Comprehensive Guide
Learn more in our Investing Guide.
How it works
Tenant turnover cost is everything consumed moving one household out and another in — make-ready work, re-keying, marketing, and the rent that stops arriving while the unit sits empty — and it is the expense line most rookie landlords pretend does not exist until the third vacate notice. Evictions multiply the pain: legal fees plus filing plus eight or more additional weeks of zero collection, routinely reaching five figures on top of the turnover itself. Neither cost arrives evenly, which is why annualizing them matters. This calculator multiplies your expected turnovers per year by the all-in per-turn cost, layers on probability-weighted eviction expense, and divides by twelve to produce a level monthly reserve per unit. At half a turnover annually on $1,650 rent, ordinary turns alone cost about $3,320; a 3% chance of eviction adds roughly $190 more of expected annual loss — about 18% of rent in total that must be survived, not merely hoped away. Screening reduces the odds; retention reduces the frequency; the reserve absorbs what both miss. Landlords who fund this line stop making panic decisions at renewal time, which is precisely when bad decisions are most expensive.Formula
Annual = turnovers × (make-ready + weekly rent × vacant weeks) + eviction odds × (legal + weekly rent × 8) | Monthly reserve = annual ÷ 12
Tips
- Renewal offers beat turnovers: keeping a good tenant is always cheaper than replacing one.
- Track actual make-ready invoices per unit; averages drift upward silently.
- List vacant units before the old tenant leaves — marketing during notice cuts empty weeks.
- Strong screening is the cheapest eviction prevention that exists; verify income and history.
- Fund the reserve per door and let it build; a portfolio's first eviction draws on every unit's pot.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the average tenant turnover cost a landlord?
Make-ready plus downtime. On $1,650 rent with a $1,800 refresh and four empty weeks, one turn runs about $3,320 — two weeks of lost rent plus the work. Higher-end units with longer marketing windows and heavier refreshes routinely double that, which is why turnover is called the silent profit killer.
How expensive is an eviction beyond lost rent?
Legal fees, filing costs and court time typically run $3,000–$5,000 before counting eight-plus extra weeks of non-payment — on $1,650 rent that pushes an eviction past $11,000 all-in. And outcomes still require a make-ready afterward. Probability-weighted, even a 3% annual risk adds meaningful expected cost worth reserving for.
How many weeks does a turnover usually take?
Well-prepared landlords turn units in two to three weeks; unprepared ones stretch six to ten. The difference is process, not luck: pre-listed marketing, standing contractor relationships, and make-ready scopes decided before move-out. Every avoided week on $1,650 rent is $380 of preserved cash flow.
Is it cheaper to renew a tenant or find a new one?
Almost always renew, even with a modest increase forgone. A $50 monthly concession costs $600; a turnover at this profile costs $3,300-plus plus risk. Renewal economics favor generosity up to roughly one-third of a turnover's cost — worth remembering the next time a good tenant asks for a break.
How much should I budget annually for vacancies?
Expectation math, not worst case: this setup annualizes to about $3,510 per unit — 17.7% of rent — combining half a turnover with weighted eviction risk. Set the reserve monthly and let unspent balances accumulate; years without turns bank the fund that absorbs the year a perfect tenant buys a house.