Calculators › Max Offer Calculator
Deal analysisWork backward from the return you want to the highest price you should pay. Pick a target, enter the rent and financing, and this solves the offer price that still hits it, plus the 1% rule and 70% rule reference prices. It updates as you type.
Your numbers
Vacancy, management, maintenance, capex, taxes, insurance.
At these expenses, no purchase price produces the target. Rent barely covers operating costs.
A screening ceiling based on your assumptions, not an appraisal or an offer recommendation. Rents and rates should reflect real quotes. Not financial advice.
The tool solves the price at which your chosen target is met, holding the rent, expenses, and loan terms fixed. A target cash-on-cash finds the price where annual pre-tax cash flow divided by your cash invested equals your goal. A target monthly cash flow finds the price where the rent, after expenses and the mortgage, leaves you the dollar figure you want. The 1% rule price is simply rent times 100, a fast sanity check. The 70% rule max offer is ARV times 0.70 minus rehab, the flip and BRRRR ceiling.
At $2,500 rent, the 1% rule price is $250,000, a quick gut check on whether a listing is even in range. If you are rehabbing toward a $300,000 ARV with $40,000 of work, the 70% rule caps your offer near $170,000. For a buy-and-hold, set a target cash-on-cash and the solver returns the exact price that hits it at your down payment and rate. Raise your rate or target, and the price you can justify drops.
Because the target you set, plus today's rate and expenses, only pencils at or below that price. That is the tool doing its job. It is telling you the listing does not hit your return at ask, not that the number is wrong.
A minimum monthly cash flow is the most intuitive to start with. Cash-on-cash is better for comparing very different deals. The 1% rule is only a first-glance filter, not an analysis.
Yes, for the cash-on-cash target, your closing and upfront costs are part of the cash invested. They are not part of the 1% or 70% reference prices, which are pure rules of thumb.
When operating expenses eat most or all of the rent, there is no purchase price that produces a positive return, so the solver has nothing to find. Lower the expense assumption or the target, or the deal simply does not work.
Ready Utilities was founded by Cedrick Reese, a retired veteran and web developer who enjoys building free, user-friendly online tools that simplify everyday tasks. My journey began in the early 2000s with affiliate marketing and niche site development, which grew into a passion for creating practical digital utilities and calculators. After retiring, I earned a Computer Systems Technician certificate from UEI College, completed Electro-Mechanical Technologies at Tulsa Welding School, and finished the Carpentry program at Florida State College at Jacksonville. Today, I combine my technical background and craftsmanship by building furniture using traditional woodworking methods, gardening, and developing helpful online tools for users worldwide.