Property Turnover Scope

Turn rental-unit move-out or turnover inspection findings (reports, photos, notes) into a priced, vendor-ready make-ready scope using the Tektolo property turnover engine. Use when someone needs a turnover task list, a cost estimate, what to send each vendor, or an owner approval estimate for a US rental unit.

Property turnover estimate

Tektolo runs a deterministic, source-cited engine. You turn what the user has (an inspection report, photos, notes) into findings. The engine returns standardized tasks by trade, regional low / expected / high costs, priorities, vendor scopes, refer-outs, and every assumption it made. The same input always gives the same result (result_hash).

When to use

• Move-out or turnover inspections, make-ready planning, "what will this turn cost", "what do I send the painter", owner approval estimates.
• Re-running an estimate with the owner's approve/decline decisions or the manager's own vendor prices.

When not to use

• Diagnosing mold, asbestos, lead, gas, electrical or structural hazards. The engine flags these for a licensed professional; do not price their remediation yourself.
• Legal advice on deposits or tenant charges. Responsibility labels are hints only.
• Remodels, new construction, non-US properties.

How to call it

• MCP (preferred in assistants): add the remote server https://tektolo.com/mcp. Start with property_turnover_quick_estimate (zip, bedrooms, bathrooms and issues as plain strings); use property_turnover_scope for rooms, measured quantities, rate cards and decisions. property_turnover_issue_codes with no arguments lists the areas and codes. If the ZIP is missing or not 5 digits, ask the user; never guess it. For the Excel or owner estimate, give the user links.web_tool_prefilled from the result.
• REST: POST https://tektolo.com/v1/property-turnover/scope with the JSON below. Downloads: POST .../scope/render/xlsx (workbook), .../render/html (owner estimate), .../render/csv (work orders), .../render/vendor_csv (zip of per-trade scopes).
• Catalog and schemas: https://tektolo.com/catalog.json, https://tektolo.com/capabilities/property-turnover.
• Web: the free tool is https://tektolo.com/tools/rental-property/property-turnover; typical costs by area are at https://tektolo.com/turnover-costs/.
• Next step: the scope is step 1 of the move-out workflow; step 2 settles the security deposit (deposit_settlement_settle, web tool /tools/rental-property/deposit-settlement).

Building the request

1. property: zip (5 digits, never a street address), bedrooms (0 = studio), bathrooms (halves as 0.5), and if known sq_ft, year_built and unit_type. Year built matters: pre-1978 triggers lead-safe-work handling (priced). unit_type single_family or townhome gets house-sized defaults (floor area, lock count, yard). If you know whether there is carpet, send floor_coverings: {"carpet_present": true} or {"carpet_sq_ft": 600}. Without it, carpet findings imply carpet; otherwise whole-unit carpet cleaning is left out and listed in unknowns.
2. findings: one per observed condition.
   • Use code when you know it (e.g. walls.nail_holes, carpet.pet_urine), otherwise a short plain description ("dog urine stains in bedroom carpet"). Unmatched findings come back as manual-quote lines with suggested_codes. Resend with a code.
   • location.area (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living_room, ..., whole_unit) and an optional label ("Bedroom 2").
   • extent: spot | partial | full when you can tell.
   • quantity {value, uom} when measured (sq_ft, sq_yd, linear_ft, each, room, ...). Otherwise typical sizes are assumed and listed.
3. standards.profile: minimum | standard (default) | premium. Optional overrides: paint_policy, carpet_policy, cleaning_policy, always_rekey, markup_pct. standards.price_tier: pm_vendor (default, a manager buying from local vendors) | bulk_contract (portfolio contract prices) | retail_one_off (an owner hiring one contractor).
4. Optional: rate_card (the manager's prices: {task_id, unit_price, uom?} or {trade, min_charge, trip_charge}; whole-unit wall paint is per sq_ft_floor, so send uom to have a mismatched price rejected rather than misapplied), trade_vendors, tax_rate, and decisions ({finding_id | line_id, action: approve|decline|defer}). Re-run with decisions to get the approved scope.
5. detail: MCP defaults to summary (totals, trade scopes, every line tied to a finding, refer-outs, notes; routine lines summed in omitted_note). Ask for full when the user needs every line. A finding's location may be a plain string ("Bedroom 2"). Hedged notes ("mold?") come back as "check first" refer-outs that hold no work until confirmed.

From photos: describe each visible condition as a finding (location, what it is, rough extent). Do not guess hidden damage. Mention what you could not see in your reply.

Example

json

{
  "property": {"zip": "28205", "unit_type": "apartment", "bedrooms": 1, "bathrooms": 1, "year_built": 1998},
  "findings": [
    {"code": "walls.nail_holes", "location": {"area": "living_room"}, "extent": "spot"},
    {"description": "carpet heavily soiled in bedroom", "location": {"area": "bedroom"}},
    {"code": "safety.smoke_alarm_missing", "location": {"area": "bedroom"}}
  ],
  "standards": {"profile": "standard"}
}

Relaying the result

• Lead with summary and the expected total plus the range. Say clearly that these are estimate ranges, not quotes.
• Call out every refer_outs item and what professional to engage. Quote-required lines are $0 in the totals; totals.allowances is a budget range for them, outside the total.
• A responsibility_hint of mixed means the line carries wear and damage findings; see its responsibility_by_finding before discussing tenant charges.
• List unknowns and the important assumptions (e.g. assumed room sizes, national prices used), so the user can correct them and re-run.
• Group the work by trade_scopes when the user wants to brief vendors. Offer the workbook or vendor CSV downloads.
• If the user needs an audit trail, keep the result_hash and run.ruleset_version. Over MCP they come back only when you call with audit: true (REST always returns them).
• If a call says the daily free limit is reached, tell the user when it resets (the message names the time) and do not retry. On a hosted assistant (Claude, ChatGPT) the shared server URL has one limit for everyone; the message names the page for a free personal connector URL. Volume and integrations go through the Contact page.

Make it yours

Fork this skill and add your company's standards (default profile, paint/carpet rules, markup), your rate_card, and your trade_vendors, so every estimate uses your prices and vendors.