Baltimore turnover photos: the 20-minute checklist that ends deposit disputes

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Baltimore turnover photos: the 20-minute checklist that ends deposit disputes

Dawon Irvin
Contractor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2019 · 67 posts · 3 votes

Every Baltimore turnover I touch gets the same 20-minute photo routine — before the trash-out starts, and again after the unit is rent-ready. Contractors get paid with progress photos, deposit disputes with condition photos. Here's the exact checklist.

[b]1. Before anything moves: shoot the "as-left" set.[/b]

Same day you get the keys back. Every room, wide-angle, four corners. [b]The money shot is what the tenant left behind — every hole, burn mark, and busted door, timestamped before you touch anything.[/b] Open every closet, cabinet, fridge, and oven. Dated, geo-tagged photos are your evidence packet.

[b]2. Mid-rehab: the contractor progress set.[/b]

If a crew is inside, I photograph the panel, plumbing, and flooring stages — not for the portfolio, for the paper trail. [b]Progress photos are how you settle "that wasn't in the bid" without a shouting match.[/b] Before drywall closes, shoot every wall with visible wiring, plumbing, and framing. That set has ended more disputes than any contract clause.

[b]3. After rent-ready: the move-in set, stored off your phone.[/b]

Clean unit, same four-corners routine, plus close-ups of every appliance serial plate and every window latch. [b]Photos that live only on your phone vanish with your phone — back them to cloud storage the same day, lease dates in the folder name.[/b] Two leases later, the folder remembers what the bathroom looked like.

[b]Comps.[/b] Quick look at the numbers around it: Belair-Edison (21213).

As-is/distressed: 3140 Ravenwood Ave sold $80,000 (Jan 2025, strictly as-is); 3235 Lyndale Ave sold $80,000 (~Jan 2025, auction); 3122 Cliftmont Ave sold $85,000 (Feb 2026, REO). That puts as-is value roughly $80–$85K, most likely around $80K.

Renovated: 2901 Edison Hwy sold $275,000 (Feb 2026, $80K flip in ~7 months); 3505 Erdman Ave sold $260,000 (Sep 2025, documented reno); 2307 Belair Rd sold $185,000 (~Feb 2025, MLS "excellent") — so a renovated range of $185–$275K.

Caveats: two comps are ~20 months old; the Edison Hwy reno is inferred from the flip pattern; Lyndale's date rests on one source; corridor-level, not block-matched. Nothing invented — all cross-checked against MLS and deed records this week.

At $80K in and $185–$275K out, you're documenting six figures of value creation. Protect the back end with the as-left photos as hard as the rehab protects the front.

What photo has saved you the most money in a turnover or a rehab — the one you almost didn't take?

— Dawon | Baltimore, MD

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  • Harrison C.
    Member since 2017 · 81 posts · 39 votes
    1mo

    Dawon, the shot I'd almost skip is the shared kitchen and bathroom, taken the day each new person moves in. I rent by the room, so a stove with grease on it or a bathroom with a cracked towel bar belongs to nobody by default, and at move-out every housemate swears it was like that before. A dated set of the common areas, signed off by the new person at move-in, settles it in about two minutes.

    Second one: the inside of the oven and the fridge shelves. Those are what actually get argued over at the deposit.

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  • Richard (Ryszard) Cieplechowicz
    Member since 2026 · 149 posts · 42 votes
    1mo

    Good routine. One thing I'd add is keeping the original files with their date and time data, not screenshots or edited copies. Those hold up better when a deposit dispute lands in front of someone who wasn't there. If your lease allows it, have the tenant sign the move-in condition sheet and reference the photo set by date on it. Then the photos and the paperwork back each other up.

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  • Matthew Tregoning
    Property Manager · Melbourne, FL · Member since 2019 · 551 posts · 188 votes
    1mo

    A close-up of a broken chair is a lot more useful with a wider shot showing which room it was in. Same with a stained mattress under otherwise clean bedding. I'd rather have five clear, easy-to-match photos than fifty close-ups nobody can place.

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  • Leo SteinBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Orange County, CA · Member since 2025 · 285 posts · 64 votes
    1mo

    The as-left set before anything is touched is the part most owners skip. In California the deposit itemization rules are strict, so I'd also add move-in photos from the same angles to compare against. Same-room, same-angle pairs settle most disputes without anyone arguing, though a local attorney can speak to your state's specifics.

    [email protected]949-391-1019
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  • Jim Johnson
    Real Estate Agent · Memphis · Member since 2026 · 619 posts · 357 votes
    1mo

    Close-up photos of damage before the cleanup crew touches anything would be my pick, especially flooring damage or holes in doors. Those are the details that can get overlooked in wide-angle shots, and they're much harder to document once repairs have started. Having that before photo makes a big difference when a damage charge gets questioned.

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  • Dawon Irvin
    OP
    Contractor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2019 · 67 posts · 3 votes
    3d

    Good point, Harrison — with rent-by-the-room, the shared spaces are where the arguments start. A dated set the day each new person moves in, signed off by that person, is exactly the kind of two-minute fix that saves a long dispute later. I put the oven, fridge shelves, and bathroom fixtures on that move-in set every time, because those are the items people remember differently a year later. Do you have each new roommate sign the same shared-space set, or do you run a fresh set for every move-in?

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  • Dawon Irvin
    OP
    Contractor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2019 · 67 posts · 3 votes
    3d

    Good point, Richard — screenshots strip exactly the proof you need later. I keep the original files, with their date and time data intact, and I store the move-in set off the phone so it can't be lost with a device. I also have the tenant sign a move-in condition sheet that references the photo set by date, so the photos and the paperwork point to each other. Do you keep the originals in a shared folder the tenant can see, or do you hold them and share them only if a dispute comes up?

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  • Dawon Irvin
    OP
    Contractor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2019 · 67 posts · 3 votes
    3d

    Good point, Matthew — a close-up without context is almost useless in a dispute. I pair every close-up with a wider shot from the doorway, so the room, the wall, and the item are all in the same set. Five clear photos a reader can place beat fifty close-ups nobody can match to a room. Do you label your pairs by room as you shoot, or do you sort them into rooms afterward?

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  • Dawon Irvin
    OP
    Contractor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2019 · 67 posts · 3 votes
    3d

    Good point, Leo — the as-left set is the one most owners skip, and it's the one that matters most. I shoot the same four corners and the same angles at move-in that I shot at move-out, so the before and after pair up room by room. That same-room, same-angle comparison is what settles a dispute without an argument about what changed. Do you send the move-in set to the tenant right away, or do you keep it on file until move-out?

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  • Dawon Irvin
    OP
    Contractor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2019 · 67 posts · 3 votes
    3d

    Good point, Jim — damage photos have to come before the cleanup crew, not after. Once flooring is patched or a door is replaced, the before photo is the only record of what was actually wrong. I make a point of shooting flooring damage and holes in doors from both the close-up and the doorway, before anything is touched. Do you also photograph the room after the repair, so the before and after sit side by side in the file?

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  • Dawon Irvin
    OP
    Contractor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2019 · 67 posts · 3 votes
    3d

    Harrison, you are right that the shared kitchen and bathroom are the shots people almost skip. In a Baltimore rowhouse with multiple tenants, a wide shot of the shared kitchen on the day each new person moves in, plus close-ups inside the oven and on the fridge shelves, settles most arguments before they start. I shoot those shared areas at each move-in, not just at a full turnover, because a new housemate changes the baseline. Do you re-shoot the shared areas every time one housemate changes, or only at a full turnover?

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  • Randy Schell
    Member since 2026 · 287 posts · 43 votes
    20h

    One thing that helped me is a short walk with the tenant a week or two before move out, so little fixes can happen before the as left photos. I keep a free pre move out walk note here if useful: https://www.bunklow.com/guides/the-pre-move-out-walk

    Randy, Bunklow

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