BRRRR Calculator

See how much cash the refinance hands back, and whether the rent still covers the bigger loan.

Sample$120,000 buy, $35,000 rehab, appraised at $200,000 after

This deal works

Most of your cash comes back out and the rent carries the new loan comfortably.

92%

of your cash comes back. $13,600 stays in, and it pays you $283 a month

Biggest risk

It stops working if the rent falls below $1,984 a month.

The numbers behind it

Cash left in the deal$13,600

Your own money still in the deal after the refinance.

Monthly cash flow$283

What is left each month once the mortgage and the running costs are paid.

Cash-on-cash return25.0%

Yearly cash flow against the money still in the deal.

How the BRRRR calculator works

The BRRRR calculator works out how much of your cash the refinance hands back, how much equity the rehab creates, and whether the rent still covers the bigger loan. On the sample, 92% of the cash comes back and $13,600 stays in the deal.

How much of your cash does the refinance give back?

Add up everything the property costs you before the refinance, then take off what the new loan hands back. What is left is your money still in the deal.

On the sample, the $120,000 purchase, the $35,000 rehab, closing costs and four months of holding costs come to $160,600. The new loan is 75% of the $200,000 finished value: $150,000. Closing it costs $3,000, so $147,000 comes back and $13,600 of your money stays in. The rehab also creates $39,400 of equity, the gap between what the house is worth finished and what it cost to get there.

Does it still pay once the new loan is in place?

The bigger loan means a bigger payment, so the rent has to carry it. On the sample, $2,400 of rent leaves $1,332 a month after empty months and running costs. The new payment is $1,049, so $283 a month is left.

When does DealLevel say a BRRRR works?

This deal works when at least 75% of your cash comes back, it makes money every month, and the rent covers the new payment at least 1.25 times after running costs.
Cutting it close when it makes money but too much of your cash stays in. It works as a rental, not as a way to fund the next purchase.
This deal doesn’t work when the rehab adds no equity to refinance against, or the property loses money once the new loan is in place.

What would make it stop working?

For the sample it is the rent: below $1,984 a month, the property loses money after the refinance.

The appraisal matters just as much, because the loan is a share of it. Here, every $10,000 the appraiser takes off the finished value leaves another $7,350 of your money in the deal.

Which numbers make a BRRRR look better than it is?

Counting on the finished value you hope for. The bank lends on its appraiser’s number, not yours. How to work out a finished value from real sales.
Planning to refinance right after the rehab. Lenders often want you to own the property for months first, and every month adds holding costs. How long lenders make you wait.
Forgetting the refinance’s own closing costs. They come out of the cash you get back: $3,000 on the sample.

Articles on this

BRRRR method example, from purchase to refinance
In a BRRRR, the appraisal decides how much of your cash comes back. In this example, a $200,000 appraisal leaves $13,600 of your cash in the house and a $180,000 one leaves $28,300, even though the lower appraisal shows better monthly cash flow.
Cash-out refinance seasoning requirements for BRRRR
For a loan Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will buy, you generally need six months of ownership before a cash-out refinance, or 12 months if it pays off the mortgage you bought with. In this example, refinancing at month four through Fannie Mae’s delayed-financing exception leaves $38,200 of your cash in the house, while waiting until month six leaves $15,200.
Is the BRRRR method dead? A 2026 refinance test
No, but a higher rate can shrink the refinance the method depends on. In this example, a lender that wants the house’s income to cover its loan payments 1.25 times lends $145,224 at 8% instead of $150,000, so $18,281 of your cash stays in the house instead of $13,600.
Rehab loans for investment property: the rules
Not with FHA’s 203(k), which insures only a home you occupy. Fannie Mae’s HomeStyle Renovation allows a one-unit investment property, and in this example one 85% loan across $155,000 of price and work takes $26,350 of cash and leaves $411 a month.
What is forced appreciation in real estate?
Forced appreciation is the gap between what a property is worth when you are finished and what it cost you to get there. In this example a house that cost $160,600 all in appraises at $200,000, so $39,400 of value was created rather than waited for.