BRRRR · Market Playbook
How to BRRRR in Cleveland, OH
BRRRR in Cleveland is a 14.53% gross yield play — $1,425/mo rent on a $118k median. Whether that cash-flows depends on your debt cost.
Data: Zillow Research (via scrape.do) · As of April 2026
Cleveland is a workable BRRRR market — tight but bankable math on disciplined deals.
- → Gross yield 14.53% — above national baseline
- → Rent $1,425/mo vs. national $1,930 — rent-weak
- → DSCR expectation at 75% LTV / 7.5%: 1.20+ comfortable
- → Appreciation risk to refi: flat — neutral
Start with the gross math. Cleveland's typical home value is $117,703; ZORI (Zillow's rent index) sits at $1,425/mo. That's 14.53% gross annual yield. That's well above the national 4-5% baseline — meaningful cushion for a BRRRR to pencil even at today's debt cost.
Run the DSCR sanity check. Assume 75% LTV refi at 7.5% interest, 30-year, plus taxes + insurance + 8% PM + 8% vacancy/capex reserve. On these inputs you should clear DSCR 1.20+ in Cleveland with comfortable headroom. Cash-flow at $200-400/door is achievable on a properly underwritten property.
Rent demand color: Cleveland rents ($1,425) sit 26% below the national median ($1,930). Local rent is the constraint here — even at favorable acquisition prices, the rent side of the math is the limiting factor.
Refi appraisal risk: Cleveland home values are flat YoY — refi appraisals should support your renovated comp on a properly scoped rehab. No softening tailwind to worry about, no appreciation tailwind to lean on.
Cleveland at a glance
The numbers above pull from the full Cleveland market report.
- Median value
- $118k
- YoY
- -2.1%
- Median rent
- $1,425
- Gross yield
- 14.53%
Other strategies for Cleveland
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