Build Your 2027 Turn Budget From 4 Numbers You Already Have

It's budget season. In late August, Luxer One flagged the next 60 to 90 days as the window when Property Managers review vendor contracts and owners stress-test their 2027 revenue assumptions.

In many multifamily budgets, the turn line is last year's total plus a percentage. This year, rent growth won't cover a miss.

Texas A&M's Texas Real Estate Research Center expects rent in stabilized Texas units to be "flat to slightly positive" through summer 2027. A short turn budget comes straight out of net operating income.

Why a flat uplift can't keep up

Costs aren't moving together. According to NAA's Income/Expense IQ data, repairs and maintenance reached $1,098 per unit in 2024, up 28.2% since 2021. Turnover costs rose 17.5% in 2024 alone. Total operating expenses rose 2.2%.

A percentage on the total can't track that. It also hides what drives turn cost: how many units turn, how heavy, and when.

The four numbers, and where they live

• Leases expiring by month: your 2027 lease-expiration report

• Renewal rate: your own, over the last 12 months

• Turns by type: last year's scope records and move-out photos

• Cost per turn by type: last year's turn invoices

Step 1: Volume

For each month, multiply leases expiring by one minus your renewal rate. Then add the early move-outs and skips you had last year.

Use your own renewal rate, not the market's. RealPage data cited by LeaseLock shows 56% of U.S. market-rate leases expiring in the first half of 2026 were renewed. Treat that as a sanity check only.

Step 2: Mix

Units don't cost the same to turn. Sort last year's turns into light, standard and heavy. Pet and long-tenure units usually land heavy. A one-year resident who moves out often lands light.

So everyone sorts the same way, write the tiers down with the one-page scope sheet from "Standard Turn" Means Nothing.

Tag each callback by turn type as you go. A pattern tied to one tier can be prevented, and next year's rework allowance shrinks with it.

Step 3: Price

Multiply each tier's count by its cost per turn. Then add two lines a flat uplift would bury:

• Materials, adjusted for current prices. NAHB reports residential building material prices, excluding energy, were up 5.1% year over year in August.

• Rework, sized from the callbacks you tagged in Step 2.

360 prices turns at a fixed price per unit, with extras listed separately, so Step 3 becomes a lookup, not an estimate.

Step 4: Timing

Lay the turns on a monthly curve, not twelve equal slices. About 45% of U.S. moves happen May through August, according to HireAHelper. Your Step 1 numbers show your own peak; fund it in full.

To turn that curve into booked crews, use our 4-week plan to lock in Turn Season.

What it looks like on one property

A hypothetical example: say a 250-unit property expects 230 leases to expire in 2027 and renewed 55% last year. That's about 104 turns before early move-outs.

At a 60/30/10 light/standard/heavy mix, that's 62 light, 31 standard and 11 heavy turns. Round the heavy tier up; it's the expensive one. Price each tier at your own cost per turn, add materials and rework, and spread the total along your curve.

The turn line is now four numbers you can explain, not one percentage you have to defend.

Make Step 2 a report

Step 2 is the slow one. When every turn's dates, scope, photos and invoice are filed by unit in the 360 Customer Portal, the mix is a report, not an afternoon in email.

In Multifamily Executive's 2027 budget roundup, one operator described moving dollars toward resident retention and "realistic repair reserves." A turn budget built this way is one you can call realistic.

Price your 2027 turns before the budget locks

Schedule a turn-budget call with a 360 account manager at 1-833-360-RENO (7366) or through the chat at 360ApartmentRenovations.com. Current clients get their turn history and per-unit pricing, ready for Steps 2 and 3. New to 360? Bring your floor plans and last year's turn count, and we'll price your turns per unit.