BRRRR · Market Playbook
How to BRRRR in Houston, TX
BRRRR in Houston is a 7.01% gross yield play — $1,549/mo rent on a $265k median. Whether that cash-flows depends on your debt cost.
Data: Zillow Research (via scrape.do) · As of April 2026
Houston is a workable BRRRR market — tight but bankable math on disciplined deals.
- → Gross yield 7.01% — above national baseline
- → Rent $1,549/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. Houston's typical home value is $265,062; ZORI (Zillow's rent index) sits at $1,549/mo. That's 7.01% 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 Houston with comfortable headroom. Cash-flow at $200-400/door is achievable on a properly underwritten property.
Rent demand color: Houston rents ($1,549) sit 20% 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: Houston 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.
Houston at a glance
The numbers above pull from the full Houston market report.
- Median value
- $265k
- YoY
- -2.7%
- Median rent
- $1,549
- Gross yield
- 7.01%
Other strategies for Houston
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