BRRRR in Greater Seattle Area

BRRRR - Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat
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BRRRR in Greater Seattle Area

Jay Dhanak
Member since 2024 · 9 posts · 15 votes

Hey all,

With the new ADU/DADU laws in Washington (HB 1110 + HB 1337), I've been exploring whether new construction multifamily BRRRR can actually work in Greater Seattle right now — where you refinance and walk away with 100% of your initial investments back, with rent covering all expenses.

The numbers are tough with current rates and construction costs. Curious if anyone's cracked it.

A few things I'd love to know:

What areas are working for you? (Tacoma, Renton, Kent, Everett or any other?)

What strategy is actually working out right now? Any specific creative structure layout?

Happy to connect and learn from experts here. Please drop a comment or DM me!

Thanks in advance.

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  • Arman AhmedPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Columbus Cleveland Dayton, OH · Member since 2024 · 2k+ posts · 927 votes
    5mo
    Quote from @Jay Dhanak:

    Hey all,

    With the new ADU/DADU laws in Washington (HB 1110 + HB 1337), I've been exploring whether new construction multifamily BRRRR can actually work in Greater Seattle right now — where you refinance and walk away with 100% of your initial investments back, with rent covering all expenses.

    The numbers are tough with current rates and construction costs. Curious if anyone's cracked it.

    A few things I'd love to know:

    What areas are working for you? (Tacoma, Renton, Kent, Everett or any other?)

    What strategy is actually working out right now? Any specific creative structure layout?

    Happy to connect and learn from experts here. Please drop a comment or DM me!

    Thanks in advance.


    You're seeing what most people are running into right now, new construction BRRRR in Seattle is hard to make work without perfect numbers or relying on appreciation. What's working more consistently is either accepting you'll leave some money in or shifting to markets where the buy, rehab, and rent numbers actually support the refi. That's why a lot of investors chasing true BRRRR are going out of state, especially into Midwest markets, where lower entry prices and rehab costs give you a real shot at pulling most of your capital back. It really comes down to whether you want to force the strategy in a tough market or go where the math already works.

    [email protected]614-418-6081
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  • Matthew BernalBusiness Member
    Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2021 · 497 posts · 126 votes
    5mo

    You've identified the exact tension

    The HB 1110/1337 opportunity is there but full capital recovery is tough when construction costs and rates are both elevated.

    Tacoma and Renton tend to pencil better than Seattle proper right now lower land and build cost with rents still strong enough to support the DSCR refi.

    The two-step that gets you closest: construction loan to build, DSCR refi once stabilized. Your all-in cost needs to land below 75-80% of stabilized appraised value for full recovery to work.

    I do both sides of this in Washington. Happy to model the financing on a specific site.

    Do you have land identified yet or still picking the submarket?

    [email protected]832-981-3190
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  • J CastroBusiness Member
    Lender · Florida · Member since 2025 · 684 posts · 246 votes
    5mo

    Hi @Jay Dhanak, welcome to BP!
    From a lender perspective, true 100% BRRRR on new construction in your market is going to be very tough right now.

    Even if the deal performs well, most lenders are going to cap you around:

    • 70–75% LTV on the refinance, and
    • underwrite conservatively on rents (often not fully giving credit to ADU/DADU or co-living upside)

    On top of that, they’ll want:

    • a stabilized asset (CO issued, leased up)
    • appraisal support based on comps, not just pro forma
    • and sometimes seasoning, depending on the lender

    Where we do see deals work is when:

    • cost basis is low enough vs. appraised value
    • income is strong and well-documented
    • and the borrower isn’t relying on max leverage to make it viable

    So from our side, it’s less about “can you get 100% out” and more about “does this refi hold up under conservative underwriting?”

    If it does, it’s a deal. If it only works at perfect numbers, most lenders will pull it back.

    JCREIG Capital Funding
    WebsiteView Page
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