Your Property
Memphis average: professionally managed properties turn in 14–21 days. Self-managed properties average 28–45 days due to slower marketing and uncoordinated make-ready scheduling.
Make-Ready Costs (Memphis market defaults)
Defaults reflect a standard Memphis single-family rental. Carpet replacement (not cleaning) runs $600–$1,400 additional. Full exterior paint adds $800–$2,000. Adjust each line to match your actual unit condition and contractor rates.
Leasing Costs (optional)
If you use a property manager, leasing fee is typically one month's rent per placement. Advertising for self-managed: Zillow/Trulia listings run $0–$150/month. Leave at $0 if included in your management agreement.
Annual Scale
A 4-unit portfolio with 25% annual turnover = 1 turnover/year. 50% turnover = 2. High-turnover properties (month-to-month leases, lower-income areas) can run 70%–100%+ annual turnover.
Turnover Cost Breakdown
Why turnover is the most controllable cost in rental property
Most landlords track maintenance costs and property taxes. Very few track turnover costs, which is why they consistently underestimate them. A tenant who moves out costs you a day-one vacancy loss, a make-ready bill, and a leasing fee — but they also cost you the marketing time, the screening time, and the risk of placing the next tenant incorrectly.
In Memphis, a professionally managed property averages 14 to 21 days between tenants. Self-managed properties average 28 to 45 days, primarily because make-ready work is not pre-scheduled, vendors are called after the unit is empty rather than before, and listing photos and marketing go up 5 to 10 days after move-out rather than before it. That gap — 7 to 24 extra days — is pure lost rent at $40/day on a $1,200/month unit.
The retention math
Each additional year a tenant stays is a turnover that does not happen. On a $1,200/month unit with a $2,500 typical turnover cost, retaining a tenant for a second year rather than replacing them saves $2,500 net — or the equivalent of 2.1 months of net operating income. That number grows with rent and with the number of units you own.
What drives turnover in Memphis
The most common causes we see: maintenance requests that go unanswered for more than 72 hours, rent increases that exceed what the tenant considers fair given their experience, and lease renewal offers that arrive too late (less than 60 days before expiration). All three are management decisions, not tenant decisions. Responsive maintenance, market-rate rent increases with notice, and early renewal outreach directly reduce turnover rates.
We pre-schedule make-ready before the tenant moves out.
Vendors are booked, photos are ready, and the listing goes live the day the unit is empty. The Memphis average for Covendell-managed properties is 14 days between tenants. We walk your property and show you what that difference looks like in dollars for your specific units.
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