Fix & Flip Profit Calculator
Estimate house-flip profit and ROI from purchase, rehab, holding, and resale costs.
Published by Blueprint Dynamics. Planning tools, not professional advice. Read the formula, assumptions, and examples below before relying on a result. Independent professional review is not claimed. Learn more about our methodology →
AllTemplates • Blueprint Dynamics • hello@bpdynamics.io. Educational worksheet; entries and assumptions are not independently verified. This document is not tax, legal, medical, investment or engineering approval. Review current official rules and seek a qualified specialist where appropriate.
Specialist review required for real decisions
No live prices, legal due diligence or return guarantees. Model financing, vacancy, tax, insurance and transaction costs separately; have an adviser review a real investment decision.
Primary reading context, not an endorsement or evidence that the linked organization reviewed this tool. No independent professional sign-off is claimed.
About the Fix & Flip Profit Calculator
The difference between a profitable flip and an expensive lesson is almost always decided before you buy, in the underwriting. This calculator forces the discipline that separates successful flippers from optimists: pinning down the after-repair value, the total money going in, and the costs of selling, then checking whether the spread is worth the risk.
You enter the purchase price, the rehab budget, holding costs, a selling-cost percentage, and the after-repair value (ARV) you expect once the work is done. The tool sums your total investment, subtracts the selling costs and everything you put in, and reports net profit and return on investment in real dollars and percentage terms.
Because every input is a lever, the calculator doubles as a negotiating and go/no-go tool. If the profit only works at an optimistic ARV or a shoestring rehab budget, you can see that instantly and either sharpen your offer or walk away, which is exactly the decision that protects your capital.
How the Fix & Flip Profit Calculator works
Total invested is the straightforward sum of purchase price plus rehab budget plus holding costs. Holding costs cover the carry while you own the property: loan interest or hard-money points, property taxes, insurance, and utilities for the months the project runs. These are entered as a single lump sum, so estimate them for the full expected timeline.
Selling cost is calculated as the selling-cost percentage applied to the ARV, not to your purchase price. That percentage typically bundles the real estate agent commissions, transfer taxes, title fees, and seller concessions, which together commonly run in the 6% to 10% range of the final sale price.
Net profit is ARV minus selling cost minus total invested. Return on investment is net profit divided by total invested, expressing your gain as a percentage of every dollar you committed to the deal. Note this ROI is on total capital in the project, not on your cash if you finance part of the purchase, and it is not annualized.
Worked example
Take the defaults: buy at $180,000, budget $45,000 for rehab, and $8,000 in holding costs, giving a total invested of $233,000. You expect an ARV of $300,000 and estimate selling costs at 8%, which is $24,000. Net profit is $300,000 - $24,000 - $233,000 = $43,000, and ROI is $43,000 / $233,000 = 18.5%.
That 18.5% return looks attractive, but notice how thin the margin for error is. If the rehab runs $15,000 over budget or the house sells for $285,000 instead of $300,000, most of that profit evaporates. Flippers often apply the 70% rule as a sanity check: pay no more than 70% of ARV minus rehab, which here would be (0.70 x $300,000) - $45,000 = $165,000, suggesting the $180,000 purchase leaves little cushion.
The example illustrates why disciplined flippers build in contingency. A profit that survives a 10% rehab overrun and a 5% price haircut is a resilient deal; one that only works if everything goes right is a gamble dressed up as an investment.
Tips & common mistakes
- Build a contingency into your rehab budget, typically 10% to 20%, because hidden problems behind walls are the rule, not the exception. Underestimating rehab is the single most common way flips lose money.
- Estimate holding costs for a realistic timeline, not a best case. If permits, contractors, and the eventual sale realistically take six months, budget six months of interest, taxes, insurance, and utilities, not three.
- Apply selling costs to the ARV and do not forget seller concessions. In slow markets buyers often ask for closing-cost help, which effectively raises your selling-cost percentage.
- Sanity-check your purchase price against the 70% rule. If your offer exceeds 70% of ARV minus rehab, the deal has little room to absorb surprises.
- Anchor your ARV to genuine comparable sales of renovated homes nearby, not to listing prices or wishful thinking. An inflated ARV is the fastest way to turn a projected profit into a real loss.
Fix & Flip Profit Calculator: frequently asked questions
What is ARV and why does it matter so much?
ARV stands for after-repair value: the price the property should sell for once your renovation is complete, based on comparable renovated homes in the area. It matters more than any other input because both your profit and your selling costs are derived from it. An ARV that is even 5% too optimistic can wipe out most of a projected profit, so it should be grounded in real recent comps, not asking prices.
What is included in holding costs?
Holding costs are everything you pay to own the property while you renovate and sell it: loan interest or hard-money points, property taxes, insurance, utilities, and any HOA dues. Because they accrue every month, they are directly tied to how long the project takes. Enter a lump sum that reflects your full expected timeline, and pad it if your schedule is uncertain.
Does the ROI here reflect my actual cash return if I use financing?
No. The ROI is calculated on total capital invested in the project, treating the whole purchase, rehab, and holding costs as your money. If you finance part of the purchase with a loan, your cash-on-cash return on the money you personally put in would be higher, but so would your risk. Add loan interest into holding costs so the profit at least reflects your borrowing expense.
What is the 70% rule and does this tool enforce it?
The 70% rule is a rule of thumb that says you should pay no more than 70% of the ARV minus your rehab budget. It builds in a cushion for costs and profit. This tool does not enforce it, but you can check any deal against it: compare your purchase price to (0.70 x ARV) - rehab budget. If your price is higher, the deal has thin margins.
Is the profit shown before or after taxes?
Before taxes. A flip held short term is typically taxed as ordinary income (and may be subject to self-employment tax if flipping is your business), which can take a meaningful bite out of the net profit shown. Consult the tax treatment for your situation, because the after-tax return can be considerably lower than the headline ROI.