An apartment turn in senior living runs in five stages: inspect and photograph on move-out day with a target ready date, complete repairs and test every safety system, deep clean, make the changes agreed for the next resident, and do a readiness walk two days before move-in. The apartment is ready only when someone other than the person who did the work has walked it.
The apartment is the first thing a family judges on move-in day, and the turn is one of the few parts of vacancy your own team controls. Most slips are not about the work itself. They come from nobody owning the ready date, or nobody walking the apartment before the family does.
The checklist, stage by stage
Move-out day
| Task | Owner |
|---|---|
| Walk the apartment with the move-out checklist and photograph its condition. | Maintenance |
| Collect keys, fobs and any community equipment. | Business office |
| List every repair, paint and flooring item, with an estimate and a target date. | Maintenance |
| Tell sales and the move-in owner the target ready date. | Maintenance |
Repairs and refresh
| Task | Owner |
|---|---|
| Complete repairs, paint and flooring in the order that keeps the apartment usable soonest. | Maintenance or contractors |
| Test call system, smoke detectors, grab bars, lighting, locks and every appliance. | Maintenance |
| Check heating, cooling, plumbing and water temperature. | Maintenance |
| Update the target ready date if anything slips, the same day. | Maintenance |
Deep clean
| Task | Owner |
|---|---|
| Deep clean every surface, inside cabinets, closets, appliances and windows. | Housekeeping |
| Clean or replace filters and vents. | Housekeeping or maintenance |
| Check for odors, and treat them before anything else goes in. | Housekeeping |
Once the next resident is known
| Task | Owner |
|---|---|
| Make any changes agreed during the sale: furniture removed, grab bar added, shelving moved. | Maintenance |
| Program keys or fobs and set up the call system for the new resident. | Maintenance and business office |
| Agree with the family when movers and deliveries can arrive. | Move-in owner |
Readiness walk, 2 days before move-in
| Task | Owner |
|---|---|
| Walk the apartment as if you were the family: look, open, switch on and flush everything. | Move-in owner with maintenance |
| Fix anything found the same day, or tell the family what is still open and when it will be done. | Maintenance |
| Add a small welcome touch: a card, flowers, the week's activity calendar and dining menu. | Life enrichment or the move-in owner |
| Mark the apartment ready on the move-in plan. | Move-in owner |
What "ready" means
Agree on one definition across the community, so "ready" means the same thing to maintenance, sales and the family:
- Every repair on the move-out list is done, or the family has been told what is open and when it closes.
- Call system, smoke detectors, locks and appliances have been tested this week.
- The deep clean is finished and there are no odors.
- Changes agreed during the sale are made.
- Keys or fobs are programmed and ready at the front desk.
- Someone other than the person who did the work has walked it.
The family should never be the first people to find out the apartment is not ready.
Keeping turns on time
- Set the target ready date on move-out day, and share it with sales so they can plan tours and move-in dates around it.
- Review open turns weekly at stand-up: apartment, ready date, what is blocking it.
- Track days the apartment sits empty, one of the 8 move-in KPIs. The early move-out cost worksheet shows what each day is worth.
ResiOnboarding puts apartment readiness on the same shared move-in plan as every other department, with an owner and a due date for each task, so the move-in owner can see whether the apartment will be ready without calling maintenance. See the product overview.
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Every new resident gets one first impression. Make it the one your team intended.
ResiOnboarding puts every task, owner and due date for a move-in on one shared plan, from deposit through day 90. Start with a pilot at one community: your team runs your next move-ins on it, and you decide based on what you see.