ARV calculator: after-repair value from real comps
Enter up to five recent sales of renovated homes like yours. Get the ARV they support, the range, the most you should pay under the 70% rule, and what the ARV does to the size of a flip loan.
Near the lineWithin 10% of the 70% rule. Tight unless the comps are conservative.
After-repair value
$311,310
Median of 3 comps at $210 per square foot.
- Range the comps support
- $309,632 to $312,914
- Median price per sq ft
- $210
- Most you should pay (70% rule)
- $162,917
- ARV minus price and rehab
- $81,310
- Flip loan cap (75% of ARV, our program)
- $233,483
The lender's appraiser sets the ARV that counts, from the same kind of comps. Median price per square foot is a starting point; condition, lot, garage and street matter as much as size.
The method
- Price per square foot for each comp = sale price / square feet.
- ARV = the median price per square foot × your home's square feet. The low and high comps give the range.
- Most to pay = ARV × your rule (70% by default) − rehab budget.
- Loan cap = ARV × the program's ARV limit (75% for our flip program).
Picking comps an appraiser will accept
Sold, not listed. Within the last six months and about a mile, ideally the same subdivision. Similar size (within about 20%), the same bed and bath count, and finished to the level you plan, not the level the house is in today. If you have to go older or farther, say so to the lender up front.
Then size the loan: the fix and flip calculator runs our program's limits and holding costs, and max loan by lender runs the same deal against every investor lender we track. Budget the work with the rehab cost calculator.
Questions people ask
How do you calculate ARV?
Find three to five recent sales of homes like yours after renovation, divide each price by its square feet, take the median, and multiply by your home's square feet. In the example, comps at $210.34, $209.21 and $211.43 a square foot give a median of $210.34. At 1,480 square feet that is an ARV of $311,310.
What is the 70% rule?
A flipper's ceiling on price: 70% of ARV minus the rehab budget. In the example, 70% of $311,310 is $217,917; less a $55,000 rehab, the most to pay is $162,917. The $175,000 asking price is about 7% over, which the calculator marks as near the line.
Why use the median and not the average?
One unusual sale (a corner lot, a pool, a distressed sale) pulls an average far more than a median. Appraisers look for the comps that bracket your house; the median is the closest simple stand-in.
How does ARV limit a flip loan?
Flip loans are capped at a share of ARV as well as a share of cost. Our program caps the total loan at 75% of ARV, so a $311,310 ARV supports up to $233,483 however much the purchase and rehab add up to. Other lenders publish caps from 70% to 80%; see the lender comparison.
Numbers look right?
Send the deal. We check it against the lender's terms and come back with a loan.