If you’ve done at least one real estate transaction, chances are you’ve heard of (or even tried) the BRRRR method – Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat.
It’s become wildly popular thanks to platforms like BiggerPockets and real estate influencers like Brandon Turner. On the surface, it sounds like the perfect strategy: buy a house, fix it up, rent it out, pull your money back out, and do it again. Simple, right?
But here’s the thing—the BRRRR method won’t actually make you financially free. In fact, if you’re serious about creating passive income and scaling your real estate portfolio, you need to rethink your entire approach. Let’s break down why BRRRR doesn’t work for long-term financial freedom—and what you should be doing instead.

Can BRRRR Actually Get You to Financial Freedom?
Most real estate investors start with a simple goal: build passive income so they can quit their jobs and live life on their terms. And on paper, the BRRRR method seems like a great way to do that. But have you actually done the math?
Let’s say you want to replace your income with $10,000 per month in passive cash flow.
Each BRRRR takes about one year from start to finish. This factors in things like finding the property, renovating it, and renting it out to tenants. You’ll net around $300 per month in cash flow per property. That means you’d need at least 30 properties to hit your goal of $10K/month.
Assuming that you do 2 of these deals per year, you’d still be grinding for 15 years to build that portfolio.
That timeline was way too long for me. Are you willing to spend the next 15 years buying single-family homes to build that kind of passive income? That’s not financial freedom—that’s a full-time job.
BRRRR is More Work Than You Think
Most people don’t talk about how much work the BRRRR method actually requires. Each deal involves:
- Finding the property (which takes time, effort, and a lot of competition in today’s market)
- Managing contractors (ever had a renovation go over budget? Yeah, it happens all the time)
- Placing a tenant (screening, leasing, and hoping they don’t trash the place)
- Refinancing (dealing with appraisals, loan approvals, and paperwork)
And then you have to do it all over again. Every. Single. Year.
The Better Solution: Apply BRRRR to Multifamily Investing
I actually like the BRRRR model – but not with single-family homes, it’s just not scalable. So if you like BRRRR but want to actually achieve financial freedom, here’s what you need to do: stop doing it with single-family homes and start applying it to multifamily properties.
Think about this—if you’re putting in the same amount of work to buy and renovate a single-family home, why not do the same thing with a 10-unit or 20-unit apartment building?
Just think about this:
Faster Scaling = Faster Financial Freedom
Instead of buying 30 single-family rentals over 10+ years, what if you could buy one 30-unit building in one deal?
- More doors = more cash flow
- One loan instead of 30 separate loans
- Easier property management (one location instead of 30)
- Greater economies of scale (repairs, renovations, and management costs are lower per unit)
The Same BRRRR Model, But Better
The great thing about multifamily investing is that you can use the same BRRRR strategy—but with bigger deals.
- Buy an undervalued apartment building (just like you would a house)
- Rehab units to increase value
- Rent out at market rates to increase income
- Refinance once the property’s value has increased
- Repeat—except now you’re doing it with 20+ units at a time, not just one.
So, What’s Next?
Look, if you’ve been grinding away at the BRRRR method, I get it. I was there too. I flipped houses for years before realizing that it was just another job—not passive income.
But once I made the switch to multifamily investing, everything changed. Today, my team has built a portfolio of over $300 million in apartment buildings—and we help other investors do the same.
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Okay, but how do I actually start?”—I’ve got something for you.
It’s called Apartments 101—a free course I created to help investors like you transition from single-family to multifamily investing. It walks you through how to find deals, raise capital, and scale your portfolio way faster than you ever could with the BRRRR method.
Click the link below to sign up.
To your success,
Michael Blank