What is lender seasoning and why does it affect my BRRRR timeline?

Lender seasoning is a waiting period that many lenders require before they'll approve a cash-out refinance on an investment property. Most conventional lenders require you to have owned the property for at least six months. Some require twelve. DSCR lenders - which are commonly used for investment properties - may allow three to six months, but policies vary by lender.

This matters for BRRRR because the total timeline is longer than most beginners expect. Even if your rehab finishes in two months and you place a tenant quickly, you may still be waiting another four to six months before a lender will process the refinance. That's cash sitting in the deal that can't be deployed elsewhere.

DealPrism's BRRRR execution timeline breaks this out explicitly into three phases:

Rehab - estimated from your rehab budget. Lease-up - time to find and place a tenant after rehab is complete. Seasoning - the lender's ownership requirement before the refinance can proceed.

The seasoning phase defaults to six months as a planning assumption. Always confirm your specific lender's requirements before committing to a timeline - some lenders are more flexible than others, and the difference can significantly affect when you can deploy recycled capital.