Scorecard · Nashville, TN
Turnover cleaning for short-term rentals
72/100
How much does it cost to start a short-term rental cleaning business? $2,500–$7,000 in Nashville, TN, on the figures below.
- Profit
- A
- Nashville turnovers pay $85–$160 a unit and take a pair 90 minutes. Same-day turns command a premium, and one property manager can supply 40 cleans a month.
- Difficulty
- B
- A Tennessee LLC, general liability with a bonding rider, and a Davidson County business licence. No trade licence. Scheduling around 11am checkout and 3pm check-in is the real skill.
- Capital
- A$2,500–$7,000
- Supplies and linens $1,200, insurance $1,300 a year, a vehicle you already have, and a scheduling tool at $40 a month.
Break-even
- The number that has to be true
- 22 turnovers a month at $110
- Fixed costs a month
- $1,700
- The assumption
- Two property managers, so losing one does not empty the calendar.
Opening for less
All three together take $3,300 off: $7,000 becomes $3,700.
Serve one dense neighbourhood so turns are 5 minutes apart
−$1,400
Costs you: You refuse units across town that pay the same
Have the owner supply linens instead of stocking sets yourself
−$1,100
Costs you: You lose the laundry margin and inherit their shortages
Win the first accounts by doing three turns free for one manager
−$800
Costs you: Free work, and a manager who now knows your floor price
How you’d do it
What you need
- General liability with a bonding rider, roughly $1,300 a year
- A photo checklist per unit, because a missed towel becomes a bad guest review
- Two cleaners who can work 11am to 3pm on Sundays
- One property manager with 8+ units
First 3 moves
- 1List every management company in one Nashville ZIP and call ten of them.
- 2Time yourself on three real turns and set the price from that, not from a guess.
- 3Build the checklist and photo protocol before the first paid turn.
The hardest part
The window. Every unit must be done between checkout and check-in, and Sundays are the whole week.
This card is graded on the published scale: how each grade is worked out. Every idea on every board is measured the same way, which is what makes two ideas comparable.
Put your own idea on a board
Your city, your one line. The capital range lands free in seconds. $9 scores 5 ideas and ranks them against each other.
Scored nearby