Estimate the real profit on a house flip: purchase, rehab, hard money financing, months of holding, and selling costs. You get net profit, the cash you need to bring, return on that cash, and a 70% rule check.
Profit, cash needed, and ROI for a flip, including financing and holding costs.
Net profit = ARV - purchase - rehab - buy closing - loan points and interest - holding - selling costs
Cash needed is everything you pay before the sale minus what the lender funds. Selling costs come out of the proceeds at closing, so they reduce profit but not the cash you bring. Return on cash is net profit divided by cash needed.
A house bought for $180,000 needs $45,000 of work and will sell for $300,000 after renovation. A hard money lender funds 85% of purchase plus rehab at 11% and 2 points, and the project takes six months.
The same deal bought all-cash earns $42,600, but ties up $233,400, an 18.3% return. Leverage costs about $14,000 here and more than doubles the return on your money.
Notice that this deal fails the 70% rule: $300,000 x 0.70 - $45,000 = $165,000, below the $180,000 price. It still shows a profit, but a 9.4% margin leaves little room for a rehab overrun or a slower sale. That is the kind of trade-off this calculator is for.
Financing and holding costs are predictable once you know your lender and timeline. ARV and rehab are not, and they are where flips go wrong: a 5% ARV miss on a $300,000 house is $15,000, half the profit in the example. Base the ARV on renovated sales close by in the ARV calculator and build the repair budget item by item in the rehab cost calculator.
Last updated: October 2026
Net profit = sale price (ARV) - purchase price - rehab - buying closing costs - financing costs (points and interest) - holding costs - selling costs. Leaving out financing and holding is the most common reason a flip that looked profitable on paper loses money.
Many investors target at least 10-15% of ARV, or a fixed minimum such as $25,000-$30,000 per deal, so that one surprise does not erase the profit. Return on cash matters too: with leverage, a $28,000 profit on $56,000 of your own cash is a 50% return on that cash.
Plan on 7-10% of the sale price: agent commissions, seller-paid closing costs and transfer taxes, plus any buyer concessions. The calculator defaults to 8%.
Hard money lenders typically fund 80-90% of the purchase and rehab cost (loan-to-cost), charge 10-13% interest paid monthly, interest-only, and 1-3 points up front. You bring the down payment, closing costs, and carrying costs. Rehab funds are usually released in draws after work is inspected.
Four to eight months from purchase to sale is common: one to three months of rehab, then listing, contract, and closing. Every extra month adds interest and holding costs, so budget the timeline conservatively.
The rest of the deal, covered by the same free tools.
Work out after repair value from your comps, or pull them automatically by address.
Break a renovation into line items and get a repair budget you can defend.
Pull recent comparable sales for any address and see how each one was adjusted.
Turn ARV and repairs into the maximum you should offer on a flip.
Cash left in the deal after the refinance, cash flow, and DSCR.
Your max offer to the seller with the assignment fee built in.
The formula, comp selection, adjustments, and the mistakes that cost investors money.