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BRRRR & Fix-and-Flip Calculator

Buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat: whether the refinance actually pulls your cash back out, and what the property earns once it has. Cash left in is the number the strategy lives or dies on.

Also called: buy rehab rent refinance repeat calculator, rental property brrrr.

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Cash left in the deal
-$5,000.00

-$5,000.00 left in after refinancing out $165,000.00. Monthly cashflow is $42.25, and the refinance returned everything you put in.

Total cash in
$160,000.00
Refinance proceeds
$165,000.00
Monthly cashflow
$42.25
Mortgage payment
$1,097.75
Cash-on-cash return
0%
Equity created by the rehab
$60,000.00
How the deal reads
and the refinance returned everything you put in.
How this is calculated

An estimate, not an offer or a guarantee. Projected returns assume the rate you entered holds for the whole term, which no market does.

Method and background

This is what the calculation gives for the numbers you entered. It is an estimate, not advice, and it knows nothing about your situation beyond those numbers. Rules for United States change on a published schedule; the effective date is shown on every rule-based tool.

How this is calculated

The strategy works when the after-repair value is high enough that a refinance at the lender loan-to-value returns most or all of what you put in, leaving a rented property owned with little of your own money in it. If the after-repair value disappoints, cash stays trapped and you cannot repeat. Cashflow is then rent less operating expenses less the new mortgage, and a cash-on-cash return is undefined when nothing is left in, which is the outcome the strategy is aiming for.

cash left in = purchase plus rehab, less what the refinance pays back
P
Purchase price (currency)
R
Rehab cost (currency)
ARV
After-repair value (currency)

Worked examples

Each of these is asserted on every build. If a change to the engine ever moved one of these answers, the build would fail before the page could print it.

a deal that mostly recycles the capital

Purchase price
$120,000.00
Rehab cost
$40,000.00
After-repair value
$220,000.00
Refinance loan-to-value
75%
Monthly rent
$1,900.00
Operating expenses, as a share of rent
40%
Mortgage rate after refinance
7%
Mortgage term
30 years

Cash left in the deal-$5,000.00

arithmetic identity; a negative figure means the refinance returned more than was put in

Open this example

a low appraisal traps the cash

Purchase price
$120,000.00
Rehab cost
$40,000.00
After-repair value
$170,000.00
Refinance loan-to-value
75%
Monthly rent
$1,900.00
Operating expenses, as a share of rent
40%
Mortgage rate after refinance
7%
Mortgage term
30 years

Cash left in the deal$32,500.00

boundary: the single number the strategy is most exposed to

Open this example

no rehab and no uplift

Purchase price
$120,000.00
Rehab cost
$0.00
After-repair value
$120,000.00
Refinance loan-to-value
75%
Monthly rent
$1,900.00
Operating expenses, as a share of rent
40%
Mortgage rate after refinance
7%
Mortgage term
30 years

Cash left in the deal$30,000.00

degenerate case

Open this example

Method and limits

What it assumes

  • Operating expenses as a share of rent covers tax, insurance, maintenance, vacancy and management.
  • The refinance happens at the after-repair value with no seasoning discount.

What it deliberately does not model

  • Holding costs during the rehab, and closing costs on both transactions, are not included.
  • Lender seasoning requirements can delay the refinance by months, which this does not model.

Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · United States · Report a problem with this calculator

Frequently asked questions

What if the after-repair value comes in low?
The refinance returns less, cash stays trapped and the strategy stalls. That single number is the largest risk in the whole approach, which is why it is an input rather than a derived figure.