Fix & Flip Calculator
Two answers every flipper needs before offering: the maximum purchase price by the 70% rule, and the projected profit after purchase, rehab, holding, and selling costs at your actual numbers.
Flip analysis
Example: $400,000 ARV, $50,000 rehab → max offer $230,000; at that price the projected profit is $86,000.
The worked example
A house that will be worth $400,000 renovated, needing $50,000 of work: the 70% rule caps the offer at 70% × $400,000 − $50,000 = $230,000. Buying at exactly that price, with $10,000 of holding costs and 6% selling costs ($24,000), total money in reaches $314,000 — leaving a projected profit of $86,000, a 27.4% return on cost. Every figure is computed by the same tested engine as the calculator above.
Where flips actually lose money
Rarely on the purchase — usually on the three estimates around it. Rehab budgets overrun (walls hide surprises), timelines stretch (each extra month is pure holding cost), and ARVs disappoint (the comp that justified $400,000 was a nicer street). The 70% rule's margin exists precisely to absorb two of those three going wrong. If a deal only pencils at 80% of ARV with a perfect rehab, it isn't a margin business anymore — it's a bet on nothing going wrong.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 70% rule?
A flipper’s screening heuristic: pay no more than 70% of the after-repair value minus rehab costs. The 30% margin is not all profit — it must absorb holding costs, selling costs, financing, and surprises, with profit in what remains. Some investors use 75% in hot markets or 65% for riskier projects; the calculator lets you set the percentage.
What is ARV and how do I estimate it?
After-repair value: what the property will sell for once renovated, estimated from recent sales of comparable already-renovated homes nearby — same size, beds, condition tier. ARV is the single most dangerous input in a flip: an optimistic ARV inflates the max offer and the projected profit simultaneously. Use conservative comps.
What goes into holding costs?
Everything the project costs per month times the months you hold it: loan interest or hard-money points, property tax, insurance, utilities, and lawn/security. Flips that run long bleed through holding costs — a project planned at four months that takes eight can watch its profit halve from this line alone.
Why do selling costs default to 6%?
Agent commissions plus seller-paid closing items commonly land near 5–7% of the sale price in the US, so 6% of ARV is the standard planning figure. If you will sell without an agent or negotiate lower commissions, adjust the percentage — on a $400,000 sale each point is $4,000 of profit.
Not financial advice: a general educational estimate. It excludes financing structure, income taxes on the profit, and market movement during the project — verify every deal with local comparables and qualified professionals. Values are processed locally in your browser and never transmitted. See the methodology page.