Flip calculator
Your max offer, every cost counted.
Put in what the house will sell for once it's done and what the work costs. The calculator takes out selling, financing, holding and buying costs and your profit, the way every max offer on the Short List is built.
Your max offer
$279,000
$279,780 to the dollar, rounded down to the thousand.
- The 70% rule
- $260,250
- Break-even
- $325,000
| After-repair value | $495,000 |
|---|---|
| Renovation, with contingency | −$86,250 |
| Selling | −$34,665 |
| Financing | −$26,233 |
| Holding | −$11,864 |
| Buying | −$6,708 |
| Profit | −$49,500 |
| Max offer | $279,780 |
Each extra month of holding lowers it by about $3,560.
The loan: 90% of the price and all of the renovation, capped at 75% of the after-repair value, with interest on the purchase for the whole hold and on the renovation for half of it. Estimates from the numbers you enter, not an appraisal.
The Short List works this up for every target, with the after-repair value’s comps and a renovation budget.
Questions, answered.
How do you work out a max offer on a flip?
Start from the after-repair value and take out everything the flip costs: the renovation with a contingency; selling (commission, deed stamps, concessions and fees); financing (points, interest and lender fees); holding (taxes, insurance, utilities and upkeep each month); buying (title, recording, inspections, closing and loan taxes); and your profit. What's left is the most you can pay.
Is the 70% rule close enough?
It's a quick screen: 70% of the after-repair value, less the renovation. On the example house, a $495,000 resale with $86,250 of work, it says $260,250. With every cost counted and a 10% profit, the max offer is $279,780. The gap moves with the price, the hold and the loan.
Who pays for title insurance in Florida?
By county custom: the buyer in Miami-Dade and Broward, the seller in Orange County and most of the rest of Florida. The calculator puts the owner's policy on the purchase or on the resale to match, at the state's set rates.
What does one more month cost a flip?
On the example house, about $3,560 off the max offer: another month of interest, taxes, insurance and upkeep.
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This week in Florida flips
Every Tuesday at 7am: one target from each area, with its max offer, after-repair value and rehab budget (the address stays with the seats), the week’s counts, and what the flips there resold for.
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