How to build a unit turn board and track days vacant
A unit turn board is one list of every unit that is empty or about to be, showing its stage (notice given, move-out, make-ready, ready to show, leased), the person responsible for the next step and the number of days it has been vacant. The days-vacant counter is the number that matters, because each day an apartment sits empty costs you about one day of rent. Review the board once a day and it stays short.
Why a board and not just a checklist
A make-ready checklist tells you what to do inside one unit. A board tells you which of your units needs attention today. With three units turning at once, the checklist is not the problem. The problem is that the painter is waiting on the cleaner, the cleaner is waiting on the carpet, and nobody has looked at the lease date in nine days.
The board puts every turn in one view, in order of how long it has been waiting. It answers four questions: what is the unit's stage, who has the next step, when is that step due, and how many days has the unit been empty.
The stages to put on the board
Keep the stages few and in the order they happen. Six is plenty for most owners.
- Notice received. The tenant has given notice, or you have. The move-out date is known and the unit is still occupied.
- Moved out. The keys are back, the move-out walk-through is done and the deposit work can start.
- Make-ready. Repairs, paint, flooring and cleaning are being done. Each job is a work order with a vendor and a date.
- Ready to show. The unit is clean and photographed and can be shown or listed.
- Application or lease out. A tenant has been chosen and the lease is out for signature.
- Leased. A signed lease has a move-in date. The unit leaves the board on move-in day.
A unit enters the board at "notice received", not at move-out. The weeks before move-out are the cheapest time to line up painters and flooring, and to start showing it.
The numbers worth tracking
- Days vacant for each unit, counted from the day the previous tenant moved out to the day the next tenant's lease starts.
- Days in make-ready, counted from move-out to ready to show. This one tells you whether your vendors are the bottleneck.
- Days to lease, counted from ready to show to a signed lease. This one tells you whether the price or the marketing is the problem.
- Turn cost per unit, so you can see which units are expensive to flip and why.
Splitting the vacancy into make-ready days and days to lease shows you where to fix things. A unit that is ready in 3 days and leased in 40 has a pricing or marketing problem. A unit that takes 20 days to get ready and leases in 4 has a vendor problem.
Example a made-up unit rents for $1,500 a month, or about $50 a day over a 30 day month. It sits empty for 21 days, 12 of them waiting for carpet and paint and 9 waiting for a tenant. The vacancy cost is 21 x $50 = $1,050. If a second vendor had cut the make-ready from 12 days to 5, the unit would have been empty for 14 days, and the cost would have been 14 x $50 = $700, a difference of $350 on one unit.
Where the costs go in your books
Turn costs are mostly repairs, cleaning and supplies, and they go on the same Schedule E lines as other repairs. A large job such as replacing flooring throughout may be an improvement that is depreciated instead of deducted at once. Keep the invoice and ask your tax preparer. The IRS explains how costs of rental property are treated in Publication 527, including expenses while a property is vacant but held for rent.
Deposit deductions are a separate step. Anything you keep from the tenant's deposit has to match the move-out walk-through and your state's rules on itemized lists and deadlines. Record the deposit decision on the same unit record as the turn.
Habits that keep the board short
- Review it every morning for two minutes. Anything that has not moved in three days gets a call.
- Give every make-ready job a due date, not just an owner.
- Keep two vendors for each trade, so one missed appointment does not stall a unit.
- Photograph the unit at move-out and again when ready. The pictures settle deposit questions and become the listing photos.
- Look at the average days vacant each quarter. If it is climbing, look at make-ready days and days to lease separately.
How DoorKeeping handles it
DoorKeeping keeps the turn board for you. When a notice or non-renewal is recorded, the unit appears on the board with its move-out date. Each make-ready job is a work order with a vendor job link, so the painter and the cleaner see their own task and mark it done. Days vacant and days in make-ready count up on their own.
You can ask Claude or ChatGPT "which units are vacant, how many days each, and what is holding them up", and the answer is built from the board. Anything that spends money, such as a vendor invoice, waits for your one-tap approval. Rent and payments stay in your own bank accounts. DoorKeeping never holds your money and sends a payment only when you approve it. Pricing is $2 per unit a month with every feature included.
Sources
Questions
- How do you calculate days vacant?
- Count the days from the day the previous tenant moved out to the day the new lease starts. Some owners count to the day the new tenant moves in; pick one and use it every time.
- What is a good number of days vacant?
- It depends on your market and season, so compare each unit with your own past turns rather than with a national figure. Look at make-ready days and days to lease separately.
- When should a unit go on the turn board?
- As soon as notice is given or a non-renewal is decided, not at move-out. The weeks before move-out are when you line up vendors and start showing the unit.
- Are turn costs deductible?
- Repairs, cleaning and supplies are generally deducted in the year paid. Larger jobs may be improvements that are depreciated. Your tax preparer decides the final treatment.