Strategies
Six residential real estate strategies, evaluated on every deal.
DealIntel underwrites every property against six investment paths simultaneously — Fix & Flip, BRRRR, ADU, Addition, Multi-Unit Conversion, and Ground-Up Development. Each pillar page below covers the math, timeline, capital stack, common failure modes, and when the strategy outperforms the alternatives.
The six strategies
- Fix & FlipShort-hold residentialHow institutional operators underwrite a fix and flip — capital stack, timeline, profit math, the five most common failure modes, and how DealIntel evaluates Fix & Flip alongside five alternative strategies on every deal.Timeline4–9 monthsCapitalMedium — 25–35% equity, balance hard moneyReturn profile15–25% gross profit margin on ARVRead full strategy →
- BRRRRLong-hold rentalThe institutional BRRRR underwriting playbook — five-step capital recycle, DSCR refinance math, rate-shock stress testing, and the failure modes that turn a BRRRR pencil into a trapped-equity rental.Timeline5–9 months acquisition + rehab; indefinite holdCapitalHigh at entry, recycled at refinanceReturn profileInfinite cash-on-cash if 100% capital recycles; 12–20% otherwiseRead full strategy →
- ADUValue-add developmentADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) investment strategy — zoning eligibility, construction cost ranges, value-add calculation, and how an ADU can produce higher ROI than Fix & Flip on the same parcel.Timeline6–12 months from permit to certificate of occupancyCapitalMedium — $200k–$450k construction costReturn profile20–40% lift on parcel value; standalone rental cash flowRead full strategy →
- AdditionValue-add constructionWhen adding square footage to a single-family home outperforms a Fix & Flip — the math, the permit gates, the cost-per-square-foot benchmarks, and the failure modes that turn an addition into a budget overrun.Timeline8–14 months from permit to certificate of occupancyCapitalMedium-high — $250–$450 per added sqftReturn profile$80–$200 per added sqft of net value liftRead full strategy →
- Multi-Unit ConversionLong-hold rentalConverting a single-family home into 2–4 separate rental units — when local zoning permits, the structural retrofit cost, separate metering, refinance mechanics, and the failure modes that derail multi-unit conversions.Timeline9–14 monthsCapitalHigh — structural, electrical, plumbing retrofitReturn profile30–60% lift on parcel value via per-door pricing premiumRead full strategy →
- Ground-Up DevelopmentDevelopmentWhen a tear-down outperforms a renovation — the math, the construction loan structure, soft-cost trap, entitlement timeline, and the failure modes that turn ground-up real estate into a multi-year capital sink.Timeline14–28 months from acquisition to certificate of occupancyCapitalHighest — construction loan + significant operator equityReturn profile25–45% net development margin on costRead full strategy →
How DealIntel picks
On every deal, DealIntel runs all six strategies in parallel — applies the parcel-specific zoning, FAR, setback, density, and rent-control filters to drop any strategy that is structurally infeasible, then ranks the remaining by risk-adjusted ROI. The verdict points at the strategy that best fits the specific property, not the strategy the operator came in defaulting to.
Written by
Matt Abadi
Founder, DealIntel
Matt Abadi is the founder of DealIntel. He leads the development of the platform's six-strategy underwriting engine, 25-point Kill List, and Monte-Carlo financial model — the institutional analysis stack DealIntel applies to every fix and flip deal. DealIntel was founded in 2025 with the central thesis that knowing when not to invest is the most valuable number on the page.
Last reviewed: May 2026