House Flipping Calculator: Work Out the Profit Before You Buy
A flip's profit is the after-repair value minus five costs: purchase price, repairs, holding costs, buying closing costs and selling costs. Add those up honestly and the answer is usually well below the headline flip profits you read about. This page walks one illustrative deal through the formula, stress-tests it, and then compares it to national flip data.
The flip formula
Every flip calculator, including our fix and flip calculator, comes down to one line:
Profit = ARV − purchase price − repairs − holding costs − buying closing costs − selling costs
- ARV. What the house sells for after the work, from recent sales of renovated homes nearby that match it on size, age and style. It's the number most likely to be wrong, so take the middle of your adjusted comps, not the top. See how to calculate ARV.
- Repairs. Everything needed to match the finish of those comps, broken out by room and system, plus a contingency for what you can't see. Get bids on the big items before you commit.
- Holding costs. Loan interest, property tax, insurance, utilities and any HOA dues for every month you own it, through the sale. Our guide to estimating holding costs walks through each one.
- Closing costs, twice. You pay them when you buy and again when you sell. Selling costs are the bigger set: agent commissions (negotiable), any closing-cost credit you give the buyer, title charges and, in some states, transfer tax.
One deal, worked through (illustrative numbers)
These inputs are assumptions for the example, not market data. Use your own quotes.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| ARV | $250,000 |
| Purchase price | $135,000 |
| Repairs, including contingency | $42,000 |
| Buying closing costs | $3,500 |
| Holding: $2,025 a month for 5 months ($1,500 interest at 12% on a $150,000 interest-only loan, $250 tax, $125 insurance, $150 utilities) | $10,125 |
| Selling costs at an assumed 9% of the sale price | $22,500 |
| Total cost | $213,125 |
| Profit | $36,875 |
That is a 17.3% return on total cost ($36,875 ÷ $213,125) and 14.8% of the ARV. Check the purchase price against the 70% rule as a quick screen too: $250,000 × 0.70 − $42,000 = $133,000, so this deal sits just above the rule and lives or dies on the full numbers. The maximum allowable offer guide covers working backwards from the ARV to the most you can pay.
Stress-test it: best, expected, worst
Run the same deal three ways. Here the ARV moves 5% and repairs 15% each way, with selling costs kept at 9% of the sale price:
| Scenario | ARV | Repairs | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best case | $262,500 | $35,700 | $54,550 |
| Expected | $250,000 | $42,000 | $36,875 |
| Worst case | $237,500 | $48,300 | $19,200 |
Add a two-month overrun to the worst case (2 × $2,025 = $4,050 more holding) and profit falls to $15,150. If a deal still makes money in the worst case, it has room for surprises. If it only works in the best case, pass, or offer less.
The common ways flip math goes wrong: using the highest comp as the ARV, a lump-sum repair guess with no contingency, leaving out holding costs or the timeline overrun, and forgetting the selling costs that come off the top of the sale.
Why national flip profits look bigger than your calculator's answer
ATTOM counted 77,991 single-family homes and condos flipped in the second quarter of 2026, 6.2% of all home sales. It counts a sale as a flip when the same property had an arm's-length sale within the prior 12 months. The typical gross profit was $60,526, down from $66,932 in Q1 2026 and $71,000 in Q2 2025, and the typical margin was 21.5%, down from 25.7% in Q1 2026 and 27.6% in Q2 2025.
Those are gross numbers. ATTOM's profit and ROI figures are resale price minus purchase price only, "not including rehab costs and other expenses incurred." A flipper's net profit is lower, and the gap between ATTOM's figure and your own is what this calculator fills in. The same report shows how much price band matters: flips bought for $100,000–$200,000 had the best typical margin (28%), $200,000–$300,000 had 26%, $300,000–$400,000 had 20%, and homes bought for $50,000 or less produced a typical loss of $15,000, a negative 38% return.
Timeline is the other check. The typical Q2 2026 flip took 161 days from purchase to resale (about 5.3 months), down from 165 days in Q1 2026 and 166 days in Q2 2025, so the example's 5-month hold is in line. Realtor.com data shows homes typically took 60 to 85 days to go from newly listed to closed in 2025, so the sale period alone can be two to three months of your holding time.
Getting the ARV comps right
Fannie Mae's appraisal guide says comparable sales that closed within the last 12 months should be used, and at least three closed comparables must be reported. It also requires the appraiser to state each comp's distance from the subject in miles, and treats nearby sales in the subject's market area as the best indicator of value. For a flip, prefer sales from the last 3–6 months and never go past 12. More in our comps guide.
Doing this in Deal Run
Deal Run is our product, so weigh this accordingly. Its Max Offer step runs this same math for flip, rental and wholesale exits, using MLS-grade sold comps, an ARV and an AI repair estimate from the property's photos. The public demo on the homepage shows the analysis on an address before you pay (it uses sample photos for repairs). Analyze is $29/mo; Analyze + Sell is $99/mo. Or pay per deal: $2 to analyze, $20 with 100 buyers. See comp analysis and repair estimates.
Frequently asked questions
What goes into a house flipping calculator?
Six inputs: the after-repair value (ARV), the purchase price, repairs including a contingency, holding costs, buying closing costs and selling costs. Profit is the ARV minus all the others.
How many months of holding costs should I plan for?
ATTOM reports that the typical home flipped in Q2 2026 took 161 days from purchase to resale, about 5.3 months, so the worked example uses 5 months. Realtor.com data shows homes typically took 60 to 85 days from newly listed to closed in 2025, so the sale period alone can be two to three months of that.
Why is ATTOM's typical flip profit higher than my calculator's answer?
ATTOM's profit and ROI figures are resale price minus purchase price only. They do not subtract rehab or other expenses, so a flipper's net profit is lower than ATTOM's gross number. A flip calculator fills in that gap.
How recent should the comps for my ARV be?
Fannie Mae's appraisal guide says comparable sales that closed within the last 12 months should be used, with at least three closed comparables reported. For a flip, prefer sales from the last 3 to 6 months and never go past 12.
What should I do if a deal only works in the best case?
Pass, or offer less. If a deal still makes money in the worst case, it has room for surprises.
Sources
- ATTOM, Q2 2026 U.S. Home Flipping Report (released October 1, 2026), checked October 30, 2026
- Realtor.com cash-buyer report, PR Newswire release, August 18, 2026, checked October 30, 2026
- Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-08, Comparable Sales, checked October 30, 2026