Owners with six or eight residential units in Gwangju often ask us for a vacancy cost figure they can present to family stakeholders. Enterprise-grade forecasting is unnecessary; a transparent carrying-cost estimate is enough.

List fixed costs that continue during vacancy

Property tax, insurance, common-area utilities, and any loan service on the unit should be summed monthly. Add a realistic leasing fee if you use an agent for each turnover.

Estimate downtime in weeks, not months

Regional residential units in good condition typically re-let in four to seven weeks. Use your own historical average if you have three or more past turnovers. Multiply weekly carrying cost by expected weeks vacant.

Include turn costs once

Repainting, lock changes, and minor repairs between tenants belong in the vacancy estimate, not in operating expense ratio numerators, or you will double-count when comparing occupied versus vacant periods.

We include a one-page vacancy worksheet in monthly summary engagements for small portfolios. The worksheet fits on a clipboard during owner meetings and avoids abstract percentage talk.