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House Flipping Calculator
Use this free house flipping calculator to test a flip before you buy. Enter the purchase price, rehab budget, after-repair value, and holding and selling costs, and it shows your total cost, profit, return on cash invested, and whether the deal passes the 70% rule.
ARV is what the home should sell for after repairs — base it on recent comparable sales, not on hope.
Holding cost covers insurance, utilities, property taxes, and maintenance while you own the home.
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Rehab + contingency | $44,000.00 |
| Holding costs | $9,000.00 |
| Buying closing costs | $4,000.00 |
| Loan interest | $6,400.00 |
| Agent commission | $19,200.00 |
| Selling closing costs | $4,800.00 |
| Total cost | $287,400.00 |
| Cash you invest | $103,400.00 |
| Profit | $32,600.00 |
| Return on cash invested | 31.53% |
| 70% rule max purchase price | $184,000.00 |
How it works
A flip makes money only if the sale price covers every dollar that went into the deal, and the costs go far beyond the purchase price and the rehab budget. This calculator adds up all of them: the purchase price, the rehab work, a contingency for surprises, the monthly holding costs while you own the home, closing costs on both the buy and the sell, the agent's commission, and loan interest if you borrow. Profit is the after-repair value minus that total. Return on investment is the profit divided by the cash you actually put in — not by the purchase price — because that is the money at risk.
The after-repair value, or ARV, is the most important number in the whole calculation and the easiest to get wrong. It should come from recent comparable sales of similar homes in similar condition in the same neighborhood, ideally within the last three to six months. A hopeful ARV makes every flip look profitable on paper and painful in real life. Get a realistic ARV first, then let the calculator test the deal against it.
Rehab costs almost always run over budget, which is why the contingency exists. A 10% contingency on a $40,000 rehab adds $4,000 for the problems you find behind the walls — old wiring, a soft floor, a roof in worse shape than it looked. Older homes and full gut renovations deserve a bigger contingency, sometimes 15% to 20%. Holding costs are the quiet drain: insurance, utilities, property taxes, lawn care, and loan payments keep coming every month the home is not sold, so a six-month project that stretches to nine months can cost thousands more than planned.
Financing changes the shape of the deal. With a loan, you put down only part of the purchase price, so your cash invested is much smaller and a good flip produces a high return on that cash — but interest accrues every month, which punishes delays. With cash, there is no interest, but far more of your money is tied up in one property. The calculator shows both the profit and the return on cash invested for the option you choose, so you can compare them directly.
The 70% rule is the quick screen flippers use before doing a full analysis. It says the most you should pay is 70% of the ARV minus the rehab cost. The 30% margin is meant to cover all the other costs — holding, closing, commission, financing — plus your profit. A deal that fails the 70% rule can still make money, as the worked example below shows, but it leaves less room for error, so treat a failure as a warning to check your numbers twice.
Worked example
A flipper buys a home for $200,000, budgets $40,000 for rehab, and expects it to sell for $320,000 after repairs. The hold lasts 6 months at $1,500 a month, buying closing costs are 2%, selling closing costs are 1.5%, commission is 6%, contingency is 10% of rehab, and the loan covers 80% of the price at 8% interest.
Step 1: Contingency is $40,000 × 10% = $4,000, so rehab plus contingency is $44,000.
Step 2: Holding costs are 6 × $1,500 = $9,000. Buying closing costs are $200,000 × 2% = $4,000.
Step 3: The loan is $160,000, so interest is $160,000 × 8% × 6 ÷ 12 = $6,400.
Step 4: Commission is $320,000 × 6% = $19,200 and selling closing costs are $320,000 × 1.5% = $4,800.
Step 5: Total cost is $200,000 + $44,000 + $9,000 + $4,000 + $6,400 + $19,200 + $4,800 = $287,400.
Step 6: Profit is $320,000 − $287,400 = $32,600. Cash invested is $40,000 down + $44,000 rehab + $9,000 holding + $4,000 closing + $6,400 interest = $103,400, so ROI is $32,600 ÷ $103,400 = 31.53%.
The result: a $32,600 profit and a 31.53% return on cash invested. But the 70% rule allows at most 70% × $320,000 − $40,000 = $184,000 for the purchase — and the price is $200,000, so the deal fails the rule even though it still profits. That is the warning in action: the margin is thinner than the rule likes.
FAQ
What is the 70% rule in house flipping?
The 70% rule says you should pay no more than 70% of the after-repair value minus repair costs. On a home worth $320,000 after repairs with $40,000 of rehab, the maximum purchase price is $184,000. It is a quick screening rule, not a guarantee of profit.
How do I calculate profit on a house flip?
Subtract every cost from the sale price: purchase price, rehab, contingency, holding costs, buying and selling closing costs, loan interest, and agent commission. On a $320,000 sale with $287,400 of total costs, the profit is $32,600.
What is a good ROI for a house flip?
Many flippers look for at least a 10% to 20% return on the cash they invest, with 20% or more considered strong. Returns depend on the market, the rehab scope, and how long the project takes, so always compare ROI against the time your cash is tied up.
What costs do beginners forget when flipping a house?
The most commonly forgotten costs are holding costs such as insurance, utilities, and property taxes while the home sits unsold, loan interest, selling closing costs, and a contingency for surprise repairs. Together these can easily add tens of thousands of dollars to a flip.
Is it better to flip with cash or a loan?
A loan lets you flip with less of your own cash, which raises your return on cash invested when the flip goes well, but you pay interest every month the project runs. Cash avoids interest and is simpler, but ties up far more money in one deal. Try both options in the calculator to compare.