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.