BRRRR Calculator: Cash Left In After the Refinance
A BRRRR calculator that separates gross loan coverage, recovery of your own cash, refinancing costs and monthly cash flow after refinancing.
What This Calculator Does
Enter a BRRRR deal and this calculator tracks the purchase, a rehab paid for in cash, and the refinancing that follows. Acquisition costs and refinancing costs are listed separately, along with the loan you bought with and any principal already paid down. The tool then compares the share of the project the new loan covers with the net cash the refinance actually puts back in your hands, and weighs that same coverage against how much of your own money truly comes back. Finally, it shows an estimated monthly rental cash flow, based on the new-loan and operating figures you enter.
Who Is This For
It's built for investors, agents and their clients sizing up a single Florida BRRRR deal, and it needs documented costs and real lender quotes. What you get back is a nominal cash ledger of the figures you entered. It isn't a loan approval or a verified appraisal. It doesn't follow the whole life of the financing, and it doesn't plan for all your personal liquidity.
How It Works
Among the 15 fields, complete those that apply to your deal and type 0 wherever a value is nil. Monthly carrying costs leave out principal, and they are entered separately from the principal you have already repaid on the purchase loan. Count cash-paid acquisition costs once, and do the same for refinancing costs that the new loan absorbs. Provide both the ARV and the lender's LTV. The rate and term matter only when there is a new loan: type the rate, then pick the term. In the rent, vacancy and operating-expense entries, flag any taxes, insurance or HOA fee that are already bundled in. Press Calculate and weigh refinancing cash, cash returned, cash left in and rental cash flow together. The true payoff of your current loan is a figure you must obtain on its own.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which costs and own-cash figures does the calculation use?
Project cost is the purchase price plus the cash rehab, acquisition costs, and monthly non-principal carrying costs times the full months you hold. For acquisition costs, count the non-refundable cash you spent and subtract credits that really apply. Escrow you can get back stays out, as do reserves you never spent. Your own cash equals project cost less the original purchase loan, with any principal you actually repaid added back. That principal isn't an expense. Nor does it reappear inside carry. Rent collected before refinancing isn't netted out. Own cash measures gross outflow, not your peak liquidity or your total personal liquidity.
Why are loan coverage and cash recovery shown separately?
The new loan is compared with total project cost, at most 100% of it, before the old loan's payoff and before refinancing costs come out. Refinancing cash equals the new loan, less the remaining purchase-loan balance, less refinancing costs. A positive result is returned to you, up to the amount you invested. A negative result isn't hidden: it shows the extra money you'd need to bring. The cash you leave in the deal can't be negative, and anything above your own investment is extra debt, not profit. With no own cash invested, no returned share is shown.
How does it count repaid principal and refinance fees?
Principal you've paid down in cash comes off the original purchase loan to give the modeled payoff. Those payments raise your own outlay and shrink what's owed, yet they never count as project expenses or monthly carry. Refinancing costs are the net non-principal charges. They come from the new loan's proceeds a single time and never mix with cash-paid acquisition costs. Unpaid interest or penalties belong among refinancing costs only if they aren't already counted. The model holds no amortization history, extra draws or financed rehab. Request the actual dated payoff from your lender separately; the principal difference you entered isn't a settlement quote.
What goes into cash flow after refinancing?
To get cash flow, start with the rent left after vacancy, then deduct operating costs and the principal and interest on the new loan. The loan payment covers P&I only. Your operating costs may already include the HOA fee, insurance, property taxes and maintenance, so make sure nothing is left out or counted twice. Cash-on-cash return is the monthly flow times 12, divided by the cash still in the deal. Don't read it as yearly income you can count on; it leaves out appreciation, and it isn't an IRR. With none of your own cash left in, no cash-on-cash ratio appears, even when the flow runs negative. Recovering all your cash can still leave the monthly flow below breakeven. The property still carries risk, too.
Does a zero new loan, an ARV or the lender's LTV mean approval?
No: enter the terms your lender gave you, or an explicit scenario. LTV runs 0%–100%. The rate field takes 0%–25%, and it applies only if there's a new loan. For the term, enter the full-amortization period your lender quoted. These ranges don't set any universal program limit, and they don't decide eligibility. An ARV of 0 is accepted as a stress test for a loss of value, and rent of 0 works too. When ARV times LTV produces zero new principal, the rate and term fields no longer matter, and the calculator won't invent a bank offer. Old principal or refinancing costs may still require extra cash. Verify the appraisal, seasoning, underwriting and the real payoff separately.
How does it handle months, rounding and limits?
The holding period takes whole months, 1–36, so an entry of 2.0 becomes 2, not 20. Each amount tops out at $2 billion. LTV, rate and vacancy accept up to 4 decimals within their allowed ranges. The new loan, the monthly payment and rent net of vacancy are each rounded to the cent, once. Cash totals are built from those rounded amounts plus the carry in cents times full months. Percentages come from the totals, not from what the screen shows. The display stops at $100 billion, a limit of the calculator rather than a bank's rule. It doesn't calculate income or profit tax, IRR or reserves, and it keeps no full loan or rental history. Refresh your real quotes and rerun.