The short answer
Seasonal turnover is a partial-cleanout job, and partial cleanouts are usually cheaper itemized than by the load.
Mattress and box spring set $143. Queen mattress alone $103. Loveseat $119. Sofa $126. TV between 42 and 65 inches $68. Small area rug $33, large $68. Dining table for two to four $103, dining chairs $45 each. Patio table $89, patio chairs $30 each.
If the unit is going down to the studs, buy volume instead: quarter truck $241, half truck $431, full truck $732. Minimum visit $75.
And the part that matters most for this market: you do not have to be in Florida. Most of these jobs are booked by owners who are already back in Ohio, Michigan, Ontario or New York.
The Tampa Bay season, honestly
The seasonal cycle here is tight and predictable. Winter residents arrive from roughly October and November. They are here through the pleasant months. They leave in April, before the heat and well before hurricane season.
That April departure is one of the two biggest furniture events in this metro — the other being August student move-in. Condos in Clearwater, St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, Palm Harbor, Dunedin, Sun City Center, Kings Point and the Westshore corridor all turn over inside a few weeks, and the same tired furniture ends up needing to go.
Book April work in March. By the second week of April everybody on both sides of the bay wants the same window.
What actually needs replacing after a season
Seasonal units age strangely. They are lightly used but heavily unoccupied, and in Tampa the unoccupied part is what does the damage.
A condo shut up from May to October with the thermostat set high and nobody running the air conditioning hard is a humid box. That finishes mattresses, sofa cushions, rugs and anything with foam in it, and it is why so much seasonal furniture fails in its fourth or fifth year rather than its tenth.
Standard casualties, priced: mattress and box spring set $143, loveseat $119, futon $111, large area rug $68, a chaise lounge on the balcony $93. Outdoor furniture goes faster still — sun, salt air and afternoon storms. Patio table $89, patio chairs $30 each.
Do the press-hold-smell test on every soft piece before you decide to keep it for one more season. If it smells musty in April it will be worse in November.
Booking a turnover from out of state
This is routine for us and it is the thing most owners do not realize is possible.
What we need from you: the address, a list or photos of what is going, and an access arrangement — a lockbox code, a key with the front desk, a property manager, a cleaner who will be there, or a neighbor. If the building requires a certificate of insurance, tell us who it must name and we will provide it.
What you need from the building: the service-elevator booking and the loading-dock rules. In the busier Clearwater Beach, downtown St. Pete and Westshore towers that elevator slot is the long lead item, often several days out, and many buildings block weekends entirely.
You can pay remotely. You never have to be in the state.
Short-term rentals are a different rhythm
Owners running short-term or vacation rentals across St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, Indian Rocks, Clearwater Beach and Ybor have the opposite problem from snowbird owners: not one big April clear-out, but a constant trickle of broken and worn items between guests.
The economics are simple. A sofa with a stained cushion or a mattress that has gone soft shows up in reviews, and a bad review costs more than the removal. Sofa $126. Queen mattress $103. TV 42 to 65 inches $68. Dining chairs $45 each — usually two of the six are broken.
The practical approach is to batch. Hold the broken items in a closet or a storage room and clear them in one visit rather than paying the $75 minimum four separate times. Four items totalling under $241 is an itemized job; past that, look at the quarter truck.
Selling the unit instead
A lot of April turnovers are actually exits — the family has decided this is the last season, and the condo goes on the market.
Empty sells better here, particularly in the older beach and 55-plus buildings where the buyer is comparing against a dozen similar units. Dated rattan, a heavy entertainment center at $96, a tube television at $62 and a matching dining set date a unit instantly in photographs.
A typical pre-listing clear of a two-bedroom seasonal condo: sofa $126, loveseat $119, mattress and box spring set $143, entertainment center $96, TV 42 to 65 inches $68, dining table for two to four $103, four dining chairs at $45 each. That is $126 + $119 + $143 + $96 + $68 + $103 + $45 + $45 + $45 + $45 = $835 — against a full truck at $732, which also takes the lamps, the linens and the contents of the closets.
On a whole-unit clear, buy the truck.
The 55-plus community version
Sun City Center, Kings Point and the Pinellas 55-plus communities run the same calendar with different logistics.
These are usually villas or single-story attached homes rather than towers, so there is no elevator problem — but there are association rules about commercial vehicles, gate access, and how long anything can sit in a driveway or carport. Check with the association and give us the gate code and any required check-in at booking.
Contents skew heavier and more traditional: china hutch $160, curio cabinet $95, dining table for six to eight $163, large armoire $197, upright piano $290. Those are the pieces the family in Michigan does not want shipped and the buyer does not want to inherit.
Timing it right
Three rules for this market.
Book March for April. The turnover crunch is real and the elevator slots go first.
Do not leave it until you are gone. Clearing a unit while you still have building access, a fob and a relationship with the front desk is dramatically easier than arranging it in June from out of state.
Do not store the doubtful piece over the summer. A sofa you are unsure about in April will have spent five months in a closed-up humid condo by the time you see it again. It will not have improved. A loveseat is $119 now and $119 later — but in April you can still get it into an elevator you have booked.
Frequently asked questions
Can you clear my Tampa Bay condo if I have already gone north?
Yes, and most seasonal jobs are booked that way. We need an access arrangement — lockbox, front desk, property manager or cleaner — and, if the building requires one, a certificate of insurance naming the association.
When should I book an April turnover?
In March. April is the busiest furniture month of the year in this metro, and in the beach and downtown towers the service-elevator slot is usually the longest lead in the job.
Why does seasonal furniture wear out so fast here?
Because of the months it sits unoccupied, not the months it is used. A closed-up condo through a Tampa summer is a humid box, and foam in mattresses and cushions absorbs moisture and starts to smell.
Is it cheaper to itemize or buy a truck for a condo turnover?
For a partial turnover of a few pieces, itemize — four items under $241 beats a quarter truck. For a full clear before listing, buy the truck: a full load is $732 and takes the closets and linens too.
Do prices change during the April rush?
No. Same published list all year — mattress and box spring set $143, loveseat $119, quarter truck $241. Book early for the slot, not for the price.