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The quick answer
The efficient order: (1) inspect and photograph everything the day keys come back, (2) book repairs and patching immediately — trades are your bottleneck, (3) deep clean after the dust settles ($250–$450 professionally), (4) verify smoke/CO alarms and rekey locks, (5) touch up paint and hardware, then shoot listing photos. Budget $400–$1,500 for a typical Toronto turnover depending on wear. And remember: Ontario has no damage deposits — documentation is how you recover real damage, through the LTB if needed.
Before you start
The landlord turnover kit
Keep these ready between tenancies and every turnover starts same-day:
- Phone with timestamped photos or a condition-report app — your evidence either way
- Patch kit, matched touch-up paint (keep the can labelled per unit), and a magic eraser
- Fresh furnace filter, smoke/CO alarm batteries, and spare bulbs for every fixture type
- New lock cylinders or a smart lock with rotating codes
- A cleaning quote in hand — or a cleaner you trust on speed dial
- The old listing photos, to see exactly what changed since move-in
Ground rules
Three Ontario realities that shape a turnover
There is no damage deposit
Ontario landlords may hold a rent deposit (last month's rent) and a refundable key deposit — nothing for damage. Recovering real damage runs through documentation and, if needed, the Landlord and Tenant Board. Your photos ARE your deposit.
Wear and tear is your cost
Faded paint, minor scuffs, worn carpet in traffic paths — that is ordinary wear and the landlord's expense. Holes from heavy mounting, burns, and pet damage are not. Knowing the line keeps disputes short.
Vacancy is the real enemy
At Toronto rents, every extra vacant week costs more than most turnover line items. Book trades the day notice is given, not the day keys come back — compressing the timeline is worth more than squeezing any single invoice.
In order
The turnover, step by step
1. Inspect and document — the day keys come back
Walk every room with your camera before anyone touches anything: walls, floors, inside appliances, under sinks, closets, balcony. Compare against move-in photos and sort findings into three buckets: ordinary wear (yours), tenant damage (document thoroughly), and maintenance items that simply came due.
Run every system while you are there — taps, toilet flushes, stove burners, dishwasher cycle, all switches. Ten minutes of testing now saves a mid-tenancy service call later.
2. Repairs and patching — book trades first, they are the bottleneck
Nail holes, wall scuffs, sticking doors, loose handles, dripping taps, silicone that has gone grey around the tub — the standard between-tenant punch list. A handyman half-day at $200–$350 typically clears all of it; book it immediately so cleaning can follow the dust instead of preceding it.
Fix the small annoyances the old tenant lived with. Every one of them becomes a week-one complaint from the new tenant — or a reason a good applicant chooses the unit across the street.
3. Deep clean — after the dust, never before
Turnover cleaning is move-out standard: inside the oven and fridge, cabinets, descaled bathrooms, floors including under appliances. Professionally it runs $250–$450 in Toronto and is usually the single best money in the whole turnover — our move-out cleaning checklist is the exact scope to hand your cleaner.
Listing photos of a professionally cleaned unit rent it faster and to better applicants. Nobody premium applies to a listing with someone else's crumbs in the drawer photos.
4. Safety and compliance — the non-negotiables
Test smoke alarms (required on every storey and outside sleeping areas in Ontario) and CO alarms (required near bedrooms where there are fuel-burning appliances or an attached garage). Replace batteries, date the check, and keep the note — alarm compliance is squarely the landlord's duty.
Rekey or recode the locks — you have no idea how many copies of the old key exist. Swap the furnace filter, and confirm window screens, railings, and balcony doors are sound.
5. Refresh, then shoot the listing
Touch-up paint beats full repaints most turnovers — but match from the labelled can, not from memory. Replace burnt bulbs with matching colour temperature, swap stained switch plates ($2 each, disproportionate effect), and re-silicone the tub line if it is anything but white.
Shoot listing photos in daylight, after cleaning, before anything is moved back in. An empty, spotless, bright unit photographs honestly — and honest photos filter applicants better than any screening question.
Landlord notes
Where turnovers go wrong
Tenant disputes a damage claim
Timestamped move-in and move-out photos of the same spots end most arguments before the LTB ever sees them. No before-photo usually means no claim worth pursuing — which is why step 1 is non-negotiable.
The unit sits vacant while trades are scheduled
Sequence, not speed, is usually the problem: cleaning booked before repairs means cleaning twice; repairs booked late means everything waits. Book trades on notice day and stack the week: repairs → clean → photos.
Smells survive the clean
Smoke and pet odours live in filters, fabrics, and paint. Change the furnace filter, wash what is washable, and if the smell persists, a coat of odour-sealing primer on affected rooms beats months of masking sprays.
"Small stuff" keeps generating new-tenant complaints
The dripping tap and sticking closet door the old tenant tolerated set the new tenant's expectations of you. Fixing the under-$20 items at turnover is the cheapest tenant-relations work you will ever do.
DIY or book it
What smart landlords outsource
Self-managing landlords can do the walkthrough and refresh. These are usually worth booking:
- The repair punch list — one handyman visit clears in hours what eats a landlord's whole weekend.
- Turnover cleaning — pro move-out cleans ($250–$450) pay for themselves in listing photos alone.
- Anything electrical, gas, or plumbing beyond a washer swap — licensed trades, both for safety and for the paper trail.
- Odour remediation after smoking or pets — sealing primer and proper cleaning beat every DIY spray.
- Multi-unit turnovers — batching several units into one trade visit cuts the per-unit cost meaningfully.
FixitTask
Turn the unit faster
Get the repair list and the move-out clean handled by vetted Toronto pros — describe the unit, send photos, and have it listing-ready this week.
FAQ
Questions people usually ask
How much does a rental turnover cost in Toronto?
A typical light turnover — patching, minor repairs, professional cleaning, rekeying, touch-ups — runs $400–$1,500. Heavy wear, full repaints, or flooring push it higher. Vacancy time usually costs more than any of these line items, so speed matters.
Can I charge a damage deposit in Ontario?
No. Ontario permits a rent deposit (applied to the last month) and a refundable key deposit only. Damage beyond normal wear is recovered through documentation and, if necessary, the Landlord and Tenant Board — which is why move-in/move-out photos matter so much.
What counts as normal wear and tear?
Faded paint, light scuffs, small nail holes from picture hanging, and carpet worn in traffic paths — landlord's cost. Large holes, burns, deep stains, unauthorized paint colours, and pet damage generally are not.
How fast can a unit realistically be turned over?
With trades booked in advance: inspection day one, repairs days two to three, cleaning day four, photos and listing day five. The schedule slips when repairs are booked after keys come back instead of when notice is given.
Do I have to rekey the locks between tenants?
It is not universally mandated, but it is cheap, fast, and removes a real liability — you cannot know how many key copies circulate. Smart locks with per-tenant codes make this a two-minute step.