The Ultimate Fix-and-Flip Property Checklist

Fix-and-flip profits are made at acquisition. The decisions you make before closing determine whether you make money six months later. This checklist covers every step from initial screening to exit strategy validation.

Pre-Purchase: Initial Screen (Before You Spend Time or Money)

The first screen is fast. If a deal fails here, move on.

• Run an ARV estimate. Pull 3–5 recent comps of renovated comparable properties within 0.5 miles. Calculate your ARV range.
• Run a rough rehab estimate. Drive by the property. Use visual condition to estimate scope category (cosmetic only, full mechanicals, structural risk). Apply the 70% rule against your ARV to get your maximum offer range.
• Check the purchase price against your MAO. If the seller's asking price is 15% or more above your MAO before negotiations, pass. The deal doesn't start in the right range.
• Verify title basics. Run a preliminary title search or have your title company flag obvious liens, tax delinquency, or chain-of-title issues before you spend money on inspections.
• Check flood zone and zoning. A property in a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area or a non-conforming zoning situation may have financing and ARV constraints that change the deal economics on the spot.

Due Diligence: Inspection Phase

Once a deal passes the initial screen, invest in professional inspections. At $300–$600, the inspection is the cheapest insurance you can buy.

• General inspection. Full interior and exterior inspection by a licensed inspector. Read the full report, not just the summary.
• Roof inspection. If the general inspector flags age or condition issues, get a roofing contractor to walk the roof. An unknown-condition roof is an $8,500–$14,000+ line item with wide uncertainty.
• HVAC evaluation. Age, brand, and general condition indicate service-life expectancy. A 15-year-old system is a budget item regardless of current function.
• Electrical panel and wiring audit. Knob-and-tube or aluminum branch circuit wiring, Federal Pacific or Zinsco panels, and 60-amp service all require full replacement. Each costs $2,200–$4,500+ and lenders require them to be corrected before funding.
• Plumbing inspection with camera. Cast iron drain lines, galvanized supply lines, and failing sewer laterals are expensive and invisible from a visual inspection. A sewer camera scope ($250–$500) is worth running on any property built before 1980.
• Foundation evaluation. On properties in high-risk zones (expansive clay soils in Texas, freeze-thaw markets in the Midwest, coastal erosion areas) or pre-1960 construction, have a structural engineer evaluate the foundation. The inspector can flag issues; only an engineer can scope them accurately.
• Environmental flags. Lead paint (pre-1978 construction), asbestos (pre-1980 construction in floor tiles, pipe insulation, and popcorn ceilings), and mold. These require licensed abatement contractors and add real scope to your estimate.

Scope and Budget Development

Once inspections are complete, build your scope of work and finalize your budget.

• Build a line-item scope. Every required work item gets its own line with a cost range. Don't use a single "rehab" number. Use categories: roof, HVAC, kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, electrical, plumbing, exterior.
• Collect 2–3 contractor bids. Never accept a single bid on major work. For scope items over $5,000, get at least two bids. For the full project, get three. The spread between bids tells you how confident to be in your budget.
• Reconcile your estimate against bids. If your estimate shows $85,000 and the first contractor bids $115,000, investigate the gap. Either the bid is high or you missed scope. Don't average them.
• Apply a 20% contingency to total scope. Budget the contingency as a real line item from day one. Experienced investors don't debate this number — they've earned it through projects that uncovered hidden scope.
• Calculate total project cost. Rehab budget + contingency + acquisition closing costs + financing costs + holding costs (taxes, insurance, utilities, interest) + selling costs (agent commission, seller concessions). The renovation number is not the total cost.

Contractor and Timeline Management

• Check license and insurance before signing anything. Every contractor doing work over $500 (in most states) should hold an active contractor license and carry general liability and workers compensation insurance. Verify both independently.
• Sign a written contract with scope, timeline, and payment terms. Every contract should specify what work is included, what materials will be used, the timeline with milestones, and payment terms. Never pay more than 10% upfront on larger projects.
• Use milestone-based payments. Tie payments to verifiable milestones (rough framing, electrical rough-in, drywall, final punch list) rather than time-based draws. This protects you if a contractor abandons the project.
• Add 30–40% to contractor timeline estimates. Not because contractors are dishonest — because projects reveal scope, permits take longer, and subcontractors have their own backlogs. An 8-week estimate should be budgeted as 11 weeks in your holding cost calculation.
• Plan for permit timelines. In markets like Austin, Chicago, and Philadelphia, permitting can add 8–12 weeks to a project. Know your market's permit review timeline before you budget your hold period.

Exit Strategy Validation

• Confirm your ARV with a broker opinion before closing. A local agent who has listed comparable properties is your best ARV validator. Ask them to walk the comp set with you. If their ARV is 10% below yours, take that seriously.
• Identify your buyer profile. Who buys renovated homes in this neighborhood? First-time buyers, move-up buyers, turnkey rental investors? Your buyer profile determines finish level, which determines scope and cost.
• Build a rental fallback into your analysis. If the flip exit underperforms, can you hold as a rental at positive cash flow? Calculate the rental yield on your total project cost. If it's positive at market rent, you have a second exit option. If not, you have a deal with only one way out.
• Know your minimum acceptable selling price. Before closing, calculate the price at which the deal breaks even on all-in costs. That's your floor. If the market softens during your hold period, you need to know at what price you'd rather sell than carry the property longer.
• Check days on market for your comp set. If renovated properties in your target neighborhood are sitting 90+ days before selling, your timeline and holding cost assumptions need to reflect that.

At Closing and During Renovation

• Verify title insurance is in place. Both lender's and owner's policies. Title issues discovered after closing are expensive and slow to resolve.
• Set up utilities immediately. Water, gas, and electric need to be in your name from day one. Contractors can't work without utilities, and vacant properties without climate control suffer additional damage.
• Document existing condition with photos and video before work starts. This protects you in contractor disputes and provides evidence if a pre-existing condition surfaces mid-project.
• Do weekly walkthroughs during construction. Problems caught at the rough-in stage cost 20% of what they cost to fix after drywall is up.
• Get final inspections signed off before punch list payments. Permits require final inspections. Don't make final payments until the work has passed all required inspections.

Use this checklist as a framework, not a script. Every market and every deal has its own quirks. The discipline is in doing the work consistently on every deal, including the ones that look straightforward.