Havella.Rent vs Vacancy Calculator
Over twelve months
$1,129
more in the owner’s hands at $650 than at $680 a week.
$680 only comes out ahead if a tenant signs by 14 November 2026.
Waiting
$28,934
$426 per $10 a week
$629 per empty week
Letting sooner
$30,063
$463 per $10 a week
$601 per empty week
Each total is what reaches the owner over twelve months, after the management fee.
Show the workingHide the working
| Twelve months | At $650 | At $680 |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks with no tenant | 2 weeks | 6 weeks |
| Weeks of rent received | 50 weeks | 46 weeks |
| Rent collected | $32,500 | $31,280 |
| Management fee (7.50%) | −$2,438 | −$2,346 |
| In the owner’s hands | $30,063 | $28,934 |
Rates, levies, insurance and interest run at the same rate whether or not a tenant is in place, so they cancel out of a comparison between two paths over the same window. A fixed-dollar letting fee cancels if it is the same on both paths. A fee based on rent differs between the paths; that difference is excluded from this model. The management fee is charged on rent collected, so an empty property earns the agency nothing.
How long a property takes to let cannot be known in advance. PropTrack stopped publishing median days to lease for rentals after the March 2024 quarter, and no Australian publisher has resumed it, so there is no current Gold Coast benchmark to check an estimate against. Both waits are dials for that reason, and every figure here follows whatever they are set to.
- In Queensland the advertised rent is a ceiling, not a starting point. Section 57 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act requires a fixed amount in the advertisement and makes it an offence to solicit, invite or accept an offer above it. A property advertised high cannot be bid higher; the number on the listing is the most it can earn. There is no upside waiting above the asking rent. RTRAA 2008 s57, Queensland legislation
- Check the property’s last rent increase before changing rent. Queensland generally requires twelve months between rent increases for the premises, even when the tenant or owner changes. A rent reduction does not automatically restart that period. The agreement, notice requirements and any applicable exceptions also matter; check the RTA guidance before assuming when rent can change. RTRAA 2008 ss91-93, Residential Tenancies Authority
- Holding above the market can put the year's deductions at risk. Deductions survive a vacancy only while a property is genuinely available for rent on commercial terms, and the ATO names rent set above comparable properties as a factor showing it is not. Its own published example is an owner who holds above market against agent advice and turns down two applications, and who can then claim nothing for that property for the year. The example immediately after is an owner who reduces on agent advice and keeps every deduction. ATO, residential rental properties, 21 May 2026 (TR 2026/1, PCG 2026/2)
- Landlord insurance does not cover an empty property. Loss-of-rent cover responds to a tenant who absconds, defaults, dies or is released for hardship, or to premises made untenantable. Every trigger needs a tenant or an insured event. Simply being unable to find one is not covered, which is the assumption owners most often get wrong about a vacancy. Terri Scheer landlord insurance product disclosure
- Rent that never arrives is not deductible either. A deduction follows money spent, not income missed. Weeks with no tenant are a straight reduction in the year's income with nothing recovered at tax time, while the rates, levies, insurance and interest keep running underneath. ATO, TR 2026/1
- The market backdrop. “Higher-priced listings are taking longer to lease, particularly as discretionary spending is drying up. Some owners are setting their rent expectations based on headlines rather than the quality and attributes of their property, leading to longer vacancy periods and, in some cases, attracting fewer suitable applicants.” Antonia Mercorella, Chief Executive, Real Estate Institute of Queensland, 30 April 2026
An extra $20 a week is worth about $1,000 over a year, and a fortnight of vacancy costs more than that. Set two asking rents and how long a property sits empty at each, and the result names the date the higher rent has to be let by to stay in front.
How this is calculated
Rent counts only from the week a tenant starts paying. Each side of the comparison earns its weekly rent for the weeks remaining in the year after the empty ones, less the management fee, which is charged on rent collected and so costs nothing while a property is empty.
The break-even date is the one number a landlord can argue with. It is the latest a property could be let at the higher rent and still finish the year level with the lower one, found by dividing the rent the lower price collects by the higher weekly rent, and subtracting the weeks that buys from the year.
The small figure under each label is what that assumption is worth to the answer, and it is exact rather than estimated, because the arithmetic is a straight line in every direction. It is there so the weak inputs are visible beside the strong ones. On the worked example each ten dollars a week moves the result by a few hundred dollars, while a single extra empty week moves it by more than six hundred, which is the whole argument in one line.
Rates, levies, insurance and loan interest are left out on purpose. They run at the same rate whether or not a tenant is in place, so they cancel from a comparison between two paths across the same twelve months. The letting fee is left out for the same reason only when the dollar fee is identical on both paths. If a letting fee is charged as a number of weeks of rent, the two fees differ; that difference is not included here.
What the numbers mean
The comparison is not between a high rent and a low one. It is between a high rent that takes longer to let and a lower rent that lets sooner, and the whole question is whether the extra dollars a week ever catch up with the weeks they cost. They catch up more slowly than most owners expect. An extra $20 a week on a $650 property is about $1,040 across a year, and a week and a half of extra vacancy has already spent it. At $30 a week the whole year’s advantage is gone a little over two weeks in.
Nobody knows exactly how long a property will take to let, which is why both waits are inputs rather than predictions supplied by this page. Use current comparable listings and a property manager’s local assessment to test a realistic range.
The tool is equally capable of vindicating a landlord who holds firm. Where the higher rent lets quickly, the curve finishes below zero and the result says so. That is the point of putting the beliefs in the reader’s hands rather than asserting a number.
Questions landlords ask
How many weeks of vacancy cancel a rent increase?
Divide the yearly value of the increase by the weekly rent being forgone. A $20 a week increase is worth about $1,040 over a year, which at $650 a week is cancelled by roughly a week and a half of extra vacancy. The calculator does this exactly, including the management fee.
Is it better to drop the rent or wait for a better tenant?
Those are different questions. This tool answers only the money, over twelve months. Tenant quality, lease length and the condition a property is handed back in are real considerations and none of them are in this arithmetic.
Does reducing the rent lock in the lower figure?
Not necessarily. Queensland generally requires twelve months between rent increases for the property, not between tenants. A reduction does not automatically start a new twelve-month period. Check the last increase, the agreement and the notice rules in the RTA rent-increase guidance before assuming when rent can change.
Can a property be advertised low and then let higher?
Not in Queensland. Section 57 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act requires a fixed amount in the advertisement and makes it an offence to invite or accept an offer above it. See Queensland legislation, section 57.
What does a long vacancy do to the year's tax deductions?
Deductions survive a vacancy only while a property is genuinely available for rent on commercial terms, and the ATO names rent set above comparable properties as a factor showing it is not. Check the ATO guidance on rental deductions for the conditions and examples.