Real Estate
70% Rule Calculator (Maximum Allowable Offer)
Find your max offer on a flip or wholesale deal in seconds.
Free 70% rule calculator for real estate investors. Enter the ARV and repair costs to get your Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) — the most you should pay and still hit margin on a flip or wholesale.
MAO = (ARV × rule%) − repairs − wholesale fee. Lower the rule % for riskier or slower markets.
How it works
Enter the ARV
Input the After-Repair Value — what the property will sell for once fully renovated.
Enter repairs and your fee
Add your estimated repair budget, adjust the rule percentage if you use something other than 70%, and add a wholesale fee if you're assigning the contract.
Read your max offer
The calculator returns your Maximum Allowable Offer — the ceiling you can pay and still protect your margin.
Frequently asked
What is the 70% rule in real estate?
The 70% rule says an investor should pay no more than 70% of a property's After-Repair Value (ARV) minus repair costs. It's a fast screen for whether a flip or wholesale deal leaves enough margin once you account for rehab, holding, and selling costs.
How do you calculate the maximum allowable offer?
MAO = (ARV × 70%) − repair costs. For a $300,000 ARV with $40,000 in repairs, MAO = ($300,000 × 0.70) − $40,000 = $170,000. If you're wholesaling, subtract your assignment fee too.
Should I always use 70%?
It's a starting point, not a law. Hot markets with thin inventory may justify 75%; risky or slow markets argue for 65% or lower. The percentage is your margin buffer — adjust it to the deal's risk, which is why this calculator lets you change it.
Does the 70% rule work for wholesaling?
Yes — wholesalers use it to set the offer to the seller, then subtract their assignment fee so the end-buyer still has a deal at the MAO. This calculator includes a wholesale-fee field for exactly that.