How much should a wholesaler offer?
Work backwards from what your cash buyer will pay, never forwards from what the seller wants. Their ceiling is roughly 70% of ARV minus repairs; your contract price is that number minus your assignment fee; your opening offer sits several percent below that so you have somewhere to move. On a $385,600 ARV with $55,000 of repairs and a $12,000 fee, the maximum is $202,920 and you open somewhere near $190,000.
From ARV down to the offer
Every step below is subtraction, and only the last two are yours. ARV $385,600, repairs $55,000, target fee $12,000:
| Step | Amount | Set by |
|---|---|---|
| ARV | $385,600 | The market's renovated comps |
| Buyer's rule, 70% | $269,920 | Your buyer's own underwriting |
| Less repairs | $214,920 | The property's condition |
| = buyer's ceiling | $214,920 | The most the assignment can sell for |
| Less your fee | $202,920 | Your MAO — do not exceed |
| Opening offer | ≈ $190,000 | You, with room to negotiate |
The $13,000 between the opening offer and the MAO is negotiating room, not extra profit. If the seller accepts $190,000, your fee grows to $25,000 — but a wholesaler who plans on that is planning on the seller negotiating badly, which is neither reliable nor a good way to get referrals.
What actually moves the offer
Hold the ARV constant and vary only the repair estimate. This is why "offer X% of ARV" advice fails:
| Repairs | Buyer's ceiling | Your MAO (fee $12k) | As % of ARV |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20,000 | $249,920 | $237,920 | 62% |
| $55,000 | $214,920 | $202,920 | 53% |
| $90,000 | $179,920 | $167,920 | 44% |
Same house, same ARV, offers 18 percentage points apart. The repair estimate is doing more work than the ARV in setting your number, and it is also the number you're least equipped to get right from a driveway — which is the real argument for a walkthrough and a contingency rather than a confident guess.
Get the ARV right first
The whole ladder rests on the top rung. Enter the address and Faro pulls the comparable sales itself, so your ceiling is built on the same data your buyer will check it against.
Making a low offer that survives the conversation
A number arrived at by arithmetic is far easier to defend than one that simply arrived. Four things that change how the offer lands, none of which involve raising it:
- Show the subtraction. "Houses like yours sell for about $386,000 fixed up. This one needs roughly $55,000 of work, and the investor buying it needs a margin for the six months they'll carry it. That's how I get to $190,000." Sellers argue with numbers they can't see far more than with numbers they can.
- Name what they're actually buying. A cash close in two weeks, no repairs, no showings, no commission, no financing contingency. That is a real product with real value to the right seller — and no value at all to the wrong one, which is worth finding out early.
- Give the retail comparison honestly. Listed and fixed up it might fetch $386,000, less about $23,000 of commission and closing, less the $55,000 of work and months of carrying it themselves. If that path is genuinely better for them, say so — you'll lose the deal and keep the referral.
- Don't move without a reason. Raising your offer because they pushed teaches them the first number was theatre. Raise it because you found a comp you'd missed, or because the roof was newer than you thought — and say which.
Check the ceiling
Enter ARV and repairs to see your buyer's maximum, then subtract your fee for the contract price you can sign at.
Open the 70% rule calculatorNext
What is a good wholesale spread covers what the fee in the middle should be. How to calculate MAO covers where the 70% comes from and when to change it. How to analyze a wholesale deal runs the whole thing end to end, including the check from the buyer's side.
Common questions
How much below ARV should a wholesaler offer?
There is no single percentage, because repairs vary independently of ARV. A house needing $20,000 of work and one needing $90,000 can share an ARV and have offers $70,000 apart. Anyone quoting "offer 55% of ARV" is averaging over a variable that doesn't average.
What if my offer is far below what the seller wants?
Then it usually isn't a deal, and the useful skill is finding that out in ten minutes rather than three weeks. Most sellers who accept a genuine cash discount are trading price for speed and certainty — an inherited property, a distant landlord, a timeline they can't meet. A seller with time and no pressure is right to take the retail route, and pursuing them is how wholesalers burn months.
Should I offer my maximum straight away?
No. Opening at your MAO means every concession afterwards comes out of your fee. Open below it with room to move, and be able to say what the number is built on — sellers concede far more readily to arithmetic they can follow than to a number that simply arrived.
How do I know what my buyers will actually pay?
Ask them, before you have a deal. A buyer who tells you their rule, their preferred areas, their maximum scope and their price band is worth more than ten who "look at everything". After a few assignments you can price to specific buyers instead of to a generic 70% rule.
Related guides and calculators
How to calculate MAO
The maximum allowable offer formula, both versions, and how to pick the percentage honestly.
What is a good wholesale spread?
What the fee actually runs, and how to tell a thin spread from a deal that will fall apart.
ARV for wholesaling
Estimating ARV sight-unseen, and why the number your cash buyer will accept is lower than the one you want.
How to analyze a wholesale deal
End-to-end on one property, including the buyer's-side check most wholesalers never run.
Know your ceiling before the conversation.
Faro comps any address in about a minute, so you walk into the call with the buyer's number rather than the seller's.
Estimates for analysis and educational use only — not financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Verify every number independently before making a purchase decision.