How often should you inspect vacant apartment units?

Every 30 days at minimum. Vacant units collect dust, lose pest food sources (pushing pests to neighboring occupied units), and can develop HVAC issues. A 5-minute maintenance walk every 30 days keeps showing condition and catches problems before they spread.

What should a multifamily vacate walk checklist include?

A vacate walk should classify the turn type (light, heavy, or remodel), check flooring wear starting at entryways, inspect walls for holes and unauthorized paint, test all appliances, check for pest signs under sinks and behind refrigerators, assess pet damage, test fixtures, and include a 90-second video walkthrough with narrated damage.

What is the correct order for apartment unit turnover?

The correct make-ready sequence is: trash out, patch holes, paint, flooring, clean, then final PM walk. Paint before flooring prevents overspray damage. Clean after all work is done to avoid cleaning twice. When flooring is pulled, inspect the subfloor for pest entry points before installing new flooring.

The Walk Protocol That Caught a Ghost Lease Hiding $1,579 in Monthly Vacancy

Five walk types. Five checklists. The exact protocol used across 1,500+ units. Free.

How to Inspect Vacant Apartments: The 30-45-60 Walk Protocol

A ghost lease at The Ade. Unit showed occupied on the rent roll. Resident had skipped. $1,579 per month in hidden vacancy. Nobody had eyes on the unit in 60+ days.

This protocol covers five walk types used across 1,500+ multifamily units to catch hidden vacancy, speed up turns, and keep every unit accounted for on a schedule.

The Five Walk Types

Vacate Walk (Day 0-1): enter within 24 hours of move-out to triage condition and classify turn type
Make-Ready Sequence: the operational order during turnover (trash out, patch, paint, flooring, clean, final walk)
30-Day Vacant Walk: maintenance walk for any unit vacant 30+ days to maintain showing condition
Pre-Move-In Final Walk: PM walks the unit before handing keys to catch issues vendors missed
Pre-Eviction Walk: confirm occupancy before filing to avoid wasting attorney fees on empty units

What This Protocol Catches

Ghost leases hiding vacancy on the rent roll. Pest entry points under cabinets found during make-ready. Ovens sparking during pre-move-in walks that would have been day-one emergencies. Units mid-eviction that were already empty, wasting attorney fees and delaying the turn by weeks.

At one building, the walk protocol helped take occupancy from 40% to 90%. The PM had flagged issues for months. Nobody walked the units. Once every unit got walked on a schedule, the building went from distressed to stabilized.

How to Implement the Protocol

Print the five checklists. Give one set to your PM and one to your maintenance lead. Set recurring calendar reminders: vacate walks trigger on move-out, 30-day walks repeat every 30 days for vacant units, pre-move-in walks happen 48 hours before scheduled move-in.

Require video walkthroughs on every vacate walk and every pre-eviction walk. Track turn time from vacate walk date, not move-out date. Classify turns at the vacate walk and prioritize light turns to get rent-ready inventory up fast.

Who This Is For

Multifamily asset managers overseeing turnover and vacancy. Property managers running make-ready sequences. Regional managers standardizing walk protocols across portfolios. Owners who want every unit accounted for on a schedule instead of hoping their PM checked.