THE FIELD GUIDE · MORTGAGE PLANNING
From a property idea to a complete cash plan
Follow rental operations, renovation, refinancing and sale without treating borrowed money as profit.
Name the cash decision
Choose the short-term rental operating plan for an entered year of bookings, BRRRR for purchase through refinance and rental operations, the flip planner for a sale exit, or seller proceeds for a settlement budget. Each answers a different question; none issues a loan approval or establishes a market value.
Separate operating cash from NOI
The rental model starts with lodging and guest cleaning revenue, subtracts turnover and other operating costs, then shows capital reserve and debt service separately. Its twelve months spread the entered operating year evenly; this is not a seasonality or booking forecast. A capital reserve is a cash allowance, not depreciation or a modeled tax deduction.
Follow the refinance waterfall
The BRRRR model pays purchase-loan principal and refinance charges from gross refinance proceeds. The remaining amount is cash returned, or additional cash required if negative. Recovering a cash budget creates new debt; it is not a sale or an infinite-return result. The first operating year then needs its own cash-flow test.
Carry the project through the exit
The flip budget includes purchase, rehab, its entered spent contingency, buying costs, points, interest, other carrying costs and sale charges. The initial loan is assumed fully advanced and interest-only; a real draw facility may differ. Delay the sale to see the added cash cost. A closing deficit is a funding need, not an automatically supplied loan.
Keep settlement cash and outside items apart
The seller tool deducts actual entered selling charges, buyer credits, tax proration and lien payoffs from sale price. Use a dated payoff statement. Cash spent before the sale and an expected later escrow refund stay outside the settlement waterfall so a future refund cannot disguise a current closing shortfall.
Test the weak case
Lower occupancy or rent, add rehab costs, delay the sale, reduce the value supporting a refinance and enter the full selling budget. Negative cash, a return marked unavailable and break-even above capacity are useful results. They show which assumptions need attention rather than promising an outcome.
Bring the actual documents
Check the property-specific tax and insurance estimates, rental permissions and association documents, contractor scope, financing term sheet and final settlement figures. Selling percentages are entered assumptions, not a fixed commission or title tariff. These models exclude income taxes and do not determine taxable profit; review the relevant official guidance and qualified advice for the actual transaction.
This guide is educational. Confirm the figures and conditions for your actual loan.
Official consumer or market guidance ↗