Cost Guide
Why Do Apartment Turnover Quotes Vary So Much?
By All Purpose Anytime Services LLC
Because most turnover quotes are not quoting the same job. One includes the floor, one assumes touch-ups, one leaves the punch list for you. Line them up and the spread usually explains itself.
How wide the spread gets
Published rates show why. A small drywall hole costs $20 to $120 inside a bigger job, but $300 to $500 as its own job because of minimum fees. A room in Washington, DC runs anywhere from $436 to $1,742 to paint. Same work, different scope.
Sources: Angi, drywall repair (Sept. 2026); HomeGuide, drywall repair; Angi, Washington DC room painting (Jul. 2026).
The real reason
A turnover is ten small jobs in one unit. A quote that lists one number on one line lets each contractor decide quietly which of those ten jobs they are pricing. That is where the spread comes from.
This is one question in our apartment turnover cost guide, which covers the whole unit.
Four questions that make quotes comparable
- Is it a touch-up or a full repaint, and does it include ceilings, doors and trim?
- Which flooring is being repaired and which is being replaced?
- Who closes the punch list, and is it in the price?
- What is the ready date, and what happens if the scope changes?
What we do instead
Every unit gets a written scope, item by item, with one price for the whole list. If something changes once work starts, we stop, tell you, and price the change before we go further.
Get a quote you can compare
Send the unit and we will walk it and send the written scope. Put it next to the others.
Get the Price for Your Unit
Free walkthrough. Written scope and price per unit. Nothing starts until you approve it.