Flip analysis
BRRRR Calculator
The flip you keep instead of sell. Buy, rehab, and rent a property, then refinance against its higher value to pull your capital back out — and see how much comes out, what the rental cash flows afterward, and the return on whatever stays in the deal.
Buy & rehab
Refinance
Rent
Informational only, not professional advice. This models the refinance moment from your own estimates — a real ARV comes from comps and a real loan from a lender, and both can differ from what you enter here.
Methodology
BRRRR's payoff is the cash-out refinance: rehab lifts the property's value, and a new loan against that value returns your capital (BiggerPockets: The BRRRR method). The new payment uses the standard amortization formula (Investopedia: Amortization). The calculation:
- Cash invested = purchase price + rehab + buying & holding costs − any existing loan balance
- New loan = ARV × refinance LTV %
- Cash pulled out = new loan − existing loan balance (paid off at refinance)
- Capital left in = cash invested − cash pulled out
- Monthly cash flow = rent − operating expenses − the new loan payment
- Cash-on-cash = annual cash flow ÷ capital left in (infinite when nothing is left in)
If you bought with cash, leave the existing loan balance at zero and the cash-out equals the full new loan. If you bought with a purchase or hard-money loan, entering that balance pays it off first, so both your out-of-pocket cash and the cash returned drop by the same amount — and the capital left in the deal comes out identical either way. Two figures decide the deal: how little capital stays trapped, and whether the property still cash flows after the larger refinanced payment. Chasing the first at the expense of the second is the classic BRRRR mistake.
Assumptions and limitations
- Handles both cash and financed purchases via the existing-loan field, but assumes that balance is paid off in full at refinance; partial paydowns or a second lien aren't modeled.
- ARV and rehab cost are your estimates — verify ARV with comparable sales and budget a rehab contingency; both errors shrink the cash you recover.
- Refinance LTV caps (commonly 70–75%) and rates are set by your lender and can differ from your inputs.
- Operating expenses exclude the mortgage; pre-tax throughout. Seasoning periods before a lender will refinance aren't modeled.
Built & reviewed by Eric, Founder against the cited primary sources shown in the methodology above. Last reviewed July 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How does the BRRRR method work?
BRRRR stands for Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. You buy a distressed property (often with cash or short-term financing), rehab it to raise its value, rent it out, then refinance against the new higher value to pull most or all of your invested capital back out — and use that recovered cash to do it again. The strategy's appeal is capital efficiency: if the after-repair value is high enough, the cash-out refinance returns nearly everything you put in, leaving you owning a cash-flowing rental with little of your own money still tied up. This calculator models that moment — how much capital comes back out and what the property does afterward.
How much of my money can I get back in a BRRRR?
It depends on the after-repair value and the lender's loan-to-value limit. Refinances typically cap out around 70–75% of ARV, so the cash you recover is roughly that percentage of the repaired value, against everything you put in — purchase, rehab, and carrying costs. When the ARV is high relative to your all-in cost, the refinance can return nearly all of it; when the numbers are tighter, you leave more capital trapped in the deal. The 'capital left in' figure is the heart of BRRRR: the smaller it is, the more the same starting cash can be recycled into the next property.
What makes a BRRRR deal go wrong?
Two numbers, mostly: a rehab that runs over budget, and an ARV that comes in below your estimate. Either one shrinks the cash-out refinance and strands more of your capital than planned. The other trap is chasing a full capital recovery at the cost of monthly cash flow — pull out the maximum loan and the larger payment can push the rental into negative cash flow, so you own a property that bleeds every month even though you got your money back. A sound BRRRR needs both a realistic ARV (verify it with comps) and positive cash flow after the refinanced payment.
What happens to cash-on-cash return when I pull all my capital out?
It goes to infinity, mathematically — and this calculator marks that case rather than printing a nonsense number. Cash-on-cash return is annual cash flow divided by the cash you have invested; if the refinance returns everything, your remaining invested cash is zero, and any positive cash flow is an infinite return on nothing. That's the BRRRR dream: a cash-flowing asset you no longer have money tied up in. In practice a small amount usually stays in the deal, giving a very high but finite return — which is still the point of the strategy.
Related tools
After-repair value from comparable sales — each comp's price per square foot, averaged and applied to your square footage, with every step shown.
Open tool →Rehab Cost EstimatorBuild a flip's repair budget the honest way — a line-item takeoff of the scope of work by category plus a contingency, producing the repair-costs figure the 70% rule and flip profit tools ask for.
Open tool →Refinance CalculatorCompare your current loan to a new one — monthly saving, the break-even point on closing costs, and lifetime interest — so a lower rate that quietly costs more can't hide.
Open tool →Cash-on-Cash Return CalculatorAnnual pre-tax cash flow after the mortgage, as a percentage of the cash you actually invested — cap rate's levered counterpart.
Open tool →