BRRRR calculator
See how much cash a buy-rehab-rent-refinance still has in the deal. This is the BRRRR capital stack on a BrickAtlas strategy memo.
Calculate cash left in
Enter the purchase, rehab, rent, and refinance assumptions Analyst uses. The refinance is sized to return your cash and capped at 75% of ARV by default. Cash left in updates as you type.
Buy and rehab
Rent
Holding carry
Refinance
Cash left in
$24,254
$94,979 cash required, 74.5% recovered at refinance.
- Cash required
- $94,979
- Refi loan
- $213,750
- Cash from refi
- $70,725
- Cash left in
- $24,254
- Post-refi cash flow
- -$144/mo
- DSCR after refi
- 0.90
How BRRRR cash left in is calculated
Cash left in = cash required − cash returned at refinance
Cash required is the down payment, rehab, purchase closing, and holding costs. Purchase closing defaults to 3% of price. Holding costs are monthly taxes, insurance, HOA, and land rent, plus the purchase mortgage, times the holding months. The sample hold is 6 months. The refinance is the smaller of the max LTV loan and the loan that repays the purchase loan and returns cash required after refinance closing costs. Refinance closing defaults to 2% of the new loan. Cash left in cannot go below zero.
On the sample, cash left in after the refinance is $24,254. Capital recovery is 74.5%. Post-refi cash flow is -$144 per month.
The new loan is capped
Max LTV defaults to 75% of after-repair value. If returning all of the cash would take a larger loan, the refinance stops at that cap and more cash stays in the deal.
Post-refi cash flow uses the new payment
Rent, vacancy, and operating expenses stay. The mortgage switches to the refinance payment. DSCR after refinance is NOI divided by that new annual payment.
The purchase loan is the payoff
On a short hold, Analyst pays off the original loan amount. It does not amortize a long paydown before the refinance.
What this number doesn’t tell you
Cash left in says how much capital the refinance returns. It does not prove the rent, the ARV, or the lender. BrickAtlas runs that loop after the screen: persona, metros, listings, then a strategy-aware Investment Memo.
Whether the flip pays more
A full refinance recovery can still lose to selling if the spread is wide. Flip profit is a different stack: ARV minus costs, without a new rental loan.
Whether the new loan qualifies
A low cash-left-in figure can sit on a DSCR a lender will not close. Analyst shows post-refinance cash flow and DSCR beside the capital recovered.
Whether this market fits
Recycled capital in the wrong metro is still the wrong next investment. Explore ranks cities with Atlas Score and persona Match before you underwrite an address.
FAQ
- What does this BRRRR calculator solve for?
- Cash left in the deal after a refinance sized to return the cash you spent, capped at the max loan-to-value. It also shows the cash required, the refinance loan, post-refinance cash flow, and DSCR.
- What is the default refinance?
- Max LTV is 75% of after-repair value. Refinance closing costs are 2% of the new loan. The holding period before refinance defaults to 6 months. The refinance rate starts half a point under the purchase rate, and not below 4.5%.
- Is this the same BRRRR math as BrickAtlas Analyst?
- Yes. This page uses the BRRRR strategy calculator: cash required, the refinance sized to recovery, cash left in, and the rental statement after the new payment.
- Why can cash left in be zero?
- If the capped refinance returns at least the cash required, nothing remains in the deal. Extra proceeds beyond the cash required show up as cash-out profit. The cash-left-in line does not go negative.
- Where should I go after a BRRRR screen?
- If the capital comes back, open Analyst on the address for rehab evidence, comps, and a strategy comparison with a flip and a hold. If you are still choosing a city, start in Explore.
See if the refinance survives a full memo
Set a persona, explore metros that match, and underwrite the address with BRRRR, flip, and hold side by side.
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