What is a normal make-ready cost?

It depends on your area, unit size and tenant history, so use your own past turns. Any national figure hides large differences.

Should make-ready come out of the security deposit?

Only damage beyond normal wear can usually be deducted, and your state sets the rules and the deadline. Normal turn costs are the owner's.

Is make-ready the same as turnover?

They are used almost interchangeably. Make-ready usually means the work needed to get a vacant unit rent-ready.

Make-Ready Cost per Unit: How to Budget It

Use your own last few turns. List every cost from the move-out inspection to the day the unit was rent-ready, average them by unit type, and add a cushion for the surprises. A national average does not help much because paint, flooring and labor prices vary by city, building age and how long the tenant lived there. Your own invoices are the most accurate source you have.

The lines every make-ready budget needs

Cleaning, including carpet cleaning or steam cleaning.
Paint: labor and materials, with a note for how many rooms.
Flooring touch-ups or replacement.
Plumbing, electrical and small repairs.
Appliance repair or replacement.
Locks, keys and smoke alarm batteries.
Pest treatment if needed.
Trash removal and dumpster fees.
Your own time, if you want to count it.

Split the costs into expected items that occur at nearly every turn (clean, touch-up paint, locks) and unexpected items (a failed water heater, ruined flooring). Budget the first group per unit and the second group as a reserve.

Build the number from your own turns

Pull the invoices for your last five to ten turns, or all of them if you have fewer.
Group them by unit size.
Add the total cost of each turn and divide by the number of turns to get an average.
Note the highest and lowest turn and what caused each.
Set a standard budget equal to the average, and a reserve equal to the gap between the average and the highest turn.

Example a made-up owner has five recent turns of a one-bedroom: $850, $1,100, $720, $1,400 and $930. The total is $5,000, and the average is $1,000. The highest turn, $1,400, was $400 above average because the tenant stayed seven years and the carpet needed replacing. The owner budgets $1,000 per one-bedroom turn and holds a $400 reserve for a long tenancy.

Check: $850 plus $1,100 plus $720 plus $1,400 plus $930 is $5,000, and $5,000 divided by 5 is $1,000.

What pushes a turn above average

Length of tenancy: long stays mean more wear.
Pets and smoking.
Deferred maintenance that the tenant did not report.
Water damage you find only after the unit is empty.
Rushing: paying extra to finish a turn in two days.

Tenant damage beyond normal wear can come out of the deposit within your state's rules, so track it on its own line, apart from the owner's cost.

Add the cost of the empty days

Make-ready cost is only half the picture. Every extra day a unit sits empty is lost rent. Divide the monthly rent by 30 for a rough daily cost, then weigh a faster, pricier vendor against a slower, cheaper one.

Tax treatment in one paragraph

Routine turn costs are generally repairs and maintenance, deducted in the year paid. Replacing a major component, such as new flooring through the whole unit or a new water heater, can be an improvement that you depreciate. IRS Publication 527 describes the test and tells you to keep accurate records. Your tax preparer decides the final treatment.

Ways to keep the number down without cutting corners

Standardize paint colors, filters, locks and fixtures across units, so you buy in bulk and any vendor knows what to bring.
Choose durable finishes in high-wear places, such as vinyl plank in a kitchen instead of carpet.
Do the unit walk-through before the tenant moves out when your state and lease allow, so you can book vendors before the keys come back.
Bundle trades with one vendor when you trust them, so you pay for one trip instead of three.
Fix small things during the tenancy, when a tenant reports them. A $30 faucet washer ignored for a year can become a ruined cabinet base.

Each of these lowers the average turn without lowering the standard. After a few turns, recompute your average and see what moved.

How DoorKeeping handles it

Ask your Claude or ChatGPT, connected to DoorKeeping, to open a work order, send the vendor a job link and read the bill when it arrives. Ask for the total of repairs coded to each unit over the last two years, so you can read your own turn costs straight from the books. Anything that involves money or a legal step waits for your one-tap approval, and DoorKeeping costs $2 per unit per month with every feature included.

Sources

IRS Publication 527, Residential Rental Property, read Oct 30, 2026

Questions

What is a normal make-ready cost?: It depends on your area, unit size and tenant history, so use your own past turns. Any national figure hides large differences.
Should make-ready come out of the security deposit?: Only damage beyond normal wear can usually be deducted, and your state sets the rules and the deadline. Normal turn costs are the owner's.
Is make-ready the same as turnover?: They are used almost interchangeably. Make-ready usually means the work needed to get a vacant unit rent-ready.