Follow the money through buy, rehab, rent, and refinance. See how much cash the new loan returns, how much remains invested, and whether the rental supports the permanent debt.
Cash left invested = total project cost − refinance loan + refinance costs
WORKED EXAMPLE
A $150,000 purchase, $40,000 renovation, $5,000 closing, and $8,000 holding budget cost $203,000. Refinancing at 75% of $280,000 creates a $210,000 loan. After 3% refinance costs and a $120,000 debt payoff, net proceeds are $83,700. Against $83,000 initial cash, this recovers all modeled cash plus $700 before the new rental cash flow.
Separate the acquisition from the refinance
Enter every cost incurred before the permanent loan, including purchase, rehab, closing, and the full holding budget. The acquisition debt payoff should include the outstanding principal you intend to settle at refinance. Include financing charges in the pre-refinance holding budget, not again in principal. The tool treats this as one acquisition borrowing balance with no amortization before refinance. If the actual payoff changes, update it from a lender statement.
Calculate cash returned and cash remaining
The new loan equals appraised value times refinance LTV. Subtract refinance costs and the acquisition payoff to estimate net refinance proceeds. Initial cash is project cost less the acquisition debt, and cash left invested is initial cash less net refinance proceeds. Negative cash left means the model returns more than your original contribution. It is not a guarantee that a lender permits that cash-out amount: seasoning, eligible costs, loan caps, appraisal, and debt-coverage requirements can constrain proceeds.
Check the permanent rental independently
Enter stabilized rent and expenses to calculate cash flow after the new amortizing mortgage. A refinance that returns substantial cash can still leave a weak rental if the new debt payment consumes the income. Cash-on-cash is left unavailable when cash remaining is zero or negative, because dividing by that amount does not create a meaningful conventional return percentage. Compare the monthly cash flow and total dollars recovered instead. Stress-test the appraisal and refinance rate before assuming the capital can fund the next purchase.
Buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat. This calculator models the initial project, the refinance transaction, and stabilized rental cash flow.
Why can cash left invested be negative?
Net refinance proceeds may exceed the modeled initial cash contribution. A negative amount represents excess cash returned in this scenario, subject to actual lender restrictions.
Does the calculator guarantee a cash-out refinance?
No. Lenders may apply seasoning, cash-out, appraisal, cost-basis, and debt-coverage limits beyond the simple LTV assumption shown here.
