Fix and flip

Buying a property, renovating it, and selling it for a profit within a short window. Rewards depend on buying right, budgeting the rehab, and reading the market.

Also called flipping · Investment terms · Updated September 2026

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Part 1 of 4

Why a seller cares

A flipper buys your home to renovate and resell within months, and their offer is built backward from the resale price. They close fast and pay less, and knowing the arithmetic tells you how much less.

Part 2 of 4

A simple example

A flipper offers $185,000 for a house that will sell for $300,000 after $50,000 of work. The gap is their profit, their holding costs and their risk.

Fix and flip: a simple example
What the flipper offersWhat you get in return
A low priceA fast, as-is closing with no repairs and no showings
Cash, or hard moneyCertainty, if the funds are real
A ten-day closeTime, if time is what you need

A flip offer trades price for speed and certainty. Whether the trade is worth it depends on what you need.

Part 3 of 4

What people get wrong

That flippers pay market value for a house that needs work. They pay market value minus the work, the risk and their profit.

Part 4 of 4 · where to read next

Where it appears in the sale

What a definition is, and what it isn't

Keighbor is a software company, not a law firm, brokerage, or tax adviser. This is general information, not legal, tax, financial, or real estate advice about your sale. Your situation may differ. Before acting on a contract, disclosure, title, tax, or pricing question, ask an appropriately licensed professional in your state.

Written and researched by Keighbor Research · drawn from the reference glossary · how we research and check what we publish

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