Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) Calculator
The formula
Why the 70% Rule Built the Modern Wholesaling Industry
The 70% rule is designed to ensure a 15% to 20% net profit margin while providing adequate cushion for unforeseen contractor overruns, carrying costs during permit delays, and price negotiations during final resale. Bidding above the MAO drastically shrinks margin of safety, turning flips into financial liabilities.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use the 70% rule for rental properties?
Source & methodology
National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM); J Scott "The Book on Flipping Houses".
Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO): what this tool answers
You are here because you need a specific number, and you want to see how it was produced before you rely on it. Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) is the kind of number people argue about from memory. This page ends that argument with arithmetic you can watch happen: enter your figures, get Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) in real time, and see every substitution printed below.
Most confusion about Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) comes from mixing up the input you control with the input you merely observe. The formula treats them identically, but your decisions should not: one deserves measurement, the other deserves a defensible estimate.
Leverage is the distinctive physics of Real Estate & Property: borrowed money amplifies both directions of return. When you compute Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO), remember the inputs involving financing (down payment, rate) are not cosmetic — they can dominate the operating reality captured in After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price ($).
What makes a calculation page trustworthy is that its copy is derived from its own arithmetic: here maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) = $197,000, recomputed every time a field changes, and the sensitivity section ranks the inputs that move the result — After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price first, at ≈12.8 % of the headline for a ten-percent error either way in that input. Read the sections in order and you will be able to reproduce every figure by hand.
Inside the Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) calculation: formula and every input
Here is the complete model this tool runs — MAO = (ARV · Rule%) - Rehab_Cost - Wholesale_Fee | Net_Profit = ARV - Costs - MAO — with each input explained below. If a competitor’s page gives you a different answer from the same inputs, this is the text that settles which of you is right.
After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price ($) (example value $360,000.00) is a money value, and money values are where rounding habits do the most damage — type the real figure, not a tidied one. Use the figure exactly as the source document states it, not a rounded memory of it — an omitted line is the classic silent error.
Target acquisition rule percentage (%) (example value 70) is a quantity rather than a category — precision here is cheap and worth having. Rates are the most mis-transcribed input on any page like this; copy it from the document rather than retyping from memory.
Estimated renovation & material cost ($) (example value $45,000.00) is a money amount; keep it in the currency the rest of your inputs use, or the comparison steps lose meaning. If your source quotes a figure before and after some deduction, decide which one the formula wants and be consistent for every field.
Wholesale assignment fee (if applicable) ($) (example value $10,000.00) is a monetary input: one currency throughout, otherwise the result stops being comparable. Use the figure exactly as the source document states it, not a rounded memory of it — an omitted line is the classic silent error.
Expected project holding timeline (months) (example value 6) is a measured number in the unit named by the label; the formula does not convert for you. Use the value as of today, not as of the last time you looked — time fields drift silently.
Monthly carrying costs (loan interest, taxes, utilities) ($/mo) (example value $1,800.00) is a monetary input: one currency throughout, otherwise the result stops being comparable. Check the convention first: if the source says “6.5 % per year”, type 6.5 and let the formula do the rest.
Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) on the example inputs: the complete substitution
Rather than describe the calculation, here it is end to end — every substitution in order, starting from the inputs above. Starting figures: After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price ($), Target acquisition rule percentage (%), Estimated renovation & material cost ($), Wholesale assignment fee (if applicable) ($). Run to the end, the maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) resolves to $197,000 — 🟢 Target Purchase Cap: Do not exceed $197,000.00 to lock in an estimated net profit of $74,460.00 (29.0% ROI). on the bands this tool uses.
- Target ARV Gross Cap (70%) = $360,000.00 × 70% = $252,000.00
- Less Renovation Budget = -$45,000.00
- Less Wholesale Assignment Fee = -$10,000.00
- Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) = $197,000.00
- Projected Net Investor Profit = $360,000.00 − Exit Costs ($28,800.00) − Project Costs ($256,740.00) = $74,460.00
Projected Net Flip Profit — $74,460. Read next to the headline, this is the figure that shows the shape of the trade-off.
Return on Capital Invested (ROI) — 29.0%. Read next to the headline, this is the figure that shows the shape of the trade-off.
Total Carrying / Holding Costs (6 Mo) — $10,800. This is the number experienced users quote when the headline alone would mislead.
Realtor & Exit Sales Costs (8%) — $28,800. Read next to the headline, this is the figure that shows the shape of the trade-off.
Gross ARV Discount Cushion — $163,000. Read next to the headline, this is the figure that shows the shape of the trade-off.
Overwrite any input above and every line of this example updates with it — the substitution is live, not a screenshot of somebody else’s numbers.
How far Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) can reasonably move
Read this table as the practical error bar on the headline figure. It answers the question people actually have after seeing a single number: how wrong could this be if the main input is off by ten or twenty percent?
| After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price setting | Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) |
|---|---|
| 80 % of the example value | $146,600 |
| 90 % of the example value | $171,800 |
| example inputs | $197,000 |
| 110 % of the example value | $222,200 |
| 120 % of the example value | $247,400 |
Across 5 settings of After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price, the result spans $146,600 to $247,400. A decision that only works at one row of this table is a decision waiting for an input to move. Reproduce it in the form above by editing After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price alone; the substitution steps will follow your figures exactly.
What actually moves your Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO)
Nobody should have to guess which input matters. The engine was re-run once per field below — ten percent up, ten percent down, everything else frozen — and the results ranked by how far they moved the maximum Allowable Offer (MAO). It is the fastest honest answer to “what matters most in Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO)?” — and it is specific to these defaults, because sensitivity moves with the starting point.
- After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price: ten percent up gives $222,200, ten percent down gives $171,800 — ≈12.8 % of the maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) either way
- Target acquisition rule percentage +10 % → Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) = $222,200 · −10 % → $171,800 (the maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) shifts ≈12.8 %)
- Estimated renovation & material cost: ten percent up gives $192,500, ten percent down gives $201,500 — ≈2.3 % of the maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) either way
- Wholesale assignment fee (if applicable): ten percent up gives $196,000, ten percent down gives $198,000 — ≈0.5 % of the maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) either way
After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price is the dominant lever here: ten percent either way moves the result by about 12.8 %, from $171,800 to $222,200. Measure that input from a document rather than from memory, and Target acquisition rule percentage is effectively tied with it (≈12.8 % for the same nudge), so verify the pair together. Everything below that can stay approximate, which is a licence to stop chasing data that would not change the decision.
What a Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) of $197,000 means in practice
A number on its own is trivia; a number against a range is intelligence. On the example inputs the band reads “🟢 Target Purchase Cap: Do not exceed $197,000.00 to lock in an estimated net profit of $74,460.00 (29.0% ROI).”; your own figures place you on a different rung of the same ladder. Before treating the band as fact, note its width: ten percent either way on After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price already spans $171,800 to $222,200. The practical reading rules: read the band as a starting hypothesis, then test it: change the two dominant inputs by ten percent and see whether the verdict survives. Verdicts that survive stress are the ones worth acting on.
The comparison worth making is not with somebody else’s Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) but with the version of your own situation measured last quarter — same formula, same conventions, different inputs.
How people get Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) wrong
Copying a single headline number without checking the companion outputs. The tool reports Projected Net Flip Profit, Return on Capital Invested (ROI) and Total Carrying / Holding Costs (6 Mo) alongside the main result precisely because Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) in isolation misleads — the secondary columns are where outliers and trade-offs show up.
Copying a single headline number without checking the companion outputs. The tool reports Projected Net Flip Profit, Return on Capital Invested (ROI) and Total Carrying / Holding Costs (6 Mo) alongside the main result precisely because Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) in isolation misleads — the secondary columns are where outliers and trade-offs show up.
Attention is also misallocated between fields. Having measured this engine, we can say where it belongs: After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price first, everything else second.
Another is comparing across contexts: a Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) computed with one set of conventions should never be lined up against a figure computed with another. Check the inputs behind both before ranking them.
Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) verification checklist
- Recompute once with the dominant input deliberately set low, and see whether the decision changes.
- Note the date and the inputs beside the number so the figure can be audited later.
- Put After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price under a magnifier; the sensitivity table above is the reason why.
- Check that every field the formula needs actually arrived from a document, not from recollection.
- Compare the result with one independent method or published benchmark.
- Confirm the answer against one independent method or published benchmark for Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO).
How to use the Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) tool properly
Using a calculator well sounds trivial, but the difference between a decision-grade figure and a throwaway one lives entirely in the routine. The routine for Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) takes a minute to learn and applies to every input above.
Step 1 — collect, then type. Everything this tool asks for is listed above (after repair value (arv) / resale price ($), target acquisition rule percentage (%), estimated renovation & material cost ($), wholesale assignment fee (if applicable) ($), expected project holding timeline (months), monthly carrying costs (loan interest, taxes, utilities) ($/mo)). Pull each figure from something you can point at — paperwork, a dashboard, a label — before touching a field. Guesswork at the input stage cannot be repaired at the interpretation stage. A figure nobody can reproduce is a figure nobody will act on twice.
Step 2 — compute the version you would not be embarrassed by. If a stranger audited your inputs, which set would you hand over? Enter that set, read the result, and treat everything else as upside. Comparisons are cheap: run the identical calculation for the alternative and look at the gap.
Step 3 — change one input at a time. Nudge a single field by ten percent, watch the headline and its companions move, then undo it. Two or three fields will dominate — the sensitivity table above already ranks them for this engine. When in doubt, prefer the boring input: the interesting one is usually the one you misread.
Step 4 — run the scenario trio. Expected, pessimistic, optimistic. The gap between pessimistic and expected is the number to plan against; the optimistic result is useful only as a ceiling. Estimates improve most when the worst case is written down in ink.
Step 5 — schedule the next run. In Real Estate & Property the inputs drift quietly. Put a reminder a quarter out, re-enter the same fields, and read the change rather than the level. If a result feels obviously right, that is the moment to check the inputs hardest.
From calculation to decision: where Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) earns its keep
Numbers earn their keep in conversations, and Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) is no exception. In Real Estate & Property discussions around Real Estate Investment, this figure decides whether an option stays on the table: it converts an opinionated debate into an arithmetic one, and arithmetic is the only referee both sides accept. Suspiciously tidy answers deserve the same scrutiny as untidy ones.
Used properly this is a five-minute filter that saves weeks. Compute Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO), reject what fails, and only then bring in the expensive analysis for the survivors. Precision is a promise you make about your data; make sure your inputs can keep it.
There is a personal-administration use people overlook: periodic self-checking. Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) quietly drifts as life changes — rates move, bodies change, costs compound — and re-running it a few times a year catches drift while correction is still cheap. When in doubt, prefer the boring input: the interesting one is usually the one you misread.
Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) — frequently asked questions
What affects Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) the most?
The short answer: After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price. The longer answer is the sensitivity table on this page, where every numeric input was probed by ten percent and the maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) recalculated — After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price moved it furthest, by roughly 12.8 % ($171,800 to $222,200).
Do target acquisition rule percentage and after repair value (arv) / resale price matter equally?
Effectively. Measured on this engine they land at ≈12.8 % and ≈12.8 % for the same ten-percent nudge, so the honest advice is to get both right; chasing precision in only one of them buys almost nothing.
What is a typical Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO)?
With the example inputs on this page the result is $197,000, labelled “🟢 Target Purchase Cap: Do not exceed $197,000.00 to lock in an estimated net profit of $74,460.00 (29.0% ROI).”. “Typical” varies with situation, which is why every result here ships with its verdict band and its sensitivity list: they turn one figure into a range you can locate yourself inside.
How do I calculate Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) by hand?
MAO = (ARV · Rule%) - Rehab_Cost - Wholesale_Fee | Net_Profit = ARV - Costs - MAO is the entire method. Work the inputs in that order — Target ARV Gross Cap (70%) = $360,000.00 × 70% = $252,000.00 — and you will reach $197,000 on the default figures, the same number this tool prints.
What happens to Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) if after repair value (arv) / resale price changes by 10 %?
Try it in the form above and the printed substitution will follow you; the pre-computed answer for the defaults is $171,800 to $222,200 across the ten-percent probe, i.e. ≈12.8 % sensitivity on the maximum Allowable Offer (MAO).
Is the Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) result of $197,000 good or bad?
Good and bad are comparisons, so the honest test is three questions: where does your own Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) sit against the $197,000 reference above, how far would a plausible input error move it (≈12.8 % per ten percent on After Repair Value (ARV) / Resale price), and what does the alternative option compute to?
How often should I check Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO)?
Whenever an input changes by more than a few percent, and otherwise on the rhythm of your decisions — before a purchase, a review, a renewal. Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) is a snapshot, not a subscription; stale snapshots are the most common silent error in Real Estate & Property planning.
Is Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) accurate?
The arithmetic is exact: MAO = (ARV · Rule%) - Rehab_Cost - Wholesale_Fee | Net_Profit = ARV - Costs - MAO is evaluated with full floating-point precision and every substitution is printed in the worked example. What limits accuracy is input quality and the model’s assumptions, so treat the $197,000 result as the correct answer to the question you typed — and check the assumptions section before acting on it.
Can I use the 70% rule for rental properties?
No. The 70% rule is engineered specifically for short-term fix-and-flip transactions. For long-term rental properties, investors should evaluate Cash-on-Cash return, Cap Rate, and the 1% Rule (monthly rent should equal ≥1% of purchase price).
Do I need an account to use this Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) calculator?
No, and no data leaves the tab. The engine runs in the page itself, which is why the worked example, the bands and the sensitivity ranking all respond instantly to your keystrokes.
Glossary for Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO)
- Projected Net Flip Profit
- $74,460 in the default Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) calculation — one of the secondary figures an experienced reader checks before trusting the primary number.
- Return on Capital Invested (ROI)
- 29.0% for the Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) worked case; it sits next to the main result because it carries context the headline leaves out.
- Total Carrying / Holding Costs (6 Mo)
- $10,800 in the default Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) calculation — one of the secondary figures an experienced reader checks before trusting the primary number.
- Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO)
- The primary output of this tool: $197,000 for the default inputs, computed exactly from MAO = (ARV · Rule%) - Rehab_Cost - Wholesale_Fee | Net_Profit = ARV - Costs - MAO.
- Worked example
- Every substitution in order, from the example inputs to $197,000 — the audit trail for the headline figure.
- Verdict band
- The interpretation attached to a result (“🟢 Target Purchase Cap: Do not exceed $197,000.00 to lock in an estimated net profit of $74,460.00 (29.0% ROI).” on these inputs), which turns a bare number into a position on a scale.
- Sensitivity (±10 %)
- How far the Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) moves when a single input is nudged ten percent either way; the ranked list on this page is computed live from this engine.
The provenance of this Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) calculation
There is no black box on this page — the engine evaluates MAO = (ARV · Rule%) - Rehab_Cost - Wholesale_Fee | Net_Profit = ARV - Costs - MAO. Source of record: National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM); J Scott "The Book on Flipping Houses". Where a professional version of this calculation differs, it differs in inputs and jurisdiction-specific coefficients, not in the algebra — which is why re-checking your inputs beats hunting for a second calculator.
This page is an estimation aid, not professional advice. The design rule is simple: two people entering identical figures must get identical answers. What that buys you is reproducibility — two people, two browsers, the same arithmetic, and a printed trail from inputs to result that either of them can audit.
After the number: what to do with it
Save the number together with its inputs and today’s date; a Fix-and-Flip 70% Rule & Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) figure without context is unusable the moment an input changes.
The audience here is people who need one trustworthy number before their next decision. Everything you need to defend the result — formula, substitution, sensitivity, source — is printed above, so the only remaining variable is the honesty of your inputs.