Most rental turnovers in the Nashville and Middle Tennessee area run $1,200 to $4,500, with a typical mid-range turn landing around $2,500 to $3,500. National data pegs the average apartment turnover near $3,900, but that number hides everything a landlord actually wants to know: what drives it, where it can be trimmed, and the one cost most owners forget to count. Here is the real breakdown.
The line-item breakdown
Every turnover is a stack of smaller jobs. Here is what each piece typically costs on a single-family or small multi-family rental in the Nashville area, for a standard turn between tenants.
| Line item | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Move-out deep clean | $200 – $500 | Scales with unit size and condition |
| Paint (touch-up) | $300 – $600 | Scuffs, marks, high-traffic walls |
| Paint (full interior repaint) | $1,000 – $2,500 | The single biggest swing item |
| Carpet cleaning | $120 – $300 | If carpet is salvageable |
| Carpet replacement | $1.50 – $4.00 / sq ft | When cleaning will not save it |
| LVP flooring (installed) | $4 – $8 / sq ft | Material and install; outlasts carpet |
| Punch-list repairs | $150 – $1,000 | Doors, hardware, caulk, drywall, fixtures |
| Appliance clean or swap | $100 – $800 | Deep clean vs replacement |
What tier of turn does your unit need?
Not every unit needs everything above. In practice, turnovers fall into three tiers, which is exactly how we package them.
- Light refresh (roughly $1,200 – $1,800): deep clean, paint touch-up, minor repairs, new filter. For a unit that was well kept and just needs to show well.
- Standard turn (roughly $2,500 – $3,500): full repaint, carpet cleaned or replaced, all punch-list repairs, appliance deep clean, move-in inspection. The most common turn.
- Full make-ready ($4,000+): new LVP flooring, cabinet painting, updated fixtures, the works. For a unit going after a rent bump.
See how we structure these as flat-rate packages on our unit turnover page.
The cost every landlord forgets: vacancy
The most expensive line item in a turnover is not on any invoice. It is the rent you lose while the unit sits empty. On an $1,800/month rental, every vacant day costs about $60. A turn that drags three weeks instead of one costs you roughly $840 in lost rent alone, on top of the work.
This is why a coordinated turnover beats hiring trades one at a time. Booking a cleaner, then a painter, then a handyman separately adds days of dead time between each visit while everyone plays schedule tag. One crew that covers every trade compresses the whole turn into 4 to 7 days, and the saved rent usually pays for the coordination. Deferred maintenance works the same way: skipping the small stuff now becomes a bigger turn later.
How to keep turnover costs down
- Paint in the same color, always. One standard wall color across your portfolio means touch-ups instead of full repaints for years.
- Switch carpet to LVP once. It costs more up front but survives the next several tenants, so you stop paying for carpet every turn.
- Do a mid-lease check. Catching a small leak or a failing seal before move-out keeps it off the turnover punch list.
- Bundle the work. One crew, one flat quote, one schedule beats four separate service calls every time.
The bottom line
Budget $2,500 to $3,500 for a standard Middle Tennessee turn, less for a refresh, more if you are upgrading flooring. Then add the vacancy math, because speed is money on a turnover. Upkeep runs packaged make-readies across Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, and the rest of Middle Tennessee, with the number quoted flat before the unit is even vacant. One service request gets you a turnover quote.