Local market • Washington, DC
House Flipping Calculator for Washington, DC
Stable, high-income buyer base; row-home and condo flips perform well but require navigating DC permitting and historic-district rules.
Worked example: the 75% rule in Washington
With a median home price around $650,000 in Washington, a flipper using a 75% of ARV rule would target a maximum offer near $409,500 on a property worth $650,000 after repairs with roughly $78,000 of rehab. The classic 70% rule is too conservative here — at a $650,000 ARV, a flat 70% would price you out of nearly every deal. Fixed transaction costs are a smaller share of a high ARV and competition compresses margins, so Washington flippers underwrite closer to 75%.
| After-repair value (ARV) | $650,000 |
| Estimated rehab (≈12% of ARV) | $78,000 |
| 75% of ARV | $487,500 |
| Maximum allowable offer (MAO) | $409,500 |
These are illustrative figures. Run the actual numbers — comps, true rehab scope, holding costs, financing — in the FlipOS deal analyzer for an accurate MAO.
A more accurate MAO: work backward from your costs
The percentage rule is just a shortcut for the real formula — subtract every cost and your target profit from the ARV:
MAO = ARV − rehab − closing − holding − selling − target profit
| After-repair value (ARV) | $650,000 |
| Rehab (≈12% of ARV) | −$78,000 |
| Buy / closing costs (≈2%) | −$13,000 |
| Holding costs (≈3%) | −$19,500 |
| Selling costs (≈6.5%) | −$42,250 |
| Target profit (≈14% of ARV) | −$87,750 |
| Maximum allowable offer (MAO) | $409,500 |
Notice this lands on the same $409,500 as the 75% rule above — the rule just bakes these costs into one number. The trade-off it hides: a higher ARV percentage means a thinner profit margin (14% here), which is exactly why competitive markets like Washington accept tighter spreads. Always confirm rehab, holding, and selling costs for the specific deal.
What flippers should know about Washington
Stable, high-income buyer base; row-home and condo flips perform well but require navigating DC permitting and historic-district rules. As with any market, the headline median price masks wide variation block-to-block. Pull comps inside a one-mile radius (or tighter in urban submarkets), and confirm rehab costs with at least two local contractors before committing.
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