Free tool — fix and flip calculator

fix and flip calculator.

A flip is five numbers pretending to be one: what you pay, what the rehab really costs, what the money costs, what the calendar costs, and what comes off the top at the closing table. This calculator runs all five at once — purchase price, rehab budget, hard-money points and interest, monthly holding costs, and selling costs — then prints total project cost, net profit, ROI on the cash you actually invested, and a 70% rule check against the price you entered. The numbers loaded below are a worked example, not a quote: a $135,000 buy, a $45,000 rehab, and a $260,000 exit.

the deal

purchase price ($)

rehab budget ($)

ARV ($)

hard-money financing

loan-to-cost (%)

interest rate (%)

points (%)

Defaults are illustrative, not a quote — around 10-12% and about 2 points is a common range, and pricing varies by lender, market, and track record.

holding and exit

holding period (months)

monthly holding costs ($)

selling costs (%)

Holding costs are taxes, insurance, utilities, and lawn care while you own it. Tax and insurance rates vary by state and county — get real quotes and consult a CPA or attorney.

net profit

$43,825

strong margin — 16.9% of ARV

where the money goes

sale price (ARV)$260,000

purchase price($135,000)

rehab budget($45,000)

financing (points + interest)($11,475)

holding costs($3,900)

selling costs($20,800)

net profit$43,825

70% rule check

MAO $137,000

purchase price is $2,000 under MAO — the buffer is intact

ARV × 0.70 − rehab

ROI on cash invested

103.4%

net profit / cash out of pocket

cash invested

$42,375

down payment + points + interest + carry

total project cost

$216,175

purchase + rehab + financing + carry + selling

financing cost

$11,475

$3,060 points + $8,415 interest

fix and flip · 101

Where flips actually
lose money.

Almost nobody loses a flip on the purchase price alone. They lose it on the rehab line, the calendar, and an exit number that was never conservative.

The formula.

Net profit = ARV − purchase − rehab − financing − holding − selling costs. Financing is points paid up front plus interest for every month you hold the loan. Selling costs are the commission and closing charges that come off the sale price before you see a dollar. Return is measured against cash invested — your down payment, the points, the interest, and every month of carry — not against the purchase price, which is the number leverage makes least relevant.

Every one of those lines is an assumption you control except the last one. Get the exit right first: how to estimate ARV.

revenueARV

lesspurchase + rehab

lesspoints + interest + carry

lessselling costs

what is leftnet profit

Why the 70% rule exists.

Maximum allowable offer = ARV × 0.70 − rehab. The 30% shaved off the top is not profit — it is the pre-paid budget for everything this calculator itemizes: the points, the interest, six months of taxes and insurance and utilities, the agent commission, and the slice of the rehab nobody quoted. Pay above MAO and you have not been aggressive; you have spent the buffer before demo day. Tax and insurance costs vary widely by state and county — get real quotes and consult a CPA or attorney rather than trusting a percentage.

Run the offer on its own with the 70% rule calculator.

MAOARV × 0.70 − rehab

at or under MAObuffer intact

over MAObuffer spent

target margin~10–15% of ARV

The mistake that ruins it.

Two lines kill flips, and they arrive together: the rehab overrun and the extra months. A budget that slips 20% and a hold that stretches from four months to eight does not cost you the overrun — it costs the overrun, plus interest on the money that funded it, plus four more months of taxes, insurance, utilities, and lawn care. Then the exit assumption quietly gets raised to make the spreadsheet balance again, and that is the moment a project becomes a loss.

Push the holding period to your honest worst case and the ARV down to your most conservative comp before you sign. If it still pays, it is a deal. When the numbers go wrong.

rehabbudget + contingency

timelineplan + 2–3 months

exituse the low comp

stress testall three at once

FAQ

Before you buy it.

Straight answers on flip profit, hard-money cost, and the rule everyone quotes.

— The math —

How do you calculate profit on a fix and flip?

Start with ARV, then subtract everything: purchase price, rehab budget, financing (points plus interest for the months you hold it), monthly carrying costs, and selling costs. What is left is net profit. Divide that by the cash you actually put in — down payment, points, interest, and carry — to get ROI on cash invested.

— Good return —

What is a good ROI on a house flip?

Many flippers underwrite to a net profit of roughly 10 to 15 percent of ARV, and most also hold a fixed dollar floor below which the job is not worth the risk. Percentage returns look enormous with leverage, so read the dollar profit next to the percentage: a 90 percent return on a small amount of cash is still a small paycheck.

— Cost of money —

How much does a hard money loan cost on a flip?

Two charges, not one. Points are paid up front, commonly around 2 points of the loan amount, and interest runs for as long as you hold the property, commonly around 10 to 12 percent and usually interest only. Rates and fees vary by lender, market, and track record, so treat any figure here as illustrative and price the deal from a real term sheet.

— 70% rule —

Does the 70% rule still work?

Yes, as a buffer test rather than a law. ARV times 0.70 minus rehab checks whether the price leaves room for financing, carry, commission, and the rehab surprise. In cheap markets the fixed costs eat more than 30 percent, so many investors work at 65 percent; in expensive markets some stretch toward 75 percent while holding a hard cash-profit floor.

Live · all 50 states

Find the flip
before you model it.

Verleon AI underwrites active listings across all 50 states — comps and ARV, the 70% rule, and a deal score on every one — so the numbers you type into this calculator start from a real property instead of a guess.

Try Verleon AI →BRRRR vs. flipping