Fix and Flip in Washington DC

Because the same flip carries a completely different cost and risk profile depending on the address, and none of it blends. A District flip carries a 2.9% deed recordation and transfer stack in and out on anything at or above $400,000, a Class 3 vacant-property tax of $5.00 per $100 of assessed value if the rehab stalls in permitting, and a TOPA review if the house has a tenant. The same flip five miles away in Arlington, Virginia carries a state recordation tax of 0.25% of the greater of price or value, no vacant-property penalty class, and no tenant purchase right. Maryland sits in between with its own county-level recordation and transfer stack. Underwrite the jurisdiction, not just the comp.

Plan on 2.9% of the price on each side of the deal for anything at or above $400,000, or 2.2% combined below that threshold, and know that Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax don't carry this at all. DC taxes both the deed recordation and the deed transfer at 1.1% base plus an additional 0.35% (1.45% and 1.45%, or 2.9% combined) on residential property at or above $400,000 and on all commercial or mixed-use property; residential deals under $400,000 pay the lower 1.1% plus 1.1% (2.2%) rate. On a $700,000 rowhouse that is 0.0145 x 700,000 = $10,150 recordation and $10,150 transfer, $20,300 combined. By contrast, Virginia's state recordation tax is 25 cents per $100 of the greater of consideration or value, roughly 0.25%, plus a smaller local share and grantor tax. Your DC acquisition loan's deed of trust is exempt from the separate 1.1% security-instrument recordation tax if it records simultaneously with the deed, but a cash-out refinance later in the hold does not get that exemption. Talk to your closing attorney about how the stack lands on your specific price point and jurisdiction.

It can jump five to twelve times over, because DC's vacant and blighted classes are list-driven, not judgment calls, and this is a District-only exposure. A stalled DC rehab can land on the Class 3 vacant list at $5.00 per $100 of assessed value, or the Class 4 blighted list at $10.00, against the $0.85 residential rate most owner-occupied and rented homes pay. On a $600,000 house that is $5,100 a year at the residential rate, $30,000 on the vacant list, and $60,000 on the blighted list. An active building permit in hand can exempt the property for up to 3 tax years, but a permit application still under review only buys half a tax year, and a property sitting in foreclosure litigation gets none of the litigation exemption. Maryland and Virginia assess this metro's other jurisdictions on their own schedules, without a comparable vacant-property penalty class documented here. Underwrite your DC permitting timeline like it is part of your carry budget.

Only in the District. Maryland and Virginia have no TOPA analogue located in this metro's research. DC's Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act gives a tenant a right of first refusal before an owner can sell a housing accommodation. A single-family home is generally exempt from TOPA under a 2018 law, and the RENTAL Act, effective December 31, 2025, added exemptions for owner-held 2 to 4 unit buildings and for buildings under 15 years old, but both exemptions fail once the owner holds multiple District properties or holds through a corporate structure, which is exactly the entity setup most flippers use. Where TOPA applies, expect a tenant association assignment process with its own cooling-off periods before the sale can proceed. We do not publish TOPA's total timeline because it is not reliably sourced; budget the exit around it rather than a specific day count. A comparable Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax or Maryland-suburb flip carries no equivalent tenant purchase right in this file's research. Loop in DC counsel before you put a tenanted District building under contract.

No. Hyattsville, Maryland is the metro's lowest-basis submarket and also its highest-tax one, so the low sticker price doesn't translate into low carry. Hyattsville's mid-tier home value ran $408,502 in June 2026, the lowest of the eight submarkets in this metro's research, while its Prince George's County property tax stack, a combination of the city's own levy plus the county and state rates, totals 1.6220 per $100 of assessed value, the highest all-in rate documented in this file. Compare that against Silver Spring or Rockville in Montgomery County, which run higher home values but a lower combined rate near 1.15 to 1.16 per $100. Underwrite Hyattsville on its actual tax stack, not on the assumption that the lower entry point means a lower-cost hold.

It works if the spread is made at purchase, not from appreciation, and that's true across the whole metro, not just the District. All eight submarkets tracked in this metro's research, Washington DC, Silver Spring, Bethesda, Rockville, Hyattsville, Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax, showed home values flat to down year over year as of June 2026. No metro-wide or District-specific flip rate, margin or ROI figure has been published, so treat every submarket here as one where you underwrite the exit on your own comps rather than a rising market. Combine that with the jurisdiction-specific cost stack above, deed taxes and vacant-property exposure in DC, county-level recordation tax in the Maryland suburbs, and lighter closing costs in Northern Virginia, and the discipline that matters most across this metro is the purchase price.

There is no minimum score on this program. We do run credit, but on an asset-based flip loan it carries far less weight than at a bank. We underwrite the purchase price, the rehab budget, and the ARV. Weaker credit is usually handled with lower leverage rather than a decline, and there is no hard credit pull to start. What moves a Washington DC file more than a score is the jurisdiction the house sits in, since the District, the Maryland suburbs and Northern Virginia each carry their own cost stack. Subject to underwriting.

About 10% of the purchase, plus closing costs. We fund up to 90% of the purchase price and up to 100% of the rehab budget, capped to ARV, on a 6-month interest-only term. On a $700,000 District rowhouse that is up to $630,000 from us and $70,000 from you (700,000 x 90% = 630,000), with rehab drawn against the schedule instead of paid up front. Then budget the jurisdiction on top: that same rowhouse carries $20,300 in combined DC recordation and transfer tax at 2.9%, and an Arlington or Alexandria purchase carries nothing like it. Subject to underwriting.

Yes. First-time flippers are welcome. What we want to see is the scope of work, your contractor, and the comps behind your ARV, not a track record of completed deals. With every submarket in this metro flat to down year over year as of June 2026, we will underwrite the buy harder on a first deal than on a fifth, and we will tell you where the numbers land before you sign a contract. Apply now. Subject to underwriting.

$100K is the floor, and $5M is the ceiling. That band covers the whole metro, from a Hyattsville purchase at the low end of the submarket values here up through a larger District rehab. If your deal comes in under $100K, talk to us anyway and we will point you at the right structure. Subject to underwriting.