How much should your assignment fee be?

What does a low assignment fee cost you?

A low assignment fee costs you the difference between what you charged and what your buyers would have paid — money you never see, on a deal that looks like it went well. New to assignment fees? Start with the complete guide to wholesale assignment fees.

Imagine you have a deal under contract for $100,000. A $10,000 assignment fee feels good because why not? Seven out of ten buyers are interested at $110,000. Great.

One problem. Little did you know that all seven would have bought that deal at $114,750, and you'll never know. You didn't lose the deal. You lost $4,750 — quietly, on a deal that "went well."

If you're new to wholesaling, this is the most important idea on this page, so it's worth slowing down. When you charge too much, you find out fast: buyers go quiet, the contract sits, and you adjust. When you charge too little, nothing tells you. The deal sells quickly, the buyer is happy, the title company pays you, and you move on — never knowing that the same buyer would have paid thousands more. Most wholesalers lose far more money this quiet way than by overcharging, simply because they never see it happen.

Every wholesaler knows $10,000 is an estimate, not an answer. The problem is there's never been a practical way to find the real number — so you pick a fee that seems fair, the deal closes, and nothing ever tells you what it cost.

How much should my assignment fee be?

Your assignment fee should come from the range your buyers will pay while the deal still leaves them a fair profit. That's the straight answer to "how much should my assignment fee be?" — and it's a different number on every deal.

On the sample deal used throughout these guides — a house worth $300,000 once fixed, needing $30,000 of repairs, under contract for $140,000 — that fee is $47,800. On a thinner deal it might be $4,850. On a deal with a lot of room it might be $122,000. None of those is "normal". Each one is simply what buyers near that house will pay.

So when you ask how much your fee should be, you're really asking two smaller questions: what will buyers pay for this house, and what did you agree to pay the seller? The fee is the gap between them.

How much should I charge for an assignment fee?

Charge what buyers near you will actually pay above your contract price, and decide how hard to push. Three sensible places to price the sample deal:

• $37,150 — most buyers still in, the buyer keeps about 20%. Choose this when you need a fast, sure sale.
• $47,800 — just over half the buyers still in, the buyer keeps 15%. A balanced choice for a normal deal.
• $54,100 — fewer buyers, the buyer keeps 12%. Choose this with plenty of time and strong buyers.

All three come from the same data. What changes is how much certainty you want. What you shouldn't do is charge $10,000 because it sounds right: on this deal, that's $37,800 you'd never see. See how much you can charge for an assignment fee.

What decides your assignment fee?

Three things decide your assignment fee — and all three are specific to your deal:

1. What investors near you have actually paid for houses like yours. Public records show every cash and LLC purchase, the price and the value. That's what buyers here really do, not what they say.
2. Which buyers are still in at each price. Every buyer has a limit — a budget, a top price for a house like this, a repair limit. As your fee goes up, some of them drop out.
3. Your deal's own numbers. ARV, seller price and repairs decide how much profit is left for the buyer after they pay your fee and their own costs to buy, hold and resell.

Your maximum assignment fee is the highest fee where enough buyers are still in and the buyer still keeps a fair profit. Past that point, you start losing buyers or the deal stops working for them.

Here's what each of those means for a beginner:

• What investors near you have actually paid. When investors buy houses, the sale is recorded — the price, the date, and often that they paid cash or bought through a company. Those records show what real buyers in your area pay for houses like yours, compared with what the houses are worth once fixed.
• Which buyers are still in at each price. Every buyer has a budget, a top price for a house like yours and a limit on how much repair work they'll take on. As your price rises, some drop out. The fee that works is one where enough of them are still buying.
• Your deal's own numbers. The house's value once fixed (its ARV), the real repair cost, and the buyer's costs to buy, hold and resell. Get these wrong and every number after them is wrong too.

For the full walkthrough of finding those investor purchases and turning them into a fee, see how to determine your assignment fee from real buyer data.

Do averages or percentages tell you your assignment fee?

No — averages and percentages don't tell you your assignment fee, because they describe other deals, not yours. A survey of more than 1,000 wholesalers put the national average at about $13,000, with state averages from about $5,000 to $22,000. It's natural to wonder whether you're charging less than everyone else.

But an average is the middle of thousands of different deals in different markets. It can't tell you what buyers will pay for your house on your street. The same goes for percentage rules like "charge 10% of the contract": the same percentage is too little on one deal and too much on the next. More in what the average assignment fee really tells you and why percentage rules fail.

It's natural to reach for an average when you don't have anything else — it feels like a safe benchmark. But an average is the middle of thousands of other people's deals in other markets. Your deal could support half of it or ten times it. See the average wholesale assignment fee and whether your fee should be a percentage or a flat fee.

What should my assignment fee be on my first deal?

On your first deal, your assignment fee should come from the same place as on any other deal: what buyers will pay minus your contract price. But first deals carry extra risk — you're still learning to estimate repairs and ARV, and you may not have many buyers yet — so it's sensible to price a little below the maximum, where more buyers are still interested.

Two habits will help most. First, work out what buyers will pay before you sign the seller, so you know there's room. Second, send your deal with the numbers behind your price — comps, repair estimate and the buyer's profit — so buyers can say yes quickly. A first deal that closes smoothly at a fair fee teaches you more than one that sits at an ambitious one.

Does the 70% rule set your assignment fee?

No — the 70% rule does not set your assignment fee. The 70% rule is a rule of thumb that an investor should pay no more than 70% of the ARV minus the repairs. Most assignment fee calculators stop there: subtract your contract price, and whatever is left is "your fee." It's a guide to what a buyer might pay. It doesn't know who your buyers are, what they've paid, or what they'll pay for this house.

The 70% rule is useful as a quick first check on a lead — if a deal fails it badly, it's rarely worth your time. But using it to set your fee means your fee comes from a percentage someone else picked, not from what buyers near you pay. See why the 70% rule doesn't set your fee.

On this example the formula leaves $7,800 behind. On another deal it could just as easily overshoot and scare buyers off. See why the 70% rule doesn't set your fee and how to calculate your assignment fee step by step.

What happens if your assignment fee is too low or too high?

If your assignment fee is too low, you give money away without knowing it; if it's too high, buyers walk away and the deal stalls.

Too low

You close, the buyer's happy, and you never find out you left money behind. This is the expensive mistake, because it's invisible.

Too high

Buyers start walking away, or the buyer's profit gets too thin to be worth the work. The contract sits, the clock runs, and you end up cutting the fee anyway — or losing the deal. Learn where that point is in can an assignment fee be too high? and what the maximum assignment fee is.

How much can I charge for an assignment fee?

You can charge as much as your buyers will still pay while keeping a fair profit — there's no fixed legal or dollar cap in most places, though some states require disclosures or licensing, so check your state's current rules. The practical limit is set by the deal and the buyers: past it, buyers drop out and the contract sits. See what the maximum assignment fee is and can an assignment fee be too high?

Is charging a higher assignment fee greedy?

No — charging a higher assignment fee isn't greedy when it's the fee your buyers will still pay while keeping a fair profit. A lot of wholesalers worry about this — that a bigger fee makes them look like they're taking advantage. It's a fair worry in a business with a reputation problem.

That fee is the market, not greed. The buyer still makes their money; you're simply not giving yours away. And it isn't a percentage you pick out of the air — real buyers show you where their line is by what they actually buy:

Many beginners feel uncomfortable charging a large fee, as if they're taking advantage of someone. Look at who's in the deal. The seller gets the price they agreed to. The buyer gets a house they can still make a fair profit on. You get paid for finding the deal, negotiating it and bringing the two together. If all three are true, the size of your fee isn't greed — it's what the deal is worth. See what a good assignment fee is.

More in what a good assignment fee is and how much profit to leave your cash buyer.

How do you set an assignment fee, step by step?

Here's how to set an assignment fee, step by step, the way you'd do it on a real deal. The sample deal: ARV $300,000, repairs $30,000, your contract $140,000.

1. Find the ARV from real comps.
   3–5 renovated sales within half a mile in the last 3–6 months, similar size and beds. Take the middle price per square foot times your size. $300,000.
2. Estimate the repairs honestly.
   Room by room, at local contractor prices, plus 10% for surprises. $30,000.
3. Work out what a buyer can pay.
   ARV − 8% selling costs, ÷ 1.15 for their profit, − repairs and holding, ÷ 1.02 for buying costs. $187,800. Every line: how to calculate your assignment fee.
4. Check it against what investors near you actually paid.
   Turn each recent investor purchase into (price + repairs) ÷ ARV and take the middle half. Here they give a buyer-supported range of $183,000–$189,900, most likely $188,500. Your $187,800 sits inside it. The full method: how to determine your assignment fee from real buyer data.
5. Choose how hard to push.

   Position	Buyer price	Your fee	Investors still in
   Surer sale	$183,000	$43,000	6 of 8
   Most likely	$188,500	$48,500	4 of 8
   Most money	$189,900	$49,900	2 of 8

6. Subtract your contract price and send the price with the numbers behind it.
   Your fee = the buyer price you chose − $140,000. Send the price with your ARV comps, the repair scope and photos, so buyers can check your math.

How do you find your assignment fee?

You find your assignment fee by working it out from data instead of picking a number. The method is the same on every deal:

1. Look at what investors near you actually paid for houses like this one — recorded cash and LLC purchases, the price and the value.
2. Count who's still in at each price. Every buyer has a budget, a top price for a house like this and a repair limit; as your fee rises, some drop out.
3. Check the buyer's profit after their costs to buy, hold and resell. Decide how much you'll leave them.
4. Choose your fee inside the range that passes both — enough buyers still in, and a profit still worth buying.
5. Send the contract at your contract price plus that fee. See how to price a wholesale deal.

Questions