To bid apartment turnover work that pays, follow three rules. Never price a unit you haven't walked or seen in photos. Split your number into a fixed base turn plus priced add-ons. Put your exclusions in writing before anyone signs. Contractors who lose money on make-readies rarely lose it on their labor rate. They lose it on scope nobody wrote down.
I learned this by doing it. I ran a property maintenance company in London that worked for housing associations and letting agents, with a network of subs doing the work. That's a different country with different rules, but the problem is the same. A tenant moves out, the manager wants the unit back on the market yesterday, and you get a one-line request: 'Turn unit 4B.' That one line has eaten more margin than any bad sub ever did.
Why make-readies lose contractors money
Turnover work looks easy. Paint, clean, a few repairs, hand the keys back. The catch is that every unit is a surprise until you open the door.
The manager doesn't know what's inside either. They're working from a ten-minute move-out inspection, or from nothing at all. So when you agree to a flat number based on the request, you're taking on their risk for free.
Then the move-in date squeezes you. Say you find a leak under the sink on day two. You either eat the cost to hit the date or you make an awkward phone call. Most contractors eat it. Do that once and you'll survive. Do it on every unit and the business stops working.
Here's the part people hate hearing: the cheapest turnover bid usually wins the first job and loses the account. The contractor who prices properly and hits the date keeps the work.
Walk the unit before you price it
No walk, no fixed price. If you take one rule from this post, take that one.
What to check on the walk
Go room by room in the same order every time, and photograph everything. This is the list I'd give my own team:
- Walls and ceilings. Does the unit need touch-up or a full repaint? Look for nail holes, scuffs, patches and crayon. Smoke or water stains need a stain-blocking primer first, and that's a bigger job than touch-up.
- Flooring. Check for carpet stains and odor, lifted vinyl plank and damaged baseboards. If you can, lift a corner of the carpet, because what's underneath matters.
- Kitchen. Look at cabinet doors and hinges, countertop damage and leaks under the sink. Open the oven and the fridge.
- Bathrooms. Check caulk, grout, a running toilet, slow drains and the exhaust fan.
- Doors, windows and blinds. Look for closet doors off their tracks, broken blinds, torn screens, and locks and keys.
- Fixtures and safety items. Check bulbs, cover plates, smoke and CO alarms and the HVAC filter. Flag anything that needs a licensed trade.
- The clean. Decide whether it's a light clean or a heavy one, and whether there's trash to haul out.
Take wide shots and close-ups. Those photos protect you when someone says later that the damage wasn't there.
If you can't walk it
Sometimes the manager won't give you access before awarding the job. Then ask for photos of every room, including inside the oven, under the kitchen sink and every floor. Ask for the unit size and the move-out inspection too.
If you can't get photos either, you don't give a fixed price. Give a base number marked 'subject to walk' and price the add-ons once you've seen the unit.
How to structure the bid
One big number hides your thinking and makes every surprise your problem. Break the bid into layers.
The base turn
The base turn is your standard package for a unit of that size in average condition. It covers paint touch-up, the clean, bulbs, filters, an alarm check, minor caulking and tightening hardware. Define average condition in writing, for example a set number of wall patches per room.
Price the base turn per unit by bedroom count. Managers like predictable numbers, and predictable numbers are how you get repeat volume.
Priced add-ons
Everything outside the base goes on its own line with its own price. That means a full room repaint, carpet cleaning or replacement, a new cabinet door, a heavy clean, a trash haul-out and new blinds per window.
Send this add-on sheet with every bid. When the manager already knows what a replacement blind costs, approving one takes a text, not a meeting.
Change orders and exclusions
Agree up front how surprises get handled. Anything you find that isn't in the scope gets photographed, priced and sent for approval before you touch it. That approval is the manager's decision, not yours. Don't do extra work on a nod and hope to bill it later, because you won't get paid.
Then list what you're not doing. Typical exclusions are appliance repair, pest control, anything behind the walls, and mold beyond surface cleaning. Licensed electrical, plumbing or HVAC work is excluded too, unless you hold the license or sub it to someone who does. Exclusions stop a make-ready from turning into a renovation at make-ready money.
Price your time, not just your materials
Turnover work bleeds money in the gaps between jobs, so put a price on those gaps.
- Return trips. Keys aren't at the office, the utilities are off, the carpet installer is late. Set a trip charge for access failures that aren't your fault.
- Punch list returns. Include one walk-through and one return visit in the base turn. Bill anything after that.
- Rush turns. Your crew drops other work to do a rush job, so your rate should say so.
- Paint. Agree whether you supply it or the property supplies its standard color. If owner-supplied paint runs out mid-job, your crew sits idle.
- Payment terms. Know them before you take on ten units, because you're funding the labor until the manager pays.
Here's an illustrative example, not a real job. The request says 'two-bed, paint and clean.' On the walk you find pet stains in a bedroom carpet, a closet door off its track and a slow bathroom drain. Your base turn covers the touch-up and the clean. The door, the drain and the carpet each go on their own lines. The manager approves the door and the drain and holds the carpet for their flooring vendor. You haven't absorbed anything, and they can see exactly where their money went.
The unit and the crew are the same either way. One bid makes money and the other one doesn't.
The US rules that touch turnover work
Check two things before you bid.
Licensing. Each state sets its own contractor licensing, and some cities and counties add their own rules on top. What needs a license varies a lot. Plumbing, electrical and HVAC almost always need a licensed trade. Get your answer from your state licensing board, not a forum.
Lead paint. In housing built before 1978, the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule can apply to work that disturbs painted surfaces, including sanding and patching. That means certified firms and lead-safe work practices. Ask the manager for the build year of every property before you sand anything.
Some cities also require permits for certain repairs. If you're unsure, call the local building department. I'm not giving legal advice here, just telling you what to check.
Where Plan@Job fits
Plan@Job is AI-powered project and operations management for construction and property businesses. In Plan@Job you're the Operator: the contractor business that manages clients, delivery, subs and its own crew.
Turnover problems start with the brief, so that's where we start too. Sophie Bennett, our AI Enquiries Coordinator, checks an existing job brief for missing information, like the unit size or room photos, and asks the client for it. If two attempts don't get an answer, she hands it to a person. The goal is that a turnover job is scoped and photographed before you price it, so your bid matches the work.
Once you win a job, you can split it into internal stages in the project plan. Paint, flooring and the clean each get their own scope, dates, status and costs, whether your crew or a sub does the work. The client sees the agreed scope, the price and any evidence you share. Your stage costs and the names of your subs stay internal.
Daniel Reed, our AI Operations Manager, follows up on quotes and proposed dates and sends you a morning brief. Maya Collins, our AI Finance Coordinator, prepares deposit and overdue payment actions for you to approve. None of them set prices or award work. You do. You can read more about the AI staff here.
To be straight about availability: Plan@Job is live in the UK right now. If you're a US contractor, you can join the waitlist on the US contractors page.
FAQ
Should I bid apartment turnovers per unit or per hour?
Bid the base turn per unit, by bedroom count. Managers want predictable numbers and you want repeat volume. Price add-ons and change orders by the line item, because you don't know that scope until you see it.
What do I do when I find damage after the bid is signed?
Stop, photograph it, price it and send it for approval before you touch it. If your bid already explains how surprises get handled, the manager can give you a quick yes or no. If it doesn't, you'll probably end up paying for it yourself, so fix your bid template before the next unit.
Can I sub out apartment turnover work?
Yes. Plenty of turnover contractors use subs for paint, flooring and cleaning. You still own the quality and the date, so walk every finished unit yourself. Check that your subs hold any license the work needs.