Underwrite for the end buyer’s strategy
Assignment buyers are usually flippers, BRRRR operators, or landlords. Your MAO must clear their required margin after rehab, holding costs, and exit — not just your fee.
If you do not know which buyer type you will call, underwrite the stricter path. Easy assignments come from conservative files.
MAO discipline
Max allowable offer frameworks (including 70%-rule style screens) exist to leave room for rehab and profit. Treat them as ceilings to pressure-test, not entitlements.
- ARV from real comps — same class, same condition story after rehab.
- Rehab range with contingency, not a single heroic number.
- Holding costs and selling costs if the buyer flips.
- Your fee inside the spread, not glued on after a thin deal.
Condition honesty
Mislabeling structural work as cosmetic is how buyer lists churn. Photo-backed condition notes and scoped ranges beat adjectives. If you cannot inspect yet, widen the rehab range and say so.
A pre-assignment checklist
- 01
Define the likely exit
Flip, BRRRR, or hold — and the metric that buyer will check first.
- 02
Rebuild ARV and rehab
Comps and scope you can defend on a phone call.
- 03
Compute MAO with fee inside
If the fee only works by ignoring rehab reality, walk.
- 04
Package the file
Numbers, photos, title notes, and clear disclaimers — then call buyers.