MAO / 70% rule calculator
Estimate the most you should pay from after-repair value and rehab. BrickAtlas uses the classic 70% rule as the primary offer on a flip.
Calculate a max allowable offer
Enter after-repair value and the rehab budget. Add an asking price if you want to see whether the 70% rule offer clears the ask. The offer updates as you type.
Max allowable offer
$164,000
$285,000 ARV × 70% − $35,000 rehab, floored to $1,000.
- After-repair value
- $285,000
- Rehab
- $35,000
- Versus ask
- 70% rule (ARV × 70% − rehab) · Below ask by $21,000
How max allowable offer is calculated
MAO = floor to $1,000 of (ARV × 70% − rehab)
The 70% rule holds back 30% of after-repair value for costs and margin, then subtracts rehab. BrickAtlas floors the result down to the next $1,000 and will not return a negative offer. That floored number is the primary max allowable offer on a flip or live-in flip.
The sample after-repair value is $285,000 with $35,000 of rehab. The 70% rule max allowable offer is $164,000.
The 30% is the margin
There is no separate margin input. Thirty percent of ARV is the rule’s allowance for closing, carry, selling costs, and profit. An itemized flip budget can land on a different ceiling, and Analyst keeps that as a secondary figure.
Other strategies use other ceilings
Wholesale subtracts an investor margin from ARV. BRRRR starts from a refinance loan minus rehab and a cushion. A hold uses income and a cap rate. This page is the flip 70% rule.
The floor is part of the offer
Analyst does not round the offer up. If the raw result is $96,400, the max allowable offer is $96,000.
What this number doesn’t tell you
The 70% rule is a purchase ceiling for a flip, not a profit projection and not a market decision. Condition, the real resale, and the city still decide the deal. BrickAtlas runs that loop after the screen: persona, metros, listings, then a strategy-aware Investment Memo.
Profit after the real costs
MAO does not compute selling costs, holding carry, or loan payments. The flip profit calculator subtracts those from ARV so you can see what the project might clear.
Whether the ARV is real
A clean 70% offer on a soft after-repair value is still a bad buy. Analyst reads photos and comps before it recommends a strategy and an offer.
Whether this market fits
A wide spread in the wrong metro is still the wrong next investment. Explore ranks cities with Atlas Score and persona Match before you underwrite an address.
FAQ
- What is the 70% rule for a max allowable offer?
- MAO equals after-repair value times 70%, minus rehab, floored down to the next $1,000. An ARV of $200,000 and rehab of $40,000 produces a max allowable offer of $100,000.
- Why is the offer floored to $1,000?
- That is how BrickAtlas publishes the 70% rule. The raw value is rounded down to a whole thousand, and a negative result becomes $0. The offer is never rounded up.
- Is this the same MAO as BrickAtlas Analyst?
- Yes for a flip. Analyst’s primary flip offer is this 70% rule. Wholesale, BRRRR, and hold strategies use their own ceilings, and the memo can show an itemized flip figure beside the 70% rule.
- Does the asking price change the offer?
- No. The asking price is only a comparison. The offer stays ARV times 70% minus rehab. Analyst then says whether that offer is above or below the ask.
- Where should I go after an MAO screen?
- If the ask is near the offer, open the flip profit calculator or Analyst and put holding costs and selling costs in. If you are still choosing a city, start in Explore.
Check the offer against a real exit
Set a persona, explore metros that match, and underwrite the address with ARV, rehab, and strategy in one memo.
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