Key Takeaways
→ Charlotte leads with a 94-day median hold time, down 48% over 12 months, with margins up 25%
→ Denver has the shortest hold time at 82 days but margins are falling 34% -- the honest counterpoint on this list
→ Louisville is producing $74K median margins with hold times down 19% and 5,939 investor transactions in the past year
→ Tampa and Cleveland round out the five -- both with falling hold times, rising margins and manageable buyer leverage
→ On a $350K loan at current rates, the difference between Charlotte's 94-day hold and a 200-day market average is $10,673 in financing costs on a single deal
Two deals a year at $100K margins. Four deals a year at $69K margins. Most investors pick the first one. The second generates $276K in annual gross profit before carry costs. The first generates $200K. Hold time is doing more work in that calculation than the margin is, and most flippers never model it.
We pulled hold time data across 20 US cities to find where exits are fastest right now and where they’re still falling. The five markets below have the shortest median hold times in this dataset, and four of them have margins rising at the same time. Fix and flip loans in 2026 are typically structured as interest-only at rates between 9% and 13%, which means every extra day costs real money. At 10.5% on a $350K loan, every 30 days is $3,019. Run a deal 60 days longer than planned and you’ve given back $6,038 before renovation overruns or transaction costs come into frame.
Data for this article sourced from SFR Analytics.
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What The Carry Cost Actually Looks Like
| City | Hold time | $200K loan | $350K loan | $500K loan | vs Charlotte |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver, CO | 82 days | $4,717 | $8,254 | $11,791 | -$707 |
| Charlotte, NC | 94 days | $5,408 | $9,464 | $13,521 | baseline |
| Louisville, KY | 142 days | $8,170 | $14,297 | $20,425 | +$4,833 |
| Tampa, FL | 155 days | $8,918 | $15,606 | $22,295 | +$6,142 |
| Cleveland, OH | 162 days | $9,321 | $16,311 | $23,301 | +$6,847 |
| 200-day market avg | 200 days | $11,507 | $20,137 | $28,767 | +$10,673 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 547 days | $31,471 | $55,075 | $78,678 | +$45,611 |
Carry costs at 10.5% annual rate, interest-only. Excludes origination fees, insurance, taxes and utilities. Fix and flip loan rates in 2026 typically range from 9% to 13% for experienced borrowers. Data: SFR Analytics, July 2026.
Pittsburgh at 547 days is worth pausing on. Some investors are making $83K median margins there and accepting that hold time as part of the deal. That works if the full cost stack is in the underwriting from day one. But $55,075 in carry costs on a $350K loan before renovation, before transaction costs, before anything else is a number that surprises most investors when they actually run it. Use the hard money loan calculator to model this before you make an offer, not after.
How We Chose 5
We pulled median hold time and gross margin data across 20 US cities, ranked by current median hold time, then filtered on direction. Short hold time with margins falling — Denver — is a different market than short hold time with margins rising. Both are on this list but they tell different stories. A city needed falling hold times and a positive or rising margin trend to make the four. Denver is included because the hold time data earns it a place, with the context it needs.
| City | Hold time | Hold trend | Flip margin | Margin trend | Leverage | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver, CO | 82 days | -38% | $40K | -34% | Medium | Fastest exits, margins falling |
| Charlotte, NC | 94 days | -48% | $69K | +25% | Medium | Short hold, rising margins |
| Louisville, KY | 142 days | -19% | $74K | +30% | Medium | Underreported, deep pipeline |
| Tampa, FL | 155 days | -14% | $73K | +73% | Medium | Strongest margin growth |
| Cleveland, OH | 162 days | -14% | $65K | +49% | Low | Low leverage, deep deal flow |
The 5 Cities
Denver, CO
Denver, CO
Shortest hold time -- with a catch
82 days
Median hold time
-38%
Hold trend
$40K
Flip margin
-34%
Margin trend
6,227
Transactions
Those with established local sourcing in Denver, where fast exits are real but the current margin trend requires careful deal selection.
Denver exits faster than anywhere else in this data. 82 days median hold time, down 38% over 12 months, and $8,254 in carry costs on a $350K loan. By that single measure it’s the best market here.
The margins tell a different story. Down 34% over 12 months to $40K median. At a $813K median sale price, the gap between what the data shows and what most individual deals look like is wide. A renovation that runs $20K over budget on a $200K entry hurts. The same overrun against an $813K entry and a $40K gross margin is a deal that doesn’t close profitably. Denver works for investors who know it well enough to consistently beat the median.
Charlotte, NC
Charlotte, NC
Short exits and rising margins
94 days
Median hold time
-48%
Hold trend
$69K
Flip margin
+25%
Margin trend
7,369
Transactions
Those managing financing costs closely and running multiple concurrent deals, where shorter hold times have an outsized impact on annual net returns.
Charlotte is the market where hold time and margin are both moving in the right direction at the same time. 94 days down 48% over 12 months. $69K gross margin up 25%. Buyer leverage medium across 7,369 investor transactions. At $9,464 in carry costs on a $350K loan, there’s room to work between the margin and the costs before a deal stops making sense.
Back to the opening argument. An investor turning capital roughly four times a year at $69K gross generates $276K in annual gross profit per project slot before carry costs and renovation. A market with higher per-deal margins but longer hold times rarely beats that when the full annual picture is modeled. Run the numbers on your specific deal structure using the house flipping calculator before committing to a market.
One thing to watch: Charlotte’s $360K median sale price means ARV accuracy matters. Carry cost errors are less punishing here than in slower markets, but pricing a finished property above what buyers will pay costs more than the days it adds to the hold time.
Louisville, KY
Louisville, KY
Underreported, deep pipeline
142 days
Median hold time
-19%
Hold trend
$74K
Flip margin
+30%
Margin trend
5,939
Transactions
Those who want consistent deal flow and rising margins without the institutional competition levels that come with higher-profile markets.
Louisville rarely shows up in fix and flip market conversations. The data doesn’t justify that oversight. $74K median margin up 30% over 12 months. Hold times at 142 days and falling. Nearly 6,000 investor transactions in the past year. Medium buyer leverage throughout.
Something the transaction data shows that most analyses don’t mention: Louisville’s top buyers are mostly smaller local LLCs. No Opendoor, no Pretium, no institutional capital at scale. For investors who’d rather not compete with well-capitalized institutional buyers on acquisitions and exits, that’s a meaningful difference from most other cities on this list. The house flipping calculator will show you exactly what 142 days at current rates costs against a $74K margin at different loan sizes.
Tampa, FL
Tampa, FL
Highest margin growth, lowest entry price
155 days
Median hold time
-14%
Hold trend
$73K
Flip margin
+73%
Margin trend
4,748
Transactions
Those who want the strongest margin growth trajectory of the five at the lowest median entry price, with medium buyer leverage and Florida's longer pre-auction window for deal sourcing.
Tampa’s margin growth of 73% over 12 months is the highest of the five cities here, and the $207K median entry price is the lowest. At $15,606 carry costs on a $350K loan for 155 days, a $73K gross margin has real room to work.
Acquisition prices are compressing faster than ARV at exit. Investors buying in Tampa right now are building in margin that wasn’t accessible 12 months ago. The risk is ARV methodology, in a market where prices are still adjusting, active listing data isn’t a reliable comp baseline. Use sold comps from the prior 60 days and leave a buffer on the exit price, not the entry price.
Florida’s judicial foreclosure process also creates a longer pre-auction window for sourcing deals direct. Use FlipScout to identify target properties in your zip codes before the broader market does.
Cleveland, OH
Cleveland, OH
Low leverage, deepest deal pipeline
162 days
Median hold time
-14%
Hold trend
$65K
Flip margin
+49%
Margin trend
11,334
Transactions
Those who want the highest deal volume of the five cities, low buyer leverage conditions and a $181K median sale price that keeps per-deal exposure manageable.
11,334 investor transactions in the past 12 months. That’s the deepest active pipeline of any city here and it matters for sourcing, in a market this liquid, deal flow is accessible. Margins are up 49% to $65K. Hold times are falling. Buyer leverage is low, meaning buyers are competing for sellers rather than the other way round.
The $181K median sale price keeps per-deal exposure low relative to carry costs. At $16,311 on a $350K loan for 162 days, a $65K gross margin has room to work even if renovation runs over. Nearly 60% of Cleveland properties go off-market within two weeks in the broader market, the fastest absorption rate of the five cities and a useful indicator of what happens to well-finished, well-priced product.
The Number That Ties It Together
Two deals a year in Pittsburgh at $83K margins costs $110,150 in carry costs on $350K loans. $166K gross profit, $110K in financing before renovation or transaction costs. Four deals a year in Charlotte at $69K margins costs $37,856. $276K gross profit, $38K in financing. The carry cost gap alone is $72,294 per year before anything else.
Hold time and margin don’t operate independently. In a market where hold times are falling, carry costs are falling too. The investors who model both before they bid are the ones who know what a deal is actually worth before they make an offer.
Transaction and flip data sourced from SFR Analytics, drawing on public records including MLS, assessor filings, and deed records. Hold time figures represent median days between acquisition and resale. Gross margin figures reflect the difference between recorded acquisition and resale prices and do not include renovation, financing, or holding costs. Carry cost calculations use a 10.5% annual fix and flip loan rate on an interest-only basis. Fix and flip loan rates in 2026 typically range from 9% to 13% for experienced borrowers. Data covers the 12-month period ending July 2026. Twenty cities screened: Charlotte, Denver, Louisville, Tampa, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Columbus, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Raleigh, Austin, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, San Antonio and Philadelphia.
