How to Analyze a Fix and Flip Property

Calculate your rehab profit or maximum allowable offer and more
Written by Zilculator Team
Updated 2 years ago

In this article:

Adding property details
Viewing rental property analysis report

As a flipper, you need to calculate how much cash you will need to purchase a distressed property. Create your rehab budget and figure out your take-home profit and ROI. This tutorial will show you how to analyze a fix and flip project.

Adding property details

1. Create a new property

Navigate to Properties page and click the “New Property” button.

Our fix and flip property form is created as an easy-to-use, step-by-step wizard and has four sections: Property information, Purchase information, Rehab information, and Resale information. Next, we will cover each step separately.

Select the Fix and flip option as an investment strategy.

2. Add or load basic property information

In the first step of the property wizard, you can either copy an existing property, load property details from MLS®, or enter details on your own. In this guide, we will add details manually, but you can click on the links above to learn more about the other options.

Next, add details about the property, including a report title, property type, address, and photos. Make sure to fill in the required fields with an orange border, such as a full address.

Note: For properties located in the US, Zilculator will automatically search and attempt to load details from public records and Zillow® after you input the property address.

These are the most important fields to fill in:

  • Private checkbox: By default, all property reports are public. You can share them online and Google can search and access them. A private report is accessible only to its author.
  • Report title: This will be the name of the property used throughout our app. If left blank, a property address is used by default. You can, however, use more descriptive names, like "3/1 SFR in North Topeka".
  • Address: Zilculator’s integration with Google Maps makes it easier to input an address. Start typing and, then, select the correct address from the drop-down menu. Zilculator will automatically check public records and Zillow® for additional property details, plus it will load Streetview photos from Google Maps. If you are analyzing an apartment or condominium, make sure to input a Unit # into Address line 2.
  • Property type: Select one of the available options. Note: Multifamily and Commercial property analysis is only available in the paid plans. 
  • More details: Click on the More details button and further facts about the property and Summary info and Description. All these details will make the final report more rich and detailed.
  • Photos: Click to select one or more of the automatically loaded photos or upload your own (drag and drop).

3. Add the Purchase information

Add details about the price of the property, financing, and rehab/construction costs. First, choose to either calculate profit from the flip using a known purchase price or determine maximum allowable offer (MAO) while entering a desired rehab profit.

Here is more information about each input field:

  • Purchase price: The amount you are paying or you have paid to purchase the property. It’s a required field.
  • Desired profit: You will see this required field instead of the purchase price field only if you selected to calculate MAO. Enter your desired rehab profit.
  • After repair value: The estimated market value of the property after any rehab work is complete. It’s also a required field.

Note: Click the Estimate ARV button to open the CMA module that can assist you with figuring out the accurate after repair value using recent sales comps in the area. See a guide on How to calculate accurate After Repair Value to learn more.

  • Currency: Simply change $ to your currency symbol here. This currency will be used for the entire report.
  • Closing costs: These are all costs and fees associated with purchasing the property, also known as purchase costs. Examples include loan points, escrow fees, and property inspection fees. You can enter a total amount, or click the Expand costs button and enter a detailed list of each purchase cost separately.

If you are going to use financing to purchase this property, click Add loan button. You can add as many loans as you need. The loan type can be interest-only or amortized, and you can select to finance the ARV, purchase price, repairs or even specific amount with the loan. Add a label for the loan to display in the property report later.

If you have a Joint Venture or looking for a partnership, you can enter a Profit split percentage. The capital partner who provides you with the financing will, then, see their share resale proceeds in the report.

In the final analysis report, we have a unique Lender summary section, which is great for making funding proposals to private lenders.

 

4. Enter the Rehab information 

In this section, you can enter the estimated repair costs and monthly holding costs.

Although it is possible to enter the repair cost as a lump sum, you will most likely want to break down your rehab budget. Click the Expand costs button and use the common categories listed, or add your own costs by clicking the Other costs button. There are helpful popovers available when you click in each field.

Next, customize the recurring holding costs you are going to have while you are renovating this property. You can enter an estimated total monthly amount or itemize all holding costs one at a time:

5. Set Resale Information and Holding Period

In the final section, enter the Holding Period - the amount of time you anticipate it will take to finish the rehab and, then, sell the property.

Finally, enter the projected selling costs and sale commission as a percentage of the resale price.

When finished, click the Analyze button at the bottom of the page to save the property and view the analysis report.

Viewing fix and flip property analysis report 

Now that you have added the property details, you can see the property analysis report. Each report consists of various sections that can be enabled or disabled. We will walk you through the main areas of the report and the options here.

Note: If you have a paid plan, you can add branding (logo, phone number, business address, etc.) to your reports. Learn more about adding branding.

At the top of the report, you will see the following menu:

  • Edit: This option will bring you to the property form where you can change all of the property details.
  • Presets: You can select one of the predefined versions of the report: Summary report, Marketing report, Full report, and Lender report. You can also customize the report by toggling the sections you want hidden.
  • Preview: Click the Preview button to see the report as others will see it.
  • Save: It’s necessary to save the report if you have toggled any sections.
  • Share: You can easily share your report with buyers or other investors. The options are to send an email through our service, copy a link to paste it in your emails or forums, share on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
  • Download a PDF report: Generate a professional PDF report that you can share with your lender, buyers or investors. It takes a few seconds to generate and download. Make your report professional by adding your branding or removing Zilculator’s logo (contact us for pricing).
  • Publish your report: With a paid membership, you can publish your report to our public Marketplace and also to your Property inventory page (Premium feature). First, select the Deal status (Active, Under Contract, Pending, Sold, or Other) and click Publish.

The comprehensive fix and flip report (see the full demo report here) consists of 7 sections that can be made hidden or visible by clicking the appropriate toggle button.

The following is the list of all sections with a short description for each:

  • Executive Summary: highlights the most important metrics, ratios, and project cost data together with a photo slider.
  • Property Description: shows the longer description field and further property details and a map. Property listing history is displayed here as well when available.
  • Sales History: lets you load the sales history of the property and owner’s information, such as name, address, and mortgages (subjected to availability).
  • Comparative Market Analysis: displays selected recent comparable sales. Click Add comps to load the CMA module. Learn more about how to load comps and create a CMA.
  • Rehab Estimates: if you broke down the repair costs into categories in the property form, an easy-to-read table of repair costs will be displayed.
  • Financial Analysis: shows financial breakdown, timeline assumptions and investment return ratios, such as return on investment, internal rate of return and gross rehab profit.
  • Financing Overview: if you have selected financing for the deal, this section will show details of each loan, calculated monthly payments and a Cash vs. Leverage chart.
  • Cash Flow Forecast: displays projected expenses, mortgage payments, and cash flow for all the months of the holding period. Scroll the data table left and right to view information for additional years.
  • Resale Analysis: shows the sale proceeds breakdown, including capital partner’s share, if applicable.
  • Lender Report: shows a summary of each loan from Lender’s perspective, including the Lender income and return on investment. This section is great for Private lender funding proposals.
  • Photos

Note: Hover over the underlined terms to view their description in a popover.

What's next?

Once you have added your property, you can find it on your Properties page. Here are more things you can do with our software:

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