How fast are your turnovers?

[Timothy VanWingerden]

I'm curious how quickly you all are able to turn a unit. I purchased 2 quadplexes last year and since then I have had 4 turnovers. Being my first investment property, with every turnover I faced new challenges that I haven't ever before dealt with; all of them felt a bit outside of the norm. 

Turnover 1: Complete rehab. (Time vacant: 10 weeks)  

This one took the longest as it was my first ever rehab and the contractor process was entirely new to me. 

Turnover 2: Vacant in Nov (Time vacant: 8 weeks)

With the holidays, I had a really hard time getting this one rented out. I had a couple people submit applications but they didn't qualify.

Turnover 3: Eviction (Time vacant: 8 weeks)

The eviction experience actually wasn't as bad as I imagined. Although it was pretty terrible to lose all of the unpaid rent and then deal with 8 weeks of vacancy. 

Turnover 4: Kitchen rehab (Time vacant: 8 weeks)

The mistake I made here was not look at the unit until after the tenants moved out. Then I realized the cabinets HAD to be replaced (no paint job would take care of them). This pushed everything out by 3 weeks leading to yet another 8 week vacancy. 

Vacancy Rate Quadplex 1: 18 weeks/(52*4) = 8.6%

Vacancy Rate Quadplex 2: 16 weeks/(52*4)= 7.7%

I budgeted for a 9-10% vacancy (the only line item that stayed within my budget, ha), but I still feel that this is longer than it should be. 

What steps do you take to make your turnovers quicker? 

Here are a couple of steps I'm planning to take: 

1) Rent the unit a bit lower than market to attract a larger pool of tenants. 

2) Inspect the unit prior to move out and determine a SOW. If cabinets need replacing, get measured and ordered so they are ready by the time the tenant moves out.