How to Price a Wholesale Deal So It Actually Sells
Updated June 17, 2026
Price a wholesale deal by working backward from the buyer's math: estimate ARV, subtract repairs, the buyer's desired profit, and their holding and closing costs to get your maximum allowable offer (MAO). Your asking price must leave the cash buyer a real margin after your fee, or the deal sits. The classic guide is roughly 70% of ARV minus repairs minus your fee.
The number one reason a wholesale deal won't sell isn't a bad property — it's a bad price. Cash buyers run the same math you do, and if your asking price doesn't leave them a real profit after repairs, they pass instantly. Pricing is where dispo is won or lost before you ever send the blast.
Pricing a wholesale deal means pricing it for your buyer, not for yourself. Your fee has to fit inside the spread between what the seller will take and what a flipper or landlord can still profit from. Get that math right and the deal sells fast; get greedy and it sits while you slash the price anyway.
Work backward from the buyer's math
Cash buyers think in margins. A flipper wants to buy, renovate, and resell at a profit; a landlord wants a cash-flowing rental at a return that beats alternatives. Either way, they start from the after-repair value (ARV) and subtract everything between them and the resale or the rent. Your job is to price so that math still works for them after your fee.
Start with an honest ARV from recent comparable sales, then subtract a realistic repair estimate, the buyer's target profit, and their holding and closing costs. What's left is the most the buyer can pay — and your asking price has to sit below it with room for your fee inside.
The 70% rule and MAO
The most common starting framework is the 70% rule: a flipper's maximum allowable offer (MAO) is roughly 70% of ARV minus repair costs. So on a $300k ARV with $50k in repairs, a flipper's ceiling is about (0.70 × $300k) − $50k = $160k. Your asking price to the buyer has to land at or below that number.
Your own MAO — what you can pay the seller — is the buyer's MAO minus your fee. If the buyer can pay up to $160k and you want a $15k assignment fee, you need the property under contract at $145k or less. The 70% is a guideline, not gospel — it flexes by market heat and buyer type — but the backward math is always the same.
| Line | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ARV | $300,000 | From recent comps |
| Buyer MAO (70% − repairs) | $160,000 | (0.70 × 300k) − 50k repairs |
| Your fee | $15,000 | Your target spread |
| Your max to seller | $145,000 | Buyer MAO − your fee |
| Repairs (subtracted above) | $50,000 | Honest estimate |
Pricing a deal backward (example: $300k ARV)
Pricing for speed, not just margin
There's a tension between maximizing your fee and selling fast. A deal priced to leave the buyer a fat margin sells in hours; one priced to squeeze your fee to the max sits for weeks and often sells for less after you've cut it twice. Leaving the buyer room is what makes your list trust your deals.
Pricing also interacts with how you market. A correctly priced deal blasted to a matched buyer segment with a deadline creates real competition, which can push the price up naturally. The combination — right price, right buyers, fast outreach — is what sells a deal quickly. Mispricing can't be fixed by a bigger blast.
Frequently asked
What is the 70% rule in wholesaling?
The 70% rule estimates a flipper's maximum offer at 70% of the after-repair value minus repair costs. On a $300k ARV with $50k repairs, that's about $160k. It leaves the flipper margin for profit, holding, and closing costs. Your asking price — and your own offer to the seller minus your fee — works backward from that number.
How do I calculate ARV?
ARV (after-repair value) is what the property will sell for fully renovated, estimated from recent sales of comparable, updated homes in the same area — similar size, condition, and location. Pull three to five close comps and be conservative. An inflated ARV is the fastest way to price a deal that no cash buyer will touch.
How much should my wholesale fee be?
Your fee is whatever fits inside the spread after leaving the buyer a real margin — commonly $5k–$20k, but it depends entirely on the deal. Don't set the fee first and price around it; price for the buyer's margin first, and your fee is what's left between their max and what you contracted the property for.
Why isn't my wholesale deal selling?
Almost always price. If buyers are passing, your asking price doesn't leave them enough margin after repairs and their profit — your ARV is too high, your repair estimate too low, or your fee too fat. Re-run the buyer's math honestly. A bigger blast can't fix a deal that doesn't pencil for the buyer.
The takeaway
Price a wholesale deal by working backward from the buyer's math: ARV minus repairs, profit, and costs gives their maximum offer, and your fee fits inside the spread below it. The 70%-of-ARV-minus-repairs rule is the starting guide. Leave the buyer real margin and the deal sells in hours; squeeze it and the deal sits. Mispricing is the top reason deals don't move — and no blast fixes it.