Property Flip Profit Calculator
Calculate profit on a buy-renovate-sell project including holding and financing costs.
Please note: Estimates only, not investment or legal advice. Property markets, taxes, fees and lending rules vary by location and change over time. Verify figures with a qualified professional before committing.
What the Property Flip Profit Calculator does
Flipping profit is sale price minus everything: purchase, acquisition costs, renovation, holding costs while you own it, finance interest, and selling costs. The costs beyond purchase and renovation routinely add 10–15% of the sale price, which is what catches inexperienced flippers.
Formula
Total cost = Purchase + Purchase costs + Renovation + Holding + Finance + Selling costsProfit = Sale price − Total costROI = Profit ÷ Cash invested × 10070% rule: Maximum offer = ARV × 0.70 − Renovation cost
Inputs explained
| Input | Unit | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | selected currency | Yes | Accepts more than 0. |
| Renovation cost | selected currency | Yes | Accepts 0 or more. |
| Expected sale price (ARV) | selected currency | Yes | Accepts more than 0. |
| Purchase costs | % | Yes | Legal fees, stamp duty, survey. |
| Selling costs | % | Yes | Agent commission, legal fees. |
| Holding period | months | Yes | Accepts 1 or more. |
| Monthly holding costs | selected currency | Optional | Utilities, insurance, tax, security. Accepts 0 or more. |
| Loan amount | selected currency | Optional | Accepts 0 or more. |
| Loan interest rate | % | Optional | — |
| Currency | one of 10 options | Optional | — |
How to use it
- Choose Currency.
- Enter Purchase price, Renovation cost, Expected sale price (ARV) and Purchase costs and 2 more.
- Optionally add Monthly holding costs, Loan amount and Loan interest rate.
- Select Calculate.
Worked example
Buy at $180,000, renovate for $45,000, sell at $290,000, 3% purchase and 6% selling costs, 6 months at $600 holding, $150,000 loan at 10%.
- Purchase
- 180000
- Renovation
- 45000
- Sale
- 290000
- Months
- 6
- Loan
- 150000
Total costs $258,900, profit $31,100 on $80,400 cash — a 38.7% return, or 77.4% annualised.
Reading the result
- The 70% rule figure is a screening guideline, not a formula derived from your entered purchase price — read it as a sanity check on how conservatively the deal was underwritten, not as a target to negotiate down to exactly.
- Break-even sale price is the floor before any profit, calculated independently of your target ARV — comparing it against genuinely comparable recent sales is a more objective check than comparing your ARV guess to itself.
Assumptions and limitations
- Finance costs are calculated as simple interest on the full loan amount for the whole holding period — this does not model a loan that draws down in stages during renovation, which is how many rehab loans actually disburse.
- Renovation cost is entered as a single fixed figure with no contingency built in by the calculator itself, even though overruns are the most commonly cited reason a flip misses its numbers.
Common mistakes
- Comparing "return on cash invested" directly against a full-year investment benchmark without annualising first — a strong return over a short flip looks unrealistically modest next to an annual figure unless the annualised return is used instead.
- Treating a pass on the 70% rule as a profit guarantee — clearing the guideline means the deal has margin for typical costs and overruns, not that the specific numbers entered here will be hit.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 70% rule?
A screening guideline: offer no more than 70% of after-repair value minus renovation costs. It leaves roughly 30% to absorb all other costs and still profit.
What most often kills a flip?
Renovation overruns and time on market. Every extra month adds holding and finance costs while the sale price stays fixed.