House Flipping Calculator: Profit, ROI & Break-Even

What does a 6.56% ROI mean on this flip?

It means that the $259,000 you put in — $200,000 to buy, $50,000 to fix up, $9,000 to hold for 6 months — comes back as $259,000 plus $17,000.00 when the house sells for $300,000. The profit is the sale price minus everything: the purchase, the rehab, the holding costs, and the $24,000 of selling costs at 8%. The ROI is the profit divided by the cash invested, times 100: $17,000.00 on $259,000 is 6.56%. And the profit margin on the sale is 5.67% — $17,000.00 kept out of every $300,000 of sale price. A flip that makes $17,000.00 in 6 months is a 6.56% return on the money that was actually at risk, which is the number a flipper compares with any other use of the same money.

Three things to check before you trust the number

The selling costs come off the sale price, not the profit. At 8% of a $300,000 sale, the selling costs are $24,000 — paid out of the sale before the profit is counted. At 6% they are $18,000 and the profit rises to $23,000.00; at 10% they would be $30,000 and the profit would fall to $11,000.00. A flipper who forgets the commission quotes a $24,000.00 profit that never arrives. Put the real rate in — 5% to 6% for a discount agent, 8% to 10% once both sides and closing are counted — and the profit falls into line.

Every extra month costs the monthly holding cost. Six months at $1,500 a month is $9,000; twelve months is $18,000, and the profit falls from $17,000.00 to $8,000.00 while the ROI falls from 6.56% to 2.99%. A rehab that runs three months over schedule costs $4,500.00 before a single extra nail is bought. The holding months are the number most flippers understate, and the one that hurts most when it moves — the break-even sale price rises by $1,630.43 for every extra month at $1,500 a month.

The purchase price is the lever that moves the ROI most. Pay $180,000 instead of $200,000 and the profit doubles to $37,000.00 and the ROI jumps to 15.48%; pay $220,000 and the flip loses $3,000.00 and the ROI goes to −1.08%. The rehab does the same arithmetic — $30,000 of rehab instead of $50,000 also gives $37,000.00 profit — but the purchase price is set once, in negotiation, while the rehab drifts upward job by job. The reverses say what the numbers have to be before the offer goes in: the most to pay for a 10% ROI is $191,909.09, and the sale has to reach $335,869.57 for a $50,000.00 profit.

Worked example

On the defaults: a $200,000 purchase, $50,000 rehab, 6 months at $1,500 a month, 8% selling costs, $300,000 ARV.

1. The holding cost: 6 × $1,500 is $9,000.
2. The cash invested: $200,000 + $50,000 + $9,000 is $259,000.
3. The selling costs: $300,000 × 8% is $24,000.
4. The total cost: $259,000 + $24,000 is $283,000.
5. The profit: $300,000 − $283,000 is $17,000.00.
6. The ROI: $17,000 ÷ $259,000 × 100 is 6.56%.
7. The break-even sale price: $259,000 ÷ 0.92 is $281,521.74 — sell above it and the flip makes money, below it and it loses.

And the other way: the sale has to reach $335,869.57 for a $50,000 profit, the most to pay for a 10% ROI is $191,909.09, and the break-even sale price is $281,521.74.

Every branch, checked

• $180,000 purchase instead of $200,000: $180,000 purchase instead of $200,000: Profit $37,000.00 on a $300,000 sale — $263,000 all in ($239,000 cash invested, $24,000 selling costs) — ROI 15.48%.
• $220,000 purchase instead of $200,000: $220,000 purchase instead of $200,000: Profit −$3,000.00 on a $300,000 sale — $303,000 all in ($279,000 cash invested, $24,000 selling costs) — ROI −1.08%.
• $30,000 rehab instead of $50,000: $30,000 rehab instead of $50,000: Profit $37,000.00 on a $300,000 sale — $263,000 all in ($239,000 cash invested, $24,000 selling costs) — ROI 15.48%.
• $80,000 rehab instead of $50,000: $80,000 rehab instead of $50,000: Profit −$13,000.00 on a $300,000 sale — $313,000 all in ($289,000 cash invested, $24,000 selling costs) — ROI −4.50%.
• 12 holding months instead of 6: 12 holding months instead of 6: Profit $8,000.00 on a $300,000 sale — $292,000 all in ($268,000 cash invested, $24,000 selling costs) — ROI 2.99%.
• 0 holding months instead of 6: 0 holding months instead of 6: Profit $26,000.00 on a $300,000 sale — $274,000 all in ($250,000 cash invested, $24,000 selling costs) — ROI 10.40%.
• 6% selling costs instead of 8%: 6% selling costs instead of 8%: Profit $23,000.00 on a $300,000 sale — $277,000 all in ($259,000 cash invested, $18,000 selling costs) — ROI 8.88%.
• $350,000 ARV instead of $300,000: $350,000 ARV instead of $300,000: Profit $63,000.00 on a $350,000 sale — $287,000 all in ($259,000 cash invested, $28,000 selling costs) — ROI 24.32%.

The reverses, worked backwards

• ARV needed for a $50,000 profit: $335,869.57 — at $335,869.57 the figures are Profit $50,000.00 on a $335,869.57 sale — $285,869.57 all in ($259,000 cash invested, $26,869.57 selling costs) — ROI 19.31%.; at the lower neighbor the figures are Profit $49,999.08 on a $335,868.57 sale — $285,869.49 all in ($259,000 cash invested, $26,869.49 selling costs) — ROI 19.30%.; at the upper neighbor the figures are Profit $50,000.92 on a $335,870.57 sale — $285,869.65 all in ($259,000 cash invested, $26,869.65 selling costs) — ROI 19.31%. — verdict: STEP.
• Most to pay for a 10% ROI: $191,909.09 — at $191,909.09 the figures are Profit $25,090.91 on a $300,000 sale — $274,909.09 all in ($250,909.09 cash invested, $24,000 selling costs) — ROI 10.00%.; at the lower neighbor the figures are Profit $25,190.91 on a $300,000 sale — $274,809.09 all in ($250,809.09 cash invested, $24,000 selling costs) — ROI 10.04%.; at the upper neighbor the figures are Profit $24,990.91 on a $300,000 sale — $275,009.09 all in ($251,009.09 cash invested, $24,000 selling costs) — ROI 9.96%. — verdict: STEP.
• Break-even sale price: $281,521.74 — at $281,521.74 the figures are Profit $0.00 on a $281,521.74 sale — $281,521.74 all in ($259,000 cash invested, $22,521.74 selling costs) — ROI 0.00%.; at the lower neighbor the figures are Profit −$0.92 on a $281,520.74 sale — $281,521.66 all in ($259,000 cash invested, $22,521.66 selling costs) — ROI −0.00%.; at the upper neighbor the figures are Profit $0.92 on a $281,522.74 sale — $281,521.82 all in ($259,000 cash invested, $22,521.82 selling costs) — ROI 0.00%. — verdict: STEP.

What the defaults assume

The defaults are a $200,000 purchase, $50,000 of rehab, 6 months of holding at $1,500 a month, 8% selling costs and a $300,000 after-repair value. The cash invested is the purchase plus the rehab plus the holding costs — the money that is actually at risk — and it does not count the selling costs, because those are only paid if the sale happens. The selling costs are a share of the sale price, not of the profit: agent commission on both sides plus closing costs, 8% on the defaults. The holding cost is the mortgage, tax, insurance and utilities for every month the house sits, finished or not. The model does not count income tax on the profit, financing fees on the purchase loan, or the value of the flipper's own time — all three are real costs that sit outside the ROI. The purchase reverse is checked at $100 either side, because a $1 change in a $191,909 purchase price moves the ROI by less than 0.01 points and shows nothing. The ARV reverse is the smallest whole-cent sale price that reaches a $50,000 profit.

These notes repeat in every explainer section because this page is built to be read start to finish: the selling costs come off the sale price, not the profit; every extra month costs the monthly holding cost; and the purchase price is the lever that moves the ROI most.

Output · formula · meaning

Who uses this

• A house flipper sizing up a deal — a $200,000 purchase and a $300,000 sale is $17,000.00 profit at 6.56%: the offer goes in or it does not, on that number.
• A buyer checking the most to pay — $191,909.09 is the most to pay for a 10% ROI at these numbers: the reverses say what the price should be before the offer goes in.
• A landlord comparing flip against hold — the flip makes $17,000.00 in 6 months; the rental-property-roi-calculator page says what the same house earns kept as a rental, and the cap-rate-calculator page says what it earns unlevered.
• A student learning flip math — one worked example from purchase to rehab to holding to selling costs to profit to ROI to break-even, and the branches that show how each input moves the answer.

Accuracy & limitations

Figures are the model's own totals on the numbers you type, computed from unrounded values: the holding cost is the months times the monthly cost, the cash invested is the purchase plus the rehab plus the holding cost, the selling costs are the ARV times the selling-cost rate, the profit is the ARV minus the total cost, and the ROI is the profit divided by the cash invested times 100. The displayed figures are rounded to 2dp. The purchase reverse is checked at $100 either side, because a $1 change moves the ROI by less than 0.01 points. The ARV reverse is the smallest whole-cent sale price that reaches a $50,000 profit. The break-even is the sale price where the net after selling costs equals the cash invested. The model does not count income tax on the profit, loan fees, or the flipper's own time, and the ARV is an estimate, not a sale — a house that appraises below the ARV changes every number on this page. This page is a calculation tool, not financial advice.

Cite this calculator

A $200,000 purchase with $50,000 of rehab, 6 months at $1,500 a month and 8.00% selling costs sells for $300,000 and leaves $17,000.00 profit — a 6.56% ROI on the $259,000 cash invested. Source: Bright Side Kit, brightoolbox.com.

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