BRRRR Calculator (Pro) United States

What the BRRRR calculator does

The BRRRR calculator models a Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat deal from start to finish. It works out how much cash you put into the property, how large a loan you can take back out once the work is done, how much of your money stays in the deal, and what the property earns each month after the new mortgage. From those figures it calculates the cash-on-cash return, the number most BRRRR investors judge a deal by.

This is a Pro, server-side tool. The step-by-step breakdown and the math run on the server behind the access gate, and you still see the monthly cash flow, the cash left in the deal, the cash-out refinance loan and the cash-on-cash return.

How a BRRRR deal works

You buy a property below market value, usually one that needs work. You rehab it to raise its condition and its value. You rent it to a tenant so it produces income. You refinance against the higher after-repair value, and the cash-out loan returns most or all of the money you put in. Then you repeat, using the recovered capital as the down payment on the next property.

The appeal is reusing capital. In a standard rental purchase your down payment stays in the property for years. A successful BRRRR deal frees that money for the next purchase, so one pool of cash can build a portfolio faster than buying one property at a time.

The numbers the calculator returns

Total cash invested is the purchase price plus the rehab cost, the money you commit before the refinance. The cash-out refinance loan is the after-repair value multiplied by the lender’s loan-to-value ratio; at 75% LTV on a $180,000 valuation that is $135,000.

Cash left in the deal is the total invested minus the refinance loan. The smaller it is, the more capital you have free for the next purchase, and a negative figure means you took out more than you put in. Monthly cash flow is the rent less your operating expenses less the new mortgage payment, and the cash-on-cash return is the annual cash flow as a percentage of the cash still in the deal.

A worked example

You buy a property for $100,000 and spend $30,000 on the rehab, so your total cash invested is $130,000. After the work it appraises at $180,000. Your lender offers a cash-out refinance at 75% LTV: $180,000 × 0.75 = $135,000.

The $135,000 loan is more than the $130,000 you invested, so your cash left in the deal is minus $5,000: you have recovered everything plus $5,000. To keep the arithmetic simple, suppose the new loan runs 30 years at a 0% rate, giving a monthly payment of $135,000 ÷ 360 = $375. The property rents for $1,600 a month with $400 of expenses, so the monthly cash flow is $1,600 − $400 − $375 = $825, or $9,900 a year. With no cash left in the deal, the cash-on-cash return is effectively infinite and the calculator reports it as not applicable. A real loan will carry interest, which raises the payment and lowers the cash flow, so always model your actual rate.

Reading the BRRRR-step schedule

The schedule goes through the deal in order: cash out to buy, cash out to rehab, the after-repair value that sets the refinance, the loan the refinance provides, and the cash left in at the end. Change the after-repair value or the refinance LTV and the loan and the cash left in move together, which shows how much the deal depends on a strong appraisal and a lender willing to lend against it.

Assumptions and their limits

The most important assumptions are the after-repair value and the refinance terms. An appraisal below your estimate shrinks the refinance loan and can leave much more cash in the deal than planned, so estimate the ARV conservatively. Renovations often run over budget, and any overspend adds directly to your cash invested and cash left in.

The model uses purchase price, rehab cost and monthly expenses, so add closing costs, holding costs during the rehab and refinance fees to those inputs. Run a cautious case next to an optimistic one, and prefer deals that still work if the appraisal or the budget comes in worse than expected. Pass on deals that only work under best-case assumptions.

For decisions about a specific purchase, financing or the tax treatment of rental income, confirm the figures with a licensed professional.

This is general information only and not financial advice.

About This BRRRR Calculator

Use this BRRRR calculator to get an instant estimate based on the figures you enter. Adjust the inputs above to match your situation, or browse all our calculators to plan your next step.