Rental Turnover Checklist for Landlords

Before anyone picks up a tool, do a full visual inspection, room by room, and photograph the condition of every wall, floor, door, fixture and appliance. Take wide shots of each room plus close-ups of every hole, stain, burn, crack or missing part. Open the oven, the fridge, the dishwasher and every cabinet and closet.

These move-out photos do two jobs. They give you a clear record of what the last tenant left behind, which matters if there is any question about the security deposit, and they become the baseline for your repair list. If you manage properties for owners, the same photos let you show the owner exactly why each repair is needed without them driving out to see it.

Go through the photos and write down every item that needs attention, grouped by trade: drywall, paint, doors and locks, fixtures, plumbing, flooring, cleaning and hauling. Then put a labor and materials estimate next to it. This is the step most landlords skip, and it is the one that prevents the job from growing a little bit every day.

A written list also lets you plan the sequence. Junk removal goes first, repairs next, paint after repairs, flooring after paint, and deep cleaning last. When one crew handles the whole list, you avoid the classic turnover delay where the painter is waiting on the drywall guy who is waiting on the haul-away.

Abandoned furniture, mattresses, old appliances, bags of trash, boxes in the garage and odds and ends in closets all have to go before real work can start. Check the attic access, the storage areas, the patio and the side yard too, since that is where leftover items like to hide.

Disposal should follow local rules, and some materials such as paint cans, chemicals and certain batteries need special handling. Once the unit is empty, you can finally see the true condition of the floors and walls, which sometimes adds a few items to the repair list.

Walls take the most abuse during a lease. Look for nail and anchor holes from pictures and TV mounts, doorknob dents behind doors, cracks, scuffs, and water stains on ceilings. Patch holes, replace damaged sections, and match the texture so the repair disappears under paint.

Then paint. Depending on the condition, that might be touch-ups on clean walls or a full repaint between leases. Do not forget ceilings, doors, door frames, baseboards, trim and closet interiors. Prime any stains first so they do not bleed through. A tip that saves time on future turns: keep the same wall color and sheen in every unit you own and write the paint details down. Touch-ups then blend in instead of leaving patchy spots.

Rekey or replace the locks between every tenant. You do not know how many copies of the old key exist. This is also a good time to consider a smart lock or a new deadbolt if the current hardware is worn.

Open and close every interior and exterior door. Adjust doors that stick or will not latch, tighten loose hinges and knobs, replace damaged knobs, and add door stops where the handle has been hitting the wall. Check window locks and screens, replace worn weatherstripping and door sweeps, and fix or replace broken blinds.

Flip every switch and test every outlet with a simple plug-in tester. Replace burned-out bulbs, cracked switch plates and outlet covers, and any light fixture or ceiling fan that is damaged or missing parts. Note any outlet that does not work, any breaker that keeps tripping, or any sign of heat or scorching.

Test every smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector and replace the batteries. Replace units that are missing, damaged or past their service life. Basic fixture swaps are handyman work, but anything involving circuits, panels or new wiring is regulated in Georgia and should go to a licensed electrician. A good turnover crew will tell you when an item crosses that line instead of guessing.

Run every faucet, hot and cold, and look underneath the sinks for drips, stains or soft cabinet bottoms. Flush every toilet, listen for running, and check that the base does not rock. Test the garbage disposal, run the dishwasher briefly, and check the shower and tub for slow drains.

Common make-ready fixes include replacing leaky faucets, toilet flappers and fill valves, showerheads, supply lines and worn caulk around tubs and showers. Small accessible leaks are quick to handle while the unit is empty. Larger plumbing work that needs a license or a permit should go to a licensed plumber.

Walk every floor. Look for scratched or lifted laminate and LVP planks, loose or cracked tiles, missing grout, broken transitions between rooms, and baseboards pulled away from the wall. Replacing a few damaged planks or tiles and regrouting a bathroom floor is usually far less than a full floor replacement, and it photographs just as well for the listing.

If carpet needs to come out, plan for the haul-away and make sure the subfloor is clean and dry before anything new goes down.

The move-out cleaning checklist is long because tenants notice everything. In the kitchen: inside and outside of cabinets, oven, stovetop, fridge, microwave, dishwasher, backsplash, counters and sink, with all grease removed. In the bathrooms: toilets disinfected, tubs and showers scrubbed, soap scum and hard water buildup removed, mirrors, cabinets, tile and glass doors cleaned.

Then the whole house: floors cleaned, carpets vacuumed, baseboards, doors and frames wiped, switches and outlet covers cleaned, light fixtures and ceiling fan blades dusted, accessible windows and window tracks cleaned, closets and an empty garage swept out. Cleaning goes last because every earlier step leaves dust behind.

Walk the unit one last time with the original repair list in hand and check off every item. Test the doors, locks and fixtures again. Then take a full set of after photos from the same angles as the move-out photos. You now have a clean before and after record for the file, and the unit is ready for listing photos and showings.

If you work with a property manager or own several rentals, ask your turnover crew for these photos as standard. It is the simplest way to know the job was done right without driving out to check.

Solve Handyman handles the full make-ready list in one crew: inspection with photos, repairs, paint, doors and locks, fixtures, plumbing checks, flooring, deep cleaning and junk removal. We are family-owned and insured, estimates are free, there is no trip fee, and same-day service is available. If something is not right, we redo it at no cost. We speak English, Portuguese and Spanish.

Call or text (770) 744-7051 or request a free estimate, and tell us when the keys come back.