Max Allowable Offer — the 90% Rule
The most you should ever pay for a flip: 90% of what it will be worth fixed up, minus what the repairs will cost.
The max-offer rule caps what you should pay for a property you intend to flip: take the after-repair value, keep a margin for costs and profit, and subtract the rehab budget. Whatever remains is the most you can offer without giving your profit away at the closing table.
The classic textbook version used 70%; in competitive markets that loses every deal to a faster buyer. OnOffDeals uses a 90% rule — reflecting today’s tighter margins and the fact that our cost model already prices selling, buying and holding costs separately.
Example: ARV $300,000, rehab $40,000 → max offer = 0.90 × 300,000 − 40,000 = $230,000. If the seller wants more, the deal must win as a rental instead — or not at all.