JB PARCELBRRRR Calculator
BRRRR only works if the refinance gives your money back. This runs the whole cycle: all-in cost, refinance at your lender's LTV, cash recovered, cash left in, and what the stabilized rental actually earns.
How this calculator works
BRRRR is buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat. The mechanism is simple: buy something below market that needs work, force the value up with the rehab, then refinance against the new appraised value instead of your purchase price. If the new loan is bigger than everything you spent, your capital comes back and you go do it again.
The math that decides it is all-in cost versus ARV times refinance LTV. All-in means everything: purchase, rehab, both sets of closing costs, points, interest during the rehab, and holding costs. If you are all-in at 72 percent of ARV and the lender does 75 percent, every dollar comes back. If you are all-in at 82 percent, roughly seven percent of ARV stays in the deal permanently.
Seasoning is the timeline constraint and the one people discover too late. Most lenders require six months of ownership before they will refinance against the new appraised value rather than your purchase price. Some want twelve. During that window you are paying hard money interest and holding costs, which is why those months are in the all-in calculation.
One trap worth naming. Pulling out one hundred percent of your capital feels like the win condition, but a 75 percent LTV loan on a stabilized rental is a large payment. The calculator flags it when the refinance leaves the property cash-flow negative. A BRRRR that returns all your money and loses $180 a month is usually worse than one that leaves $18,000 in and cash flows.
Worked example: a Memphis BRRRR
$145,000 purchase, $55,000 rehab, $265,000 appraisal, 75 percent cash-out refinance, rents for $1,875.
| All-in cost | $223,045 |
|---|---|
| All-in as a share of ARV | 84.2% |
| Refinance loan at 75% LTV | $198,750 |
| Cash in before the refinance | $73,045 |
| Cash left in the deal | $24,295 |
| Cash flow after refinance | -$193 / mo |
| Equity created | $66,250 |
This is the outcome BRRRR posts on social media do not show. You got $48,750 of your $73,045 back and you own $66,250 of equity, but the 75 percent loan is large enough that the property now loses $193 a month. Two fixes, and they are both on the front end. Buy it at $128,000 instead of $145,000 and nearly all the cash comes back. Or take a 65 percent refinance instead: you leave more in, and the property pays you every month instead of the other way around.
Questions investors ask
What is a good BRRRR outcome?
Under $15,000 left in the deal is strong, under $25,000 is good, and pulling every dollar back is the headline case. But the honest test has two parts: how much cash came back, and does the property still cash flow at the new payment. A full capital return on a property that loses money each month is not a win, it is a liability you financed.
What refinance LTV should I expect?
Seventy-five percent is standard for an investment property cash-out refinance. Some lenders reach 80 percent on a single-family, and fewer will on two to four units. DSCR lenders often cap at 70 to 75 on cash-out. Ask your specific lender before you buy, because five points of LTV on a $265,000 appraisal is $13,250 of your own money.
What is seasoning and why does it matter?
Seasoning is how long you must own the property before a lender will base the loan on its current appraised value instead of your purchase price. Six months is the common requirement, and some lenders want twelve. Until it passes, you are stuck with expensive acquisition financing, which is why every month of seasoning shows up in your all-in cost here.
What happens if the appraisal comes in low?
Your refinance shrinks proportionally and the shortfall stays in the deal. On a 75 percent LTV, every $10,000 the appraisal misses is $7,500 you do not get back. Protect against it by underwriting the ARV conservatively, documenting the scope of work and receipts for the appraiser, and providing your own comparable sales at the inspection. Never plan a BRRRR on the highest comp in the neighborhood.
Do I pay taxes on the cash-out refinance?
No. Loan proceeds are not income, which is the core tax advantage of BRRRR over flipping. You keep the property, the depreciation, and the cash flow, and the money you pulled out is untaxed because it is borrowed. Your basis and your eventual capital gain are unaffected by the refinance. Confirm the specifics with your CPA, especially around interest tracing if you spend the proceeds outside real estate.
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Screening a real property? Pull its appraised value, assessed value, acreage, land use, and last recorded sale off the JB PARCEL parcel map and drop the real numbers into this calculator instead of guessing. Coverage runs across every county we carry.