The Make-Ready Checklist: Turning a Richmond Rental in 10 Days or Less

Quick Answer

A ten-day turn is achievable on most Richmond rentals if the work is sequenced rather than discovered. The key is starting before the tenant leaves: a pre-move-out inspection 30 days ahead tells you what the unit needs, which lets you book trades, order materials and begin marketing while the property is still occupied. Owners who wait until they have keys in hand routinely take three to five weeks, and most of that delay is scheduling, not labor.

Why Speed Is Worth Planning For

Vacancy is the most expensive line item in rental ownership and the least visible, because nothing appears on a bill. If your property carries 2,000 dollars a month, every vacant day costs roughly 66 dollars. Cutting a turn from 28 days to 10 saves about 1,200 dollars, which usually exceeds the entire cost of the make-ready.

The trap is optimizing the wrong variable. Owners who chase the lowest bid on paint and wait three weeks for that contractor’s availability spend more on vacancy than they saved on labor. Speed and cost are not opposites here; delay is a cost.

Phase One: Before the Tenant Leaves

This phase determines whether a ten-day turn is possible. Almost all of it happens while you are still collecting rent.

Thirty days out: the pre-move-out inspection

Schedule a walkthrough with proper notice under Virginia law. You are doing three things at once:

1. Scoping the work. You cannot book trades for work you have not seen. This inspection converts unknowns into a list.
2. Giving the tenant a chance to fix things. A tenant who learns now that the carpet stain and the wall anchors are deposit items often addresses them. This is genuinely better for both parties and reduces disputes materially.
3. Surfacing anything serious early. A failing water heater or an undisclosed pet issue is far better discovered with a month of runway than on turn day.

Document with photographs and give the tenant a written summary of what you observed and what they can address.

Three to four weeks out: book everything

This is the step that separates a ten-day turn from a month-long one. Good Richmond contractors are booked out, especially in the busy late-spring through early-fall stretch. Call them now with your scope and the date you will have access.

• Painter, with specific rooms and a color already decided
• Cleaner, including carpet cleaning if applicable
• Any trade you identified: HVAC service, plumbing, appliance repair
• Flooring, if replacement is needed, including material lead time
• Landscaper for the first cut and cleanup

Two to three weeks out: market it

You do not need a vacant unit to list one. Photograph the occupied property if it presents well, or use the previous set if nothing has changed materially. List with an available date, and begin showings with proper notice while the tenant is still there if your lease permits and the tenant cooperates.

Done well, this means you are signing a lease around the time the make-ready finishes rather than starting your marketing then. This single change often saves two weeks.

Phase Two: Days One Through Ten

Sequence matters, because trades undo each other’s work when run in the wrong order.

The cardinal rule is that cleaning comes after paint. Every owner who has reversed this has paid to clean twice.

What to Actually Spend Money On

Not every turn needs everything. The question is which items affect leasing speed and which are simply spending.

High return

• Cleaning, to an unreasonable standard. Nothing else affects a showing more per dollar. Prospects read a clean unit as a well-managed one.
• Paint where it is visibly tired. Full repaint is not always necessary; walls, trim and ceilings in the rooms that show badly usually are.
• Light fixtures and hardware. Cheap, fast, and they read as updated.
• Curb appeal. Mulch, edging, a clean entry. The showing begins in the driveway.
• Anything a prospect will smell. Pet odor, smoke and mustiness are the fastest way to lose an applicant, and they are not solved with air freshener.

Lower return

• Upgrades beyond the neighborhood standard
• Cosmetic work in spaces prospects barely evaluate, such as unfinished basements and garage interiors
• Replacing appliances that function adequately and look acceptable

Deferred maintenance is a separate category from cosmetics. A ten-year-old water heater in a Richmond rental is not a make-ready decision, it is a capital planning decision, and turnover is the cheapest moment to address it because nobody is inconvenienced.

Richmond-Specific Considerations

• Older housing. In the Fan, Church Hill, Northside and similar areas, homes built before 1978 bring lead-based paint disclosure obligations, and disturbing painted surfaces triggers additional requirements. Know the rules before sanding anything.
• Humidity. A unit that sits closed up through a Central Virginia summer with the HVAC off develops musty odor and sometimes mold. Keep conditioning the space during vacancy; it costs less than remediation.
• Seasonality. Turning a property in December means competing for a smaller renter pool. If you can influence lease end dates, steering them toward spring and summer is worth more than most make-ready savings.
• Crawl spaces. Common in the region and easy to skip. Turnover is the right time to actually look, because a moisture problem found now is cheaper than one found in eighteen months.

Deposit Accounting

Virginia sets a deadline for returning the security deposit with an itemized statement of deductions after the tenancy ends. Two practical points:

• Normal wear and tear is not deductible. Faded paint after three years is wear. A hole in the wall is damage. The distinction matters and is regularly litigated.
• Your move-in documentation is the evidence. Without a dated, photographed move-in condition report, establishing that damage was not pre-existing is difficult. This is why the move-in inspection is really a move-out tool.

Keep receipts for every deduction and provide the itemization within the statutory window.

The Vendor Bench Is the Whole Secret

Everything above depends on trades who answer the phone and show up on the date they promised. Owners who turn properties in ten days are not working faster; they are working with people they have already established relationships with.

Building that bench takes a season and pays for years.

• Find two of each trade, not one. A single painter who is unavailable in August is a two-week delay. Redundancy is the point.
• Pay promptly. This is the cheapest competitive advantage available to a small owner. Contractors prioritize clients who pay on time, and in a busy Richmond season that priority is worth more than a negotiated discount.
• Give them predictable work. A vendor who gets four turns a year from you will fit you in. One who hears from you once every three years will not.
• Be specific about scope. A clear written scope with a walkthrough prevents the change orders and delays that come from assumptions.
• Verify licensing and insurance, and keep certificates current. A contractor without coverage working on your property is a risk you are absorbing.

Owners managing a single property from out of state face the hardest version of this problem, because they cannot build relationships by showing up. That is often the point at which professional management stops being a cost and starts being the thing that makes a ten-day turn possible at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I show a property while the current tenant is still living there?

Generally yes, with proper notice under Virginia law and subject to your lease terms. Cooperative tenants make this easy, and a modest incentive is often worth offering. A tenant who refuses reasonable access is a separate conversation.

How long should a make-ready actually take?

A well-maintained property with a good tenant frequently needs only clean, paint touch-up and landscaping, which is three to five days. Ten days covers a normal turn with real repairs. Anything beyond two weeks usually signals deferred maintenance catching up.

Should I replace carpet at every turnover?

No. Professional cleaning extends carpet life considerably. Replace when it is stained beyond cleaning, worn through, or holding odor. Many owners moving to hard-surface flooring find the higher upfront cost pays back across several turns.

Can I charge the tenant for painting?

Only for damage beyond normal wear, not for routine repainting between tenancies. Deducting standard repaint from a deposit is a common and losing position.

What if the tenant leaves belongings behind?

Virginia has specific procedures for abandoned property, including notice requirements. Do not simply dispose of items; follow the process.

Is it worth hiring a make-ready coordinator?

For owners with more than a couple of properties, or anyone managing from out of the area, the coordination is most of the value. The trades are not the hard part; sequencing them and holding them to dates is.

Should I raise the rent at turnover?

Turnover is when you reset to market, so price against current closed-lease comparables rather than against your old rent. Just remember that overpricing costs vacancy days, which is exactly what this whole process is trying to save.

Talk to Mission Realty

We run turns across Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover on a standing vendor bench, which is why our turns tend to be measured in days rather than weeks. Download our free make-ready checklist, learn about our property management services, request a free rental analysis, or contact us to talk about your property.