How Much Money Do You Need to Flip a House? Real Numbers, Not Guru Math

Published September 2026 · By the SLA Capital team

The guru answer is "none — use other people's money!" The lender answer is a real number: on a typical $250,000 project, plan on roughly $55,000–$60,000 in accessible cash. Here's the full budget line by line — down payment, closing costs, carry, contingency, reserves — and where each dollar goes, so the first surprise on your first flip isn't a cash call.

The worked example: $200K purchase, $50K rehab

Total project cost: $250,000. A fix & flip loan is sized as a percent of that total (loan-to-cost), capped against the after-repair value — the full sizing logic is in our ARV guide. As a first-timer, expect around 85% LTC; experienced flippers reach up to 92.5%. At 85%, the loan is $212,500. Now the cash budget:

• Down payment — $37,500. The 15% gap between total cost and the loan. This is the big line, and it's due at closing.
• Closing costs — roughly $7,000–$9,000. Origination runs 1–4 points on the loan (2 points here is $4,250), plus title, escrow, and recording. See the current rate sheet.
• Interest carry — budget about $9,000–$11,000 for six months. Bridge rates run 9.5%–12%, interest-only. If your loan charges interest on the drawn balance, the early months cost less because the rehab portion isn't out yet — check for that term; it's worth thousands.
• Rehab contingency — $5,000. Ten percent of the rehab budget, minimum. Every experienced flipper will tell you the demo phase spends this for you.
• Draw float. Draws reimburse completed work: you front a phase, the inspection verifies it, the draw funds it. You'll recycle the same working cash through the project, but you need it — commonly the first $10,000–$15,000 of work. It overlaps with the contingency line rather than stacking fully on top.

All in: about $55,000–$60,000 of accessible cash on a $250,000 project — call it 20–25% of total project cost — plus enough left over that the lender sees reserves, not an empty account, after closing.

What changes the number

Track record. At 92.5% LTC the same project's down payment drops to $18,750 — the single biggest lever, and it's earned by exiting deals cleanly, not by negotiating harder.

Project size. The percentages hold as the project scales. We lend $100K–$3M, so a $600K project wants roughly $130K–$150K of cash capacity.

Speed. Every month of hold is a month of interest, taxes, insurance, and utilities. A flipper who finishes in four months instead of eight roughly halves the carry line — this is why the beginners guide hammers scope discipline.

The "no money down" honesty section

Partners, gap lenders, and seller carrybacks exist, and experienced operators use them deliberately. But stacking someone else's down payment on top of a bridge loan means two lenders, two sets of terms, and no cushion when the rehab runs over — the exact structure that turns a fixable problem into a lost deal. If you don't have the cash yet for a $250K project, a smaller first project beats a leveraged-to-the-teeth big one. The track record you build is what unlocks the 92.5% tier, where the cash requirement genuinely does get small.

Run your own numbers

Send the address, purchase price, and rehab budget and we'll return a real term sheet — loan amount, cash to close, and the draw schedule — usually same-day. Rates from 9.5%, 100% of the rehab funded through draws, closings as fast as 72 hours when the deal is clean.