Enter the purchase, rehab, ARV and refinance terms. You get the all-in cost, the new loan, the cash you leave in the deal, and whether the property still cash flows after the refinance payment.
Buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat. The strategy's whole promise is pulling your capital back out at the refinance so you can do it again. So the number that matters is not the profit on paper; it is cash left in the deal:
Cash left in = (purchase + rehab + holding costs + refinance closing costs) minus the new loan, where the new loan is the after-repair value times the lender's loan-to-value cap.
The defaults above: buy at $170,000, put in $40,250 of rehab, which is a $35,000 contractor bid plus a 15% contingency, and $8,000 of holding and closing costs, for $218,250 all-in. The property appraises at $285,000 and the lender refinances at 70% LTV, a $199,500 loan. After $6,000 of refinance costs you leave about $24,750 in the deal, roughly 11% of all-in cost, and the property still cash flows about $156 a month after the new payment. That is a normal, honest BRRRR, not the zero-cash-left fantasy version, and $156 a month is a thin cushion rather than a comfortable one.
Two things, and both matter if you compare this against your own model. First, you enter operating costs as a single monthly figure, so the accuracy of that figure is on you. A fuller model builds that figure up from taxes, insurance, HOA and separate percentages for vacancy, maintenance, CapEx and management, all struck on gross rent. Second, this page always sizes the new loan on the after-repair value, which assumes you have met your lender's seasoning requirement. Under seasoning most lenders size the cash-out on the lower of your purchase price and the appraisal, which usually removes the point of the strategy.
The influencer version of BRRRR ends with all capital returned. The operator version leaves 10% to 20% of all-in cost in the deal and considers that a win, because the alternative was a 25% down payment. If your result above shows less than 10% left in, the correct reaction is suspicion, not celebration.
The free DealGauge calculator grades any rental A to F across cash flow, cash-on-cash, financeability and cap rate, then solves the most you could pay and still hit your targets. No account, no email, no property limit.
Grade a deal freeMost cash-out refinances land between 70% and 75%, and DSCR lenders often cap cash-out at 70%. Model the number your lender actually quoted, not the best case.
Add it to your rehab budget figure. The default $40,250 is a $35,000 contractor bid plus a 15% contingency, which is the working minimum. Older properties need more.
Then the refinance is converting a rental into a liability, and a smaller cash-out is usually the answer. Never pull equity that the rent cannot service.
This is one metric. The free calculator grades the whole deal A to F after every real expense and shows your walk away price. No account, nothing stored.
New to rentals? The free beginner guide, checklist and market report are on the homepage.
Related: The BRRRR method, explained · DSCR calculator · Cash on cash calculator
General information and educational content only, not investment, tax, or legal advice. Benchmarks are common rules of thumb, not guarantees or projected results. Results are estimates from the numbers you enter. Verify every figure and consult a qualified professional before purchasing any property.