BRRRR Calculator
Model a buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat deal and see how much cash comes back.
Details
Buy
Rehab
Refinance
Rent
Cash left in the deal
$0
Monthly cash flow
-$95
Cash-on-cash
Infinite
Equity after refi
$66,250
Value created
$74,800
This models a BRRRR deal end to end: purchase, rehab, rental income, refinance, and how much of your cash comes back out.
The key output is the cash left in the deal after refinancing, which is what determines whether you can go again.
The BRRRR method
BRRRR stands for Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. It is a strategy for building a rental portfolio without needing a fresh down payment for every property.
The mechanism is straightforward. You buy a property below market value, renovate it so it is worth more, rent it out, then refinance against the new, higher value and pull most or all of your original cash back out. That cash buys the next one.
The whole strategy lives or dies on one step. If the refinance does not release enough, your money is stuck and there is no repeat. Everything else is ordinary property investing.
The refinance releases more than the total invested, so no cash stays in the deal and the same money buys the next property. That outcome needs the ARV to hold up.
What to enter
- Purchase price and rehab budget
- Together these are your all-in cost, and it is the figure the refinance has to beat.
- After-repair value (ARV)
- What the finished property will appraise at. The refinance is a percentage of this, so it drives the whole deal.
- Refinance LTV
- How much of the ARV a lender will lend against. Commonly 70-75% on an investment property.
- Monthly rent and expenses
- Determine whether the property still cash-flows once the new, larger loan is in place.
What this assumes
The appraisal is assumed to come in at your ARV. In practice it may not, and a low appraisal directly reduces the cash released.
Seasoning requirements apply. Most lenders make you own the property for six to twelve months before refinancing at the new value.
How to calculate a BRRRR deal
Work out the all-in cost, then work out what the refinance releases. The gap between them is what stays trapped.
- ARV × LTV
- What the new loan will be, typically 70-75% of the appraised value
- cash left in deal
- Zero or negative means a full BRRRR; positive means part of your money is stuck
Total your all-in cost. Purchase price, rehab, closing costs and holding costs during the renovation. All of it, not just the headline two numbers.
Establish the ARV from comparables. Recent sales of similar renovated properties nearby. The appraiser will do the same thing, so be as conservative as they will be.
Work out the refinance amount. ARV times the lender's LTV. At 75% of a $280,000 ARV that is $210,000.
Compare, then check the cash flow. Subtract all-in cost from the refinance amount for the cash returned. Then check the property still cash-flows on the larger loan, because a full cash-out often leaves it barely breaking even.
See a worked example: a cycle where all the cash comes back
- Purchase
- $150,000
- Rehab
- $50,000
- ARV
- $280,000, refinance at 75%
All-in: $150,000 + $50,000 = $200,000.
Refinance: $280,000 × 75% = $210,000.
That covers the full $200,000 with $10,000 to spare, so no cash is left in the deal.
Now check the other side: the new $210,000 loan is larger than a normal purchase mortgage would be, so the payment is higher and the cash flow is thinner. A deal that pulls out every dollar often has very little margin left.
$200,000 recovered, $0 left in the deal
Frequently asked questions
Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. You buy below market, add value through renovation, let the property, then refinance against the higher value to recover your cash.
The recovered cash funds the next purchase, which is what lets the same starting capital build a portfolio rather than a single property.
Seasoning is the minimum time a lender requires you to own a property before they will refinance based on its new value rather than what you paid.
It is commonly six to twelve months. Beginners plan a three-month cycle, then discover their money is tied up for a year. Ask prospective lenders about their seasoning period before you buy, not after the rehab is finished.
The refinance shrinks with it, and your cash stays in the property. At 75% LTV, a $20,000 shortfall in the appraisal means $15,000 less released.
That is not necessarily a disaster, since you still own a renovated rental. But the repeat step stalls until you have saved the difference, which is the difference between a strategy and a single deal.
Often barely. Pulling out every dollar means the largest possible loan, and therefore the highest possible payment.
Check the cash flow at the new loan amount before you decide how much to take out. Leaving $10,000 or $20,000 in the deal for a comfortable margin is frequently the better trade.
The first two steps are identical. The difference is the ending: a flipper sells and takes the profit, a BRRRR investor keeps the property and refinances.
Flipping gives faster cash and triggers tax on the gain. BRRRR builds long-term rental income and equity, and defers the tax, but ties you to a property and its ongoing management.
Problems people actually run into
An ARV the appraiser does not agree with
Investors set an ARV from the comparables they like, then get an appraisal that lands well below it. At 75% LTV, every dollar of overestimate costs 75 cents of released cash.
Use the same evidence an appraiser would: recent, nearby, genuinely comparable renovated sales. If the number only works with optimistic comparables, the deal only works on paper.
Planning the repeat before the refinance is certain
The strategy depends on a chain, and each link can break: rehab overruns, seasoning delays, a low appraisal, or a lender changing its LTV.
Have a plan for the version where the cash does not come back. If a stalled refinance would leave you unable to cover the holding costs, the deal was too tight to attempt.
Results are estimates for general information only and are not professional financial, medical, or legal advice. Read our full disclaimer.
Last updated: September 4, 2026