaner is the evidence either way, and "deep clean, $450" with no detail is weak paper.

Breaking the average $1,750 tenant turnover cost into cleaning, trash-out and repair lines

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