The Arper Group

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Flip calculator

Budget a flip from purchase to resale — total project cost, profit, ROI and a suggested max offer, with RGV property tax and title cost defaults you can edit.

Purchase & rehab

Estimated profit

$9,058

ROI (cash-on-cash)
14.4%
Profit ÷ total cash invested — down payment, out-of-pocket rehab and holding costs, not the financed portion.
Profit margin (% of ARV)
2.9%
Total cash invested
$62,775
Purchase + rehab + contingency$257,500
Loan amount$217,000
Cash to close (purchase + rehab)$40,500
Buy-side closing costs$5,340
Loan points$4,340
Other buy-side closing costs$1,000
Holding costs$16,935
Loan interest$1,989
Property tax$383
Vacant / renovation insurance$200
Utilities & HOA$250
Sell-side costs$21,167
Resale agent commission$18,600
Owner's Policy (seller-paid)$1,817
Other sell-side closing costs$750
Total project cost$300,942
After-repair value (ARV)$310,000

Suggested max offer (70% rule)

A widely used heuristic, not a formula: (ARV × rule%) − rehab budget. It's a starting point for negotiation, not a hard cutoff — it gets less reliable at higher price points (an 80%+ offer can still work on a $600k+ house), flexes with how competitive the market is, and doesn't map cleanly onto every strategy. RGV's typically lower price points tend to track closer to the 70% baseline, but adjust the percentage for your own market and deal.

Rule percentage
%
Suggested max offer$167,000

Your purchase price above is $33,000 over this guideline — the deal may still work (see your full numbers above), but it’s worth double-checking your rehab estimate and ARV.

This is a planning estimate based on the numbers you enter, not investment, tax or legal advice, and not a promise of profit. Profit and ROI depend entirely on your own ARV and rehab estimates — verify both independently before you offer. Talk to a contractor, lender, accountant or attorney about your specific deal.

Flip profits aren't automatically capital gains — if the IRS considers you a real estate "dealer" (based on how often you flip, your intent, and your pattern of activity, not any single flip), profits are taxed as ordinary income and typically subject to self-employment tax too. Ask your CPA how this classification applies to you before you assume a capital-gains rate.

Flip calculator questions

Is the 70% rule a hard cutoff for what I should offer?

No — it's a rough starting point for negotiation, derived from (ARV × 70%) − repair costs. It gets less reliable at higher price points, flexes with how competitive your market is, and doesn't map cleanly onto every strategy. Use it as a gut-check alongside the full numbers above, not a strict rule.

Where do I get my rehab budget and ARV numbers?

Both are yours to build, not ours to guess — ARV should come from your own comparable-sales analysis, and your rehab budget from a contractor bid or line-item estimate (our Rehab Cost Estimator, once live, is built for exactly that). This calculator budgets the deal around numbers you supply.

Why is my loan amount capped even though my total project cost is higher?

Hard money lenders typically cap loans at 65%–75% of ARV (or as-is value), not 100% of your purchase-plus-rehab cost — you cover the rest with cash. That's the 'cash to close' line above, and it's part of what your ROI is measured against.

Are flip profits taxed as capital gains?

Not automatically — if the IRS considers you a real estate "dealer" based on how often you flip and your pattern of activity (not any single flip), profits are taxed as ordinary income and typically subject to self-employment tax as well. Ask your CPA how this applies to your situation.