BRRRR, Buy & Hold the Way to Go

[Kay Sam]

I’m looking for some clarity from experienced investors on strategy and what’s actually working in today’s market.

I’ve done a few deals over the past couple years (mix of experiences, including some losses), and I’m now trying to reset and move forward in a more sustainable way. I've done fix & flips mostly along with landlording previously on long term hold (how I got in the game).

I’m trying to clearly understand the difference between:

1. BRRRR (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat)
2. Long-term buy & hold (“doors” — just acquiring and holding rentals over time)

From what I'm seeing, a lot of investors say they're "buying doors," but in reality it sounds like they're still refinancing and recycling capital, which feels very similar to BRRRR.

So my questions are:

• When you’re scaling with BRRRR, is your wealth primarily coming from equity growth + portfolio size vs actual cash flow?
• How often are investors actually able to pull MOST or ALL of their capital back out on a refinance in today’s market?
• Realistically, how much liquidity do you actually need to start BRRRR right now? Is the “$5K in and recycle” idea real, or is that only possible with perfect deals / partnerships?
• For those actively doing BRRRR — are you typically leaving money in deals more often than not?

I’m also trying to decide on market focus.

I have experience and some connections in DFW, but I’ve also been exploring Midwest markets (specifically Ohio) due to lower price points and potential rent ratios.

My concern with Ohio is:
• starting from scratch with a team
• being remote
• execution risk

Versus DFW:
• higher prices
• tighter margins
• but stronger familiarity and existing relationships

For those who’ve faced this choice:

Would you stay in a market where you already have experience and a network, even if margins are tighter, or move to a lower-cost market and rebuild from scratch?

Appreciate any insight — especially from those actively doing deals in the current market (not just theoretical strategy).

[Bryce Fairburn]

Hey Kay

My experience with the BRRRR method has been equity growth. Usually when I do the refinance part of the steps I end up reducing my single property cash-flow as a result of maximizing the amount of capital I can access. This has risks attached to it that are important to consider.

To pull most all boils down to how good was the purchase and how accurate was the rehab and ARV's on the deal? I have been considering leaving some capital in the deal as a solid base hit, pulling all out as a double/triple, and then pulling more then I started with as a homerun.
The $5K is a great marketing tool.  the less money in requires more work on the deal structure/partnership/creativity portion.  I work with lenders who will finance 100% of the reno costs on the correct deal, so there is possibility of lower amount of entry.  However $5k is tough solo.

I have seen investors have great success in the Midwest for the following reasons
- lower cost of entry in comparison to rental rates
- Significant weather events are not as destructive as other parts of the country (snow storms vs hurricanes..etc)
- stable appreciation, not the big swings like the popular locations
- construction costs are typically lower then some other places.

I would be happy to help run numbers with you as you look at deals!
Bryce