What's the maximum I should pay for a house flip? - Question on Quora.com

There are 2 essential formulas you need to calculate the Maximum Purchase Price that you should offer for a rehab property:

  1. 70% Rule Formula (quick analysis)
  2. Maximum Purchase Price Formula (detailed analysis)

70% Rule Formula

The 70% Rule is a formula you should use to initially quickly analyze a deal to make a “go/no-go decision’ to perform more due diligence on the property.

Over the years, flippers developed a quick rule of thumb called the 70% Rule to help them quickly and roughly analyze the Maximum Purchase Price they should offer for a property.

The 70% Rule states that you should buy a property at 70% of the After Repair Value minus the repair costs.

The 30% reduction theoretically accounts for all of the project's Fixed Costs (Buying Costs, Holding Costs, Selling Costs & Financing Costs) and your desired profit.

Generally speaking, the 30% reduction is broken down as roughly 15% for Fixed Costs & 15% for profit.

Purchase Price = (After Repair Value * 70%) - Repair Costs

Note: The 70% will vary from investor-to-investor and market-to-market. An investor in California may need to buy at 80% of ARV, where an investor in KC may need to buy at 65%. You need to figure out what % of ARV works for you and your market.

Once you determine if the property is a “go”, then you will want to perform a more detailed analysis of the numbers using the Maximum Purchase Price formula.

Maximum Purchase Price Formula

The Maximum Purchase Price formula is a detailed analysis used to calculate the Maximum Purchase Price you should offer for a property. The formula uses a detailed analysis of all of the project costs including your Repair Costs, Buying Costs, Holding Costs, Selling Costs, & Financing Costs.

The Maximum Purchase Price formula is the most accurate calculation because it requires you to think about, consider & calculate every single project cost on the project.

Maximum Purchase Price = After Repair Value - Repair Costs - Buying Costs - Holding Costs - Selling Costs - Financing Costs - Desired Profit

Learn more about House Flipping Formulas

Dave Robertson
July 8, 2018
5 min read
Our blog

Other Recent Blog Posts

New Features

New Material Catalog API Endpoint

Read, create, and update materials in your catalog through the Public API, so you can import past purchase history and refresh your pricing without manual data entry.
Dave Robertson
August 22, 2026
5 min read
New Features

Search, Filter and Complete Tasks Faster

Search your tasks by name, notes, project, or assignee, filter by status and priority, and mark tasks complete right from the table.
Dave Robertson
August 19, 2026
5 min read
New Features

Performance improvements across the platform

We made infrastructure improvements that speed up page loads and eliminate the random delays some users experienced when navigating the app, especially in the Accounting tools.
Dave Robertson
August 17, 2026
5 min read
New Features

Smarter and Faster AI Bulk Expense and Receipt Analysis Imports

We upgraded the AI engine behind our AI Receipt Analyzer and AI Bulk Expense Importer, cutting large bulk import times roughly in half and improving accuracy on itemized receipts, adjustments, totals, and expense categorization.
Dave Robertson
August 17, 2026
5 min read
New Features

More Detail in Your Integrated Calendar Events

Synced calendar events now include project and assignee details, plus links back into FlipperForce.
Dave Robertson
August 11, 2026
5 min read
New Features

New Project Calendar Integrations

Sync a single project's schedules, tasks, and events to your third-party calendar instead of your entire workspace.
Dave Robertson
August 10, 2026
5 min read

Ready to Take Action?

Sign up for a free trial and join over 3,000 house flippers and real estate investors that have taken their business to the next level!