The most expensive part of a Baltimore rental isn't the rent you lose. It's the turnover between tenants.

Landlords budget for a week of paint. Then the walkthrough happens and the week becomes six.

**Budget the trash-out before you touch anything else.** A standard 2BR rowhouse trash-out — furniture, mattresses, bagged trash, basement debris — runs $500–$1,500 depending on how much is in there. Eviction cleanouts start higher and there's no ceiling. This is the line item that never shrinks once you price it honestly.

**Paint is the cheapest thing that looks like the most.** Full interior repaint on a 2BR: roughly $1,200–$2,500. Then the punchlist — outlets, locks, smoke and CO detectors, toilet guts, blinds — adds a few hundred to a grand. **The punchlist is where turnovers die.** Walk out saying "it's fine" and the next visit finds the thing that failed.

**Time is a cost driver too.** Every week the unit sits empty, you're carrying utilities, insurance, and taxes. The fastest way to cut that number is handing over a unit the next tenant says yes to immediately.

Real number from this week: I put together a bid — carpet cleaning plus a full furniture move-out and move-back on a 3,000 sq ft property — at $995 all-in. That's a bid, not a finished job. But it's the shape of real turnover work: labor-heavy, priced higher than most people guess.

**Comps.** Quick look at the numbers around it:

As-is shells in West Baltimore: 22 Wheeler Ave, 21223 — sold $20,000 (Aug 2025), shell condition, sold as-is. 3708 Old Frederick Rd, 21229 — sold $17,500 (Sep 2025), auctioned townhouse shell. 605 N Loudon Ave, 21229 — sold $45,000 (Jan 2026), HUD-owned, sold as-is. That puts as-is value roughly $17,500–$45,000, most likely around $20,000–$25,000 for a true shell.

Renovated: 148 S Hilton St, 21229 — sold $170,000 (Sep 2025), fully renovated 3BR. 3922 Woodridge Rd, 21229 — sold $225,000 (Sep 2025), flipper renovation. 3229 Kingsley St, 21229 — sold $265,000 (Sep 2025), renovated and move-in ready — so a renovated range of $170,000–$265,000.

Honesty gap: no same-block renovated rowhouse comp found for the 21223 shells, and the top-end 21229 sale is a single-family home, so its number may not translate one-to-one to a rowhouse.

The gap between those two ranges is the entire turnover conversation: buy right, turn fast, or the spread walks away from you.

What's a full tenant turnover cost you in Baltimore right now — and where did your last one surprise you?

— Dawon | Baltimore, MD