Rental Turnover Checklist for Los Angeles Landlords (One-Day Plan)

Why turnover speed is a money question

Every day a unit sits vacant costs a day of rent. The list between tenants is usually twenty small things and two or three medium ones, and the medium ones decide whether the unit is ready in one day or four. This checklist sorts them: what a handyman finishes in one visit, what takes two, and what goes to a specialist first.

A few California rules shape the list and are cited so you can read the source: Health and Safety Code 13113.7 (smoke alarms), 17926 and 17926.1 (carbon monoxide), and Civil Code 1941.1 and 1941.3 (habitability and locks). Buildings with two or more units, one of them rented, also fall under the Los Angeles Housing Department's inspection program, covered below.

Before anyone touches the unit: photograph it

Photograph the empty unit the way an inspector would and keep the set with the lease file.

• Every wall of every room, corners included, plus ceilings for stains.
• Floors edge to edge, with close-ups of damage.
• Inside every cabinet and drawer, under both sinks (look for staining on the cabinet floor), and behind the refrigerator.
• Appliance serial plates, the water heater, the heater, and the electrical panel with the door open.
• Each smoke alarm and carbon monoxide device, with a shot of the test button being pressed.
• Windows closed and latched, screens, blinds, every exterior door and lock.
• Meter readings, and the returned keys and remotes counted out on the counter.

The set documents move-out condition and doubles as the before photos for the repair quote.

Room-by-room checklist

Entry and exterior doors

• A working deadbolt on each main swinging entry door. Civil Code 1941.3 requires the landlord to install and maintain one, with a bolt that extends at least 13/16 of an inch into the jamb; existing half-inch deadbolts satisfy the section. Locks and deadbolts from $145.
• Door closes and latches without lifting the handle; weatherstrip and sweep intact; strike plate screws tight.
• Window locks: the same section requires operable locking devices on windows designed to open, with exceptions for louvered and casement windows and windows more than 12 feet above the ground or a roof.
• In multifamily buildings, exterior doors leading to common areas must have locking mechanisms as well, under the same section.

Kitchen

• Stove and refrigerator working. For leases entered into, amended, or extended on or after January 1, 2026, Civil Code 1941.1 lists a working stove and a working refrigerator among the things a unit must have to be tenantable; a tenant may agree in the lease to bring their own refrigerator.
• Faucet: no drip, aerator clean, sprayer works; angle stops turn; no staining or softness on the cabinet floor under the sink.
• Disposal and dishwasher run and drain; range hood light and fan work, filter replaced.
• Cabinet hinges tightened, drawer glides working, missing pulls replaced; fresh caulk where the counter meets the wall and around the sink. Caulking, grout and sealing from $250.
• Outlet and switch covers intact; GFCI outlets near the sink trip and reset.

Bathroom

• Tub and shower caulk cut out and replaced if cracked or dark; missing grout repaired.
• Toilet: new flapper and fill valve if it runs, seat tight, base firm with no rocking.
• Shower head and tub spout clean and leak-free; pop-up stopper holds water; drain clear.
• Exhaust fan runs quietly and actually moves air.

Living room, bedrooms, hallways

• Nail and anchor holes filled, sanded, and touched up; larger holes patched and textured. Drywall repair from $285.
• Closet doors on track, rods and shelves secure.
• Interior doors close and latch; door stops in place so handles do not hit walls.
• Blinds working or replaced; screens present and intact; windows open, close, and lock.
• Bulbs, outlet covers, switch covers, ceiling fans.
• Smoke alarms: Health and Safety Code 13113.7 makes the owner of a rented unit responsible for testing and maintaining them and requires them to be operable when a new tenancy begins. Test every alarm and replace any that fail; State Fire Marshal approved battery units satisfy the statute.
• Carbon monoxide device: Health and Safety Code 17926 requires one in any dwelling unit with a fossil-fuel-burning heater or appliance, a fireplace, or an attached garage, and 17926.1 requires it to be operable when the tenant takes possession.

Whole unit and exterior

• Heat works and the HVAC filter is new; a wall heater lights and cycles.
• Hot water at every fixture; the water heater area is dry.
• Floors, stairways, and railings in good repair, which Civil Code 1941.1 lists among the habitability standards; tighten any railing that moves.
• Unit clean and free of pests; garbage receptacles present, clean, and in good repair, also in 1941.1.
• Exterior lights, house numbers, mailbox lock, patio or balcony surfaces and railings, gate latch.

What needs a specialist, not a handyman

Four things on turnover lists are not handyman work and go to a different trade: electrical panel upgrades, gas line work of any kind, roofing, and structural changes. A scorched breaker, a gas smell, daylight through the roof deck, or a sagging beam gets that call first; the handyman visit follows. Water behind a wall is a separate scope too; water damage repair starts from $650 and is priced once the extent is visible.

One-day or two-day turnover: how we decide

One day (roughly 8-15 items): everything in the checklist above with no full-room painting: hardware, caulk, small patches with touch-up, toilet internals, a faucet cartridge, blinds, alarms, locks, a door adjustment or two. One technician, one supply run, finished photos at the end.

Two days: the same list plus one of the following: a full repaint of a one-bedroom (interior painting runs from $2.75 / sq ft), several large drywall patches that need texture and two coats, a floor repair that must cure, or a vanity replacement (from $1,450) or water heater replacement (from $1,650). Day one is removal, repairs, and first coats; day two is finish, hardware, and cleanup.

Longer: a kitchen or bathroom that needs new cabinets, tile, or a layout change is a renovation, not a turnover. Those are quoted separately as projects; see multi-unit turnover renovation for several units at once.

If your building is inspected by LAHD

The Los Angeles Housing Department puts a property within scope of the Los Angeles Housing Code when it has two or more residential units on a parcel and at least one is rented or offered for rent. Those properties get periodic Systematic Code Enforcement Program (SCEP) inspections: LAHD's stated goal is at least once every four years for Tier 1 properties and every two years for Tier 2, with a Notice of Inspection mailed at least 30 days ahead. The inspector covers every building, rental unit, and common area; the fee is currently $67.94 per unit per year. Owner-occupied units and vacant properties are out of scope.

The items above are what an inspector looks for, and fixing them in an empty unit is cheaper than working around a tenant's furniture. If you have an inspection date, send it with your list.

Certificates of insurance for HOAs and building managers

Condominium associations and managed buildings often require a certificate of insurance before a vendor can enter, sometimes naming the association or management company. Fix Brothers provides a certificate of insurance on request; send the building's exact wording with the booking so it is on file before the technician arrives, and confirm elevator reservations, loading rules, and permitted work hours in the same message. Inside the City of Los Angeles, Municipal Code Section 41.40 bars construction or repair work near homes on Sundays, so plan hands-on turnover work for Monday through Saturday whatever the building allows.

How to book a turnover with Fix Brothers

Text the photo set and your list to (323) 593-3663, or book a 2-hour arrival window at /request-a-quote. The office is open seven days, 8am to 8pm, and usually calls back within about 15 minutes. You get one fixed price for the job, agreed before work starts; the hourly option is $160 for the first 2 hours, then $80-120 per hour depending on the work. Materials are billed at cost with the store receipt attached to the invoice. For single repairs between turnovers, use our handyman service; for several units, see property maintenance for landlords. The full price list is on our pricing page.

Fix Brothers is family-run by brothers Derek and George and has worked in Los Angeles since 2015, with a 4.9 rating on Yelp (about 170 reviews) and 4.9 on Google (66 reviews). Our technicians live across the city, so most units, from Los Angeles proper to the San Fernando Valley, Marina del Rey, and Westwood, are within a 30-40 minute drive of one of them.