A flip has two price tags. One is what the whole project costs, from the day you buy to the day you sell. The other is how much of it has to come out of your own bank account. That’s the one that decides if you can start.
What does it cost to flip a house?
The price and the rehab are only two of the seven costs in a flip. The other five are easy to miss:
- Closing costs when you buy, such as title insurance and recording fees.
- Holding costs, the property taxes, insurance and utilities you pay every month you own the house.
- Loan points, a fee paid when the loan starts. One point is 1% of the loan.
- Loan interest, paid each month until the sale pays off the loan.
- Selling costs, the agents’ commissions and your share of the closing costs at the sale.
Take a house bought for $110,000 that needs a $35,000 rehab and should sell for $210,000 once it’s done. That sale price is the after-repair value, or ARV, and you work it out from recent sales of similar homes. A short-term flip loan, often called a hard money loan, covers 85% of the price and all of the rehab at 10% interest plus 2 points. The work and the sale take six months, holding costs run $600 a month, buying costs 2% of the price and selling costs 8% of the sale. The rate, the points and both percentages are this example’s assumptions, not quotes.
| What it costs | Your cash | |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price (you pay 15% down) | $110,000 | $16,500 |
| Closing costs when you buy (2%) | $2,200 | $2,200 |
| Rehab | $35,000 | – |
| Holding costs, 6 months at $600 | $3,600 | $3,600 |
| Loan points (2%) | $2,570 | $2,570 |
| Loan interest, 6 months at 10% | $6,425 | $6,425 |
| Selling costs (8% of the sale) | $16,800 | – |
| Total | $176,595 | $31,295 |
These are example figures, not a forecast for any market.
The loan pays the other $93,500 of the price and all of the rehab. When the house sells for $210,000, the sale pays off the $128,500 loan and the $16,800 of selling costs, then hands you back your $31,295 plus $33,405 of profit.
Everything except the purchase price comes to $66,595, or 32% of the sale price. ATTOM, a property data company, leaves these costs out of its flipping profits, and its report for the first quarter of 2026, the newest as of September 2026, says flipping veterans estimate they typically run 20% to 33% of the after-repair value. This flip is near the top of that range, and would be at 27% without the loan.
How much money do you need to start flipping houses?
You need cash for everything the loan doesn’t pay before the sale: $31,295 on this flip with a loan, or $150,800 paying cash. Not all of it goes out on the first day.
| With the loan | All cash | |
|---|---|---|
| At the closing table | $21,270 | $112,200 |
| During the six months | $10,025 | $38,600 |
| Your cash in the deal | $31,295 | $150,800 |
With the loan, the closing table takes the $16,500 down payment, $2,200 of closing costs and $2,570 in points. The six months add the holding costs and $1,071 a month of interest. Paying cash, you hand over the full price and the closing costs at the start, then pay for the rehab and the bills as the work goes on.
Both columns assume nothing goes wrong. Two things push the number up:
- Time. Each extra month adds $1,671 with the loan: the $600 of bills plus the interest. See what a slow sale costs.
- The rehab. A rehab that runs 20% over costs $7,000 more. If the loan won’t grow to cover it, that’s your cash too.
Also ask the lender when it pays out the rehab money. If it pays only after each stage of work is done, you’ll need cash to start each stage, even though the loan covers the whole budget in the end.
Is it cheaper to flip a house with cash?
Paying cash makes a flip cheaper, because there are no points and no interest, but it takes far more of your money. Paid for in cash, this flip costs $167,600 all in, $8,995 less, and makes $42,400 instead of $33,405.
Most flipped homes are bought that way. In ATTOM’s first-quarter report, 61.1% of flipped homes were bought with all cash.
The catch is the money it ties up. Paying cash puts $119,505 more of your money into the house for six months, to make $8,995 more. Measured against the cash you put in, the loan version returns 107% over the six months and the cash version 28%. The flip calculator calls that Return on cash.
What does it cost to sell a flipped house?
Selling costs are the listing agent’s commission, anything you agree to pay the buyer’s agent, and your own closing costs at the sale. On this flip they’re $16,800, the example’s 8% of the sale price, and the biggest cost after the house and the rehab.
The rules for paying agents changed on August 17, 2024, when practice changes from a legal settlement by the National Association of Realtors took effect. NAR’s guide for home sellers says your agent’s pay “remains fully negotiable.” Paying the buyer’s agent is your choice. The offer can’t go on the MLS, the local marketplace agents use to share listings, and your agent has to give you the amount or rate in writing and get your approval before offering it. You can still offer the buyer concessions, such as paying some of their closing costs, and those come out of your sale too.
So treat the 8% as a placeholder. Each percentage point is $2,100 on this sale. Before you make an offer, get a listing agent’s fee in writing and decide what, if anything, you’d offer a buyer’s agent.
How do you work out your own number?
Run your own house through the flip calculator.
- Enter the house: Purchase price, Rehab budget, Sale price (ARV), Holding period and your monthly Holding costs.
- Swap the assumptions for quotes. Put a lender’s Down payment, Interest rate and Loan points under Financing, and switch off “Rehab included in the loan?” if the lender won’t pay for the work. Put an agent’s fee, plus your closing costs at the sale, in Selling costs.
- Read Total project cost and Your cash in the deal. Then switch from Financed to All cash to see what paying cash would take.
- Add a cushion for a few extra months and a rehab overrun.
The profit arrives only at the sale, so every dollar of that total has to be yours before then. If it’s more than you have, the biggest levers are the price you pay and the loan’s terms, and the 70% rule, worked through shows where a first offer starts.