Walk the deal

Starter guide · 6 min read

How to Analyze a Flip Property Before You Buy.

First-time flippers buy the wrong house 70%+ of the time because they evaluate from the curb. A pre-offer discipline — ARV, room-by-room, 70% rule, the three money-pit flags, then a deal score — keeps the guesswork out of the contract.

The pitch

Start with the After-Repair Value — not the listing price.

The number on the listing is a wish from the seller. The number that matters is the After-Repair Value — what the house will be worth to a buyer once the work is done. Pull it from three comps sold inside the last 90 days, in the same ZIP, with similar square footage and bedroom count. A flip that doesn't pencil against the ARV is a flip that loses money the day you close.

The walk

Read the house room-by-room — not system-by-system.

Beginners walk the property by system — roof, HVAC, electrical — and miss the rooms that need work. Walk it room by room instead: kitchen, primary bath, second bath, living, bedrooms, garage. Write a one-line note per room about the scope of work, then total the rooms. You'll catch a $20,000 kitchen the listing photographer hid behind a wide-angle lens.

The math

Calculate the 70% rule before you make an offer.

The 70% rule says: offer no more than 70% of ARV minus the rehab cost. If the ARV is $300,000 and the rehab is $50,000, the ceiling offer is $160,000. Anything more leaves no margin for holding costs, closing costs, or the surprise waiting in the walls. Run this number before you walk the property a second time — the second walk should be confirming the math, not making it.

The walks

Walk for the three money-pit flags.

Roof, foundation, and knob-and-tube wiring are the three flags that gate most of the budget. If the inspector flags any of them, your $50,000 rehab becomes $90,000 before you know it. Walk the eaves and look for sag; walk the basement and look for cracks wider than a pencil; open the panel and look for cloth-covered wire or double-tapped breakers. Anything you see, add $20,000 to the rehab and re-run the 70% rule.

The verdict

Score the deal before you wire earnest money.

When the ARV is set, the walk-through is written, and the 70% rule is run, you can score the deal — BUY, MARGINAL, or PASS — instead of trusting the seller's listing copy. The score is the gate before earnest money. Score every deal the same way, and you'll catch the one in four that doesn't pencil before you've put $5,000 on the line.

Run the walk-through

Score your first deal before you wire earnest money.

The Sparboard flip scorer reads the walk-through you write, surfaces the money-pit flags, and writes a BUY / PASS / MARGINAL verdict plus a projected ARV and rehab range — so you can talk back to the seller with a number, not a guess.

See a sample flip score →

Pre-flight checklist

  • · Pull three comps inside 90 days, same ZIP.
  • · Walk every room; write a one-line scope per room.
  • · Run the 70% rule against the ARV minus the rehab.
  • · Flag roof, foundation, and wiring before the bid.
  • · Score the deal: BUY, MARGINAL, or PASS.