How to Price Your Investment Property to Sell Fast (Investor-to-Investor)

This guide is part of our complete sell without an agent series.

You found the deal. You got it under contract. Maybe you've done some work to it, maybe you're moving it as-is. Now you need to sell it to another investor, and you need it to move fast. The single biggest factor that determines whether your deal sells in two days or sits for two months is price.

But pricing for investors is fundamentally different from pricing for homebuyers. A homebuyer falls in love with granite countertops, an open floor plan, and the way the afternoon light hits the living room. An investor opens your email, looks at three numbers, and decides in 90 seconds whether to reply or delete. Those three numbers are: what's the ARV, what are the repairs, and what's my profit. Everything else is noise.

The investor pricing formula

If you want to price your deal correctly, you have to think like the person buying it. Investors work backward from profit. Here is the formula running through every buyer's head when they see your deal:

ARV - Buyer's Costs - Buyer's Desired Profit = What They'll Pay

The buyer's costs include: remaining repairs, closing costs on the buy side, holding costs during rehab, closing costs on the sell side, and agent commissions if they're listing with an agent on the exit. Add all of that up and it can easily reach 30-35% of the ARV before the buyer even accounts for their profit margin.

This means your asking price can't be based on what you want to make. It has to be based on what the buyer can make. If the numbers don't work for them, your deal doesn't sell at any price. If the numbers do work, it'll sell fast regardless of whether the kitchen has been updated.

Step 1: Run comps and determine ARV

Everything starts with an accurate after-repair value. If your ARV is wrong, your price will be wrong, and either you'll leave money on the table or your deal will sit.

Pull 3-5 comparable sales within 0.5-1 mile that sold in the last 6 months. These should be similar in size, configuration, and -- this is the part most people miss -- condition. A renovated comp tells you the renovated value. A distressed comp tells you the as-is value. You need to use renovated comps for your ARV because that's what your buyer's exit price will be.

Adjust for differences in square footage, bedroom and bathroom count, lot size, and condition. Don't average blindly. Throw out outliers that don't make sense and weight the comps that are most similar to your subject. For a detailed walkthrough, read our guide on how to run comps like a pro and how to calculate ARV step by step.

Step 2: Estimate remaining repairs from the buyer's perspective

This is where wholesalers and fix-and-flip sellers need to think differently. You're not estimating repairs from your perspective. You're estimating what the buyer will need to spend after they acquire the property from you.

If you've already completed a full rehab, repairs from the buyer's perspective might be zero or close to it. If you're wholesaling an as-is property, you need an honest estimate of what the buyer will spend to bring it to retail-ready condition. Don't lowball this number. Experienced buyers will walk your property with a contractor before closing, and if your repair estimate is $30K and their contractor says $55K, you've lost the deal and your reputation.

Walk the property room by room. Account for roof, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, foundation, flooring, kitchen, bathrooms, paint, landscaping, and any code violations. Our guide on estimating repair costs without a contractor breaks this down in detail.

Step 3: Calculate the buyer's maximum allowable offer

Now put yourself in the buyer's shoes and run their numbers. Different buyer types use different formulas, but the most common starting point for flippers is the 70% rule:

MAO = (ARV x 0.70) - Repair Costs

For a property with a $300K ARV and $40K in remaining repairs, the buyer's MAO at 70% is: ($300K x 0.70) - $40K = $170K. But in practice, wholesale deals sell for 70-80% of ARV depending on market conditions. In competitive markets, many buyers and wholesalers now work at 75% or higher because inventory is tight and holding times are short. Conservative buyers in slower markets may stick to 65%. Use 70% as a starting point, but understand that your competitors may be offering at 75%, and your buyers may accept it.

For landlords, the formula is different. Rental investors care about cash flow, not a one-time flip profit. They're looking at monthly rent relative to purchase price plus rehab cost. The common benchmark is the 1% rule: monthly rent should be at least 1% of the all-in cost (purchase + repairs). A property that rents for $1,500/month should cost no more than $150K all-in.

BRRRR investors (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat) care about the ARV because they're going to refinance after rehab. They need the ARV to be high enough that a 75% LTV cash-out refi covers their purchase price plus rehab costs. If it doesn't, the deal doesn't work for them.

For a full breakdown of these calculations, see our maximum allowable offer guide.

Step 4: Set your asking price

Once you know what the buyer's MAO is, you know the ceiling. Don't price at the ceiling. Price 5-10% above the buyer's MAO to leave room for negotiation. Every buyer wants to feel like they negotiated a better deal, and if you price at the absolute maximum they'll pay, there's no room to move and the conversation stalls.

Using the example above: the buyer's MAO is $170K. Price your deal at $178K-$185K. The buyer counters at $165K. You meet somewhere around $172K. Both sides feel good. The deal closes.

If you price at $195K because "that's what I need to make my money back," you won't even get a response. The buyer's calculator says no before they finish reading your email.

Pricing for different buyer types

Flippers

Flippers are the most price-sensitive buyers. They need a clear path to $25K-$50K+ in profit after all costs. They use the 70% rule as a starting filter, though many experienced flippers in competitive markets will go to 75% or higher. Lead with the ARV and the spread in your marketing. Show them the profit before they have to calculate it themselves.

Landlords

Landlords are less focused on ARV and more focused on cash flow. They want to know: what does it rent for, what are the expenses, and what's the net monthly income relative to my investment? If you're selling a property that works as a rental, lead with the rent amount and the cap rate. A landlord will pay more than a flipper's 70% rule if the cash flow is strong. Price accordingly.

BRRRR investors

BRRRR buyers want a high ARV relative to their all-in cost. They need the refinance to work, which means the ARV has to be significantly higher than purchase plus rehab. Lead with the ARV-to-cost ratio. If they can buy for $120K, put in $40K of rehab, and the ARV is $250K, that's a strong BRRRR deal because the refi at 75% LTV ($187K) covers their $160K all-in cost with room to spare.

How to know if you're priced right

The market will tell you within 48 hours. When you blast your deal to a list of active investors, you should get at least 5 inquiries within 48 hours. Not 5 offers -- 5 people who reply and ask for more information or want to see the property. If you're getting that level of response, your price is in the right range.

If you blast to 200+ investors and hear crickets for two days, your price is too high. It's not the photos. It's not the email subject line. It's the price. Investors delete emails where the numbers don't work before they even look at the photos.

When to reduce your price

Price reductions aren't a sign of failure. They're a normal part of the process when you're finding the market price. The key is reducing quickly and decisively rather than letting the deal go stale.

• No response in 48-72 hours: Reduce $3K-$5K and re-blast to the same list plus any new contacts.
• Still no response by day 7: Reduce another $3K-$5K. At this point you should also revisit your ARV and repair estimate. You may have the numbers wrong.
• Day 14 with no serious interest: Re-evaluate everything. Get a second opinion on the ARV. Walk the property again and re-estimate repairs honestly. Consider whether the deal actually works at any price.

Every week you hold a property, you're paying carrying costs. A $3K price reduction today is cheaper than another month of mortgage payments, insurance, and utilities. For more on when to accept a loss, read our guide on when to cut your losses on an investment property.

Common pricing mistakes

Pricing at retail

Investors won't pay retail price. If a property is worth $280K at retail, investors need to buy it for $170K-$200K depending on condition and repair scope. If you're asking $265K "because that's what Zillow says," you're marketing to the wrong audience. Investors aren't retail buyers. They need room for profit, holding costs, and closing costs on both sides of the transaction.

Pricing based on your costs

What you paid for the property is irrelevant to the buyer. They don't care that you bought it for $150K and put in $30K of work. They care about the ARV, the remaining repairs, and their profit. If the market says the deal only works at $165K and you're all-in at $180K, that's your problem, not the buyer's. Price to the market, not to your costs.

Emotional pricing

"I need to make at least $20K on this deal" is not a pricing strategy. It's a wish. The market determines your profit, not your spreadsheet. If you can't make money at the price where the deal actually sells, that's a signal that you overpaid on the acquisition side. Don't compound the mistake by overpricing on the sell side and paying carrying costs for months. For more on deals that aren't moving, see why your wholesale deals aren't selling.

Ignoring comparable pricing data

Some investors set their price based on what similar deals are "listed" for on Facebook groups or Craigslist. Listed price is meaningless. Sold price is what matters. Another wholesaler asking $200K for a comparable deal doesn't mean that deal sold at $200K. It might still be sitting. Always price off sold comps, not active listings. Learn more in our wholesale deal pricing guide.

Putting it all together

Pricing an investment property isn't complicated, but it requires discipline. Run honest comps. Estimate repairs conservatively. Calculate the buyer's MAO. Price 5-10% above it. Blast the deal. Let the market tell you if you're right. Adjust quickly if you're wrong.

The investors who move the most deals aren't the ones with the lowest acquisition costs or the best marketing. They're the ones who price accurately from day one. Accurate pricing builds trust with your buyer list. Over time, your buyers learn that when you send a deal, the numbers work. That reputation is worth more than any individual deal's profit margin.

Related articles

• How to Sell Your Investment Property Without an Agent
• How to Run Comps Like a Pro in 2026
• How to Calculate ARV Step by Step
• How to Estimate Repair Costs Without a Contractor
• Maximum Allowable Offer: The Complete Guide
• Wholesale Deal Pricing Strategy
• Why Your Wholesale Deals Aren't Selling

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