Top 10 metros where buyers can score more for a fixer-upper

Flipping fixer-uppers no longer delivers the impressive returns seen at the height of the pandemic—but a handful of affordable metros still stand out for offering sellers the promise of solid profit margins. The good news for house flippers is that renovated homes still attract more attention from would-be buyers online and spend less time on the market than nonupdated older homes, but this advantage has shrunk since 2021 as mortgage interest rates have climbed. Earlier this fall, the typical flipped house in the U.S.was bought for roughly half the market median (51.4%) and still priced about 12% below market median post-remodeling, according to the latest report on flipped homes from Realtor.com released Thursday.For example, in October, when the national median listing price registered at $424,000, a typical fixer-upper would cost a buyer about $216,000.

After an overhaul, that home would likely sell for about $373,000.   To see how homes perform on the market once they have been rehabilitated, researchers at Realtor.com analyzed properties 20 years old or older that had been purchased within the last two years and then relisted in October at a premium of at least 20% compared with their last sale price.Experts then used an AI tool to read the listing descriptions and confirm that recent renovations took place.

Finally, the properties that were identified as flipped fixer-uppers were tagged and placed back alongside the pool of older homes for sale.“Flipped homes in 2025 tend to ultimately sell at an 8.3% discount from their initial post-renovation listing price, a sign of demand softness and the tendency for sellers to overprice, especially compared to 2021,” says Realtor.com senior economist Joel Berner.The study shows that while remodeling a dilapidated house for resale would not net a profit exceeding the median nationally, there are 10 metros where house flippers can still cash in.To identify those enclaves, researchers developed a metr...