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BRRRR Investment Calculator

Model the entire Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat cycle — from initial capital to cash-out refinance to long-term cash-on-cash return.

BRRRR Modeler

Model the full Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat cycle for a deal.

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Balance owed on any hard-money/bridge loan used to buy the property. Enter 0 if purchased with cash.

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Your BRRRR Results

Updates instantly as you adjust the inputs.

Cash-on-Cash Return

-78.3%

Below-Target Return

Cash-on-cash return is below what most active investors target for the risk of a rehab-and-refinance project. Revisit purchase price, rehab budget, or ARV assumptions.

Capital Recovered at Refinance99%
Total Initial Capital
$196,000
Refinance Loan Amount
$195,000
Cash Left in Deal
$1,000
Monthly Cash Flow
-$65

Monthly Rent Allocation

Debt Service
$1,705
Vacancy Loss
$100
Maintenance
$100
Management Fee
$160
Net Cash Flow
-$65

What the BRRRR Method Actually Is (and Why It Works)

BRRRR — Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat — is a strategy for buying real estate with a small, recyclable pool of capital instead of saving a fresh down payment for every property. The mechanics are straightforward in theory: buy a distressed or undervalued property (often below market value), renovate it to increase both its livability and its appraised value, place a tenant to generate income, then refinance based on the new, higher After Repair Value (ARV) to pull most or all of your original cash back out. That returned capital funds the next deal, and the cycle repeats.

What makes BRRRR powerful isn't any single step — it's the compounding effect of reusing the same capital across multiple properties instead of it sitting locked in one deal's equity.

The Five Numbers That Actually Decide Whether a BRRRR Deal Works

1. Total Initial Capital Invested

This is your full cash outlay before the refinance: purchase price, plus every dollar of rehab, plus acquisition-side closing costs. Investors frequently underbudget rehab by 10-20%, which quietly inflates this number after the fact and erodes the deal's eventual cash-on-cash return.

2. After Repair Value (ARV)

ARV is an appraiser's estimate of what the property will be worth once renovations are complete, based on recently sold, comparable renovated properties nearby. Because your entire refinance is built on this number, an inflated ARV estimate is the single most dangerous input in the entire model — it can make a mediocre deal look great on a spreadsheet right up until the actual appraisal comes back lower.

3. Cash-Out Refinance Cap

Lenders don't refinance 100% of ARV. Most cash-out refinance and DSCR-style rental loan programs cap the new loan at 70-75% of ARV, preserving an equity cushion in case of default. This calculator defaults to 75% but lets you adjust it to match a specific lender's program.

4. Cash Left in the Deal

After the refinance loan pays off any existing acquisition loan (a hard-money or bridge loan balance, if used), whatever remains is either returned to you as cash-out or, more commonly for tighter deals, some of your original capital stays tied up in the property. Cash left in the deal is not a failure state — it's simply the denominator of your ongoing cash-on-cash return.

5. Post-Refinance Monthly Cash Flow

Once refinanced, the property carries a new (usually larger) loan balance at the new interest rate. Monthly cash flow is what remains after the new PITIA payment and ongoing operating expenses (vacancy, maintenance, management) are subtracted from rent — this is what actually lands in your pocket every month going forward.

Case Study: A Deal That Fully Recycles Capital vs. One That Doesn't

Deal A (Full Recycle): Purchase price $140,000, rehab $45,000, closing costs $5,000 — total initial capital of $190,000, funded partly by a $110,000 hard-money loan. After renovation, the property appraises at $270,000 ARV. At 75% LTV, the refinance loan is $202,500. After paying off the $110,000 hard-money balance, $92,500 comes back to the investor — more than the $80,000 of actual cash they put in (the rest was borrowed). Cash left in the deal is effectively $0, so the resulting cash-on-cash return is mathematically infinite: the investor now owns a cash-flowing rental with none of their own money left in it.

Deal B (Partial Recycle): Same $190,000 total capital, but the property only appraises at $230,000 ARV — a more conservative renovation in a slower-appreciating market. At 75% LTV, the refinance loan is $172,500, which is $17,500 short of the full $190,000 originally invested — that $17,500 gap is what stays tied up in the deal, even though $62,500 in cash comes back to the investor at closing once the $110,000 hard-money balance is paid off. If the property then cash flows $250/month ($3,000/year), that's a cash-on-cash return of about 17% on the $17,500 still invested — a strong result precisely because so little of the original capital remains at risk, even though this deal didn't fully recycle like Deal A.

Where BRRRR Deals Most Often Go Wrong

  • Overestimating ARV. Relying on the most optimistic comp instead of a defensible average of several recent, truly comparable sales.
  • Underestimating rehab scope. Foundation, roof, electrical, and plumbing surprises are common in the older, distressed properties that make good BRRRR candidates in the first place — always budget a contingency.
  • Ignoring refinance seasoning requirements. Many lenders require 6 months of ownership before they'll use the new ARV rather than the original purchase price for a cash-out refinance — this affects your project timeline and holding costs.
  • Forgetting refinance-side closing costs. Origination fees, appraisal, and title costs on the new loan reduce net cash-out and are easy to leave out of a back-of-envelope projection.
  • Modeling rent too aggressively post-renovation. A gut renovation can justify a rent increase, but it should still be grounded in comparable rented units nearby, not just "what it feels like it should rent for."

Cash-on-Cash Return Is Not the Whole Story

It's worth remembering that cash-on-cash return measures only annual cash flow against capital still invested — it deliberately ignores appreciation, the equity you build through loan paydown every month, and any tax benefits from depreciation. Over a multi-year hold, total return is typically meaningfully higher than the cash-on-cash figure alone suggests, which is part of why experienced investors treat BRRRR as a long-term portfolio-building strategy rather than a single-transaction profit calculation.

Before committing capital to a rehab project, it's also worth confirming the refinance loan itself will qualify on a debt-service basis — run the post-refinance rent and expense numbers through our DSCR Calculator to check the ratio a lender will actually underwrite against.

BRRRR Calculator FAQ

Answers to the questions we hear most often from investors using this calculator.

BRRRR stands for Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. An investor purchases a distressed or undervalued property (often with cash or a short-term bridge/hard-money loan), renovates it to increase its value, places a tenant, then refinances into a long-term loan based on the new, higher appraised value (the ARV). Ideally, the refinance returns most or all of the original capital, which can then be redeployed into the next deal.

ARV (After Repair Value) is the estimated market value of the property once renovations are complete. It is typically estimated using comparable sales ("comps") of similarly renovated properties in the immediate area, ideally sold within the last 3-6 months. Overestimating ARV is one of the most common — and costly — mistakes new BRRRR investors make.

Most conventional and DSCR cash-out refinance programs cap loan-to-value at 70-75% of the appraised value to maintain an equity cushion for the lender in case of default. Some portfolio and commercial-style lenders offer higher LTVs on a case-by-case basis, but 75% is a common and conservative planning assumption.

This is the most common real-world outcome and is not necessarily a failed deal — it simply means some capital remains "left in the deal." The calculator's cash-on-cash return figure tells you how hard that remaining capital is working for you. A deal that leaves $15,000 in but produces a 22% cash-on-cash return can still be an excellent investment.

Many lenders require a seasoning period — commonly 6 months of ownership — before they will use the new ARV (rather than the original purchase price) for a cash-out refinance. Some specialized investor-focused lenders offer shorter seasoning periods; confirm the specific requirement with your refinance lender before finalizing your project timeline.

Yes. This calculator's "Total Initial Capital" field is meant to include your acquisition-side closing costs. Separately, refinance closing costs (origination fees, appraisal, title, etc.) typically get rolled into the new loan amount or paid at closing and will slightly reduce your net cash-out — worth padding into your rehab/reserve budget.

Most experienced BRRRR investors add a 10-20% contingency on top of their contractor bids to absorb the scope creep and unexpected issues (plumbing, electrical, foundation) that are common in older or distressed properties. Under-budgeting rehab costs is one of the fastest ways to turn a strong deal into a break-even one.

BRRRR works best in markets with a meaningful gap between distressed/as-is purchase prices and renovated resale values, along with rents strong enough to support a healthy DSCR after the refinance. High-appreciation, low cash-flow coastal metros can make the "R" for Refinance mathematically difficult even when the rehab itself goes well.

If you financed the purchase with a hard-money or bridge loan, that balance must be paid off using proceeds from the refinance before you see any cash back. A higher payoff balance directly reduces (or eliminates) the cash returned to you at refinance — model this carefully using the "Existing Loan Payoff" field.

No. Cash-on-cash return measures only the annual cash flow relative to the cash still invested in the deal — it excludes appreciation, loan paydown (equity growth from amortization), and any tax benefits like depreciation. Total ROI over a multi-year hold is typically higher than the cash-on-cash figure alone suggests.