.png)
Buy Refurbish Refinance Rent or BRRR is an increasingly common investment strategy
used to purchase property. 'Buy refurbish refinance rent' refers to when an investor intends to purchase a property, add value to it by refurbishment and then refinance it onto a Buy to Let mortgage to then rent to a tenant.
It's popular strategy as an investor can release equity from the investment property through re-mortgaging. This allows the investor to recycle their money to purchase more investment properties. BRRR is a great strategy for property portfolio building as it allows the investor to scale up their portfolio quickly and cost effectively.
Funding
Buy refurbish refinance deals typically need to be funded with cash or development finance (bridging).
You will also need to counter for other expenses which will occur when purchasing a property which could include:
Legal costs
Building Insurance
Stamp Duty
Refinancing costs
Refurbishment costs
Broker fee
Sourcing fee
To further your understanding, here is a rough example of what the numbers could look like for a property that is bought with the BRRR strategy using cash.
If you are thinking of using development finance to fund a BRRR deal you'll need to decide how much you want to borrow e.g you might want to pay the deposit in cash and borrow the development costs. You will also have to factor in interest rates if using a bridging loan. You can find out more about the expenses you may incur when using development finance in our blog post The Hidden Fees of Bridging Finance.
Buying
When buying a property to buy refurbish and then refinance you want to be looking for something that you can add value to. Distressed and tired properties are always a good start. However, location is key. It's good to research your investment area thoroughly. You need to be running your enhanced due diligence on the area to get a good idea of what the property could be revalued at and how much rent it could achieve before you make any offers. To get a better idea of how you can be running enhanced due diligence on a property you can check out our 5 Ways to Run Enhanced Due Diligence.
Refurbishing
When refurbishing the property you'll want to make sure that everything that needs replacing is replaced, make sure that the electrics are updated and if the property has a poor EPC rating be sure to take the measures to improve it.
There are multiple ways to add value to a property but making sure that the kitchen and bathroom are both up to a good standard is a great place to start. The higher the spec you can refurbish the property to, the more likely you are going to be able to refinance or remortgage the property at an increased value, and the more equity you can pull out.
Rental regulations are also ever changing. Make sure that you research how to refurbish the property to comply with rental building regulations so that your property is tenant safe.
Refinancing
When the property is refurbished you can refinance it onto a BTL mortgage to release equity in the property leaving little to almost no money in the deal. You can recycle the equity into another property and still have gained yourself a great cash-flowing asset. Of course your rent needs to exceed the mortgage payments so that you are able to cover the repayments and monthly management/maintenance fees and still achieve cash-flow. Remember you will also have to factor in the deposit for the BTL mortgage so the numbers are key here.
Renting
When you do come around to renting the property out you will want to ensure that you find a good tenant who can keep up with the monthly payments. You will also want to decide whether or not you will be managing the property yourself or if you want to pass it on to a letting agent.
If you decide to choose a letting agent it's worth asking what kind of tenant checks the letting agency does and finding out how much they charge for management. Checks can be anything from getting a guarantor or reference from the tenants to in some cases doing credit checks on the tenant to ensure they can keep up with the monthly payments. If you are managing the property yourself you will need to ensure that you are going to check the tenants yourself and that you are confident that the tenant will look after property and keep up with the repayments.
And Repeat..
So the property is let out to a tenant, and you've pulled the majority of your money back out through refinancing it.
The next steps?
Repeat the process and buy another property.
Thanks for reading.