CRE Model Lab

{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":1},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Welcome to CRE Model Lab"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"If you're here, you've decided to stop watching from the sidelines and start building the financial modeling skills that get you hired at top CRE firms. Respect."}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"Here's how to get started:"}]},{"type":"orderedList","content":[{"type":"listItem","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Start the Bootcamp Course"},{"type":"text","text":" — Work through modules sequentially. Each lesson builds on the last. Don't skip ahead."}]}]},{"type":"listItem","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Build alongside the lessons"},{"type":"text","text":" — Open Excel and model as you go. Reading alone won't build muscle memory."}]}]},{"type":"listItem","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Use the Community Chat"},{"type":"text","text":" — Stuck on a formula? Post your question. No question is too basic here."}]}]},{"type":"listItem","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Check Updates & Resources"},{"type":"text","text":" — Templates, deal datasets, and supplementary materials drop here regularly."}]}]}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"What you'll walk away with:"}]},{"type":"bulletList","content":[{"type":"listItem","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"A complete pro forma model you built from a blank spreadsheet"}]}]},{"type":"listItem","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Confidence underwriting multifamily, office, and retail deals"}]}]},{"type":"listItem","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Equity waterfall and sensitivity analysis skills that separate you from other candidates"}]}]},{"type":"listItem","content":[{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"A certificate of completion to add to your resume and LinkedIn"}]}]}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"The people who land CRE acquisitions roles aren't smarter — they just put in the reps. Let's get to work."}]}]}

{"type":"doc","content":[{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":1},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"The 5 Excel Functions That Power Every CRE Financial Model"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"I've reviewed hundreds of pro formas from top acquisitions shops — Blackstone, Starwood, PGIM, Brookfield. Strip away the branding, and every single model is built on the same five Excel functions. Master these, and you can reverse-engineer any deal model you encounter."}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"1. SUMPRODUCT — The Underwriting Workhorse"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Forget nested IF statements. SUMPRODUCT lets you calculate weighted averages, conditional sums across multiple criteria, and blended rent rolls in a single formula. When you're underwriting a 200-unit multifamily deal with different unit types, lease terms, and concessions — SUMPRODUCT handles it cleanly."}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Use case: "},{"type":"text","text":"Calculating effective gross income across a mixed-use rent roll with varying vacancy assumptions by unit type."}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"2. INDEX/MATCH — Kill VLOOKUP Forever"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"VLOOKUP breaks when you insert columns. INDEX/MATCH doesn't. It looks left, right, and anywhere in your dataset. In CRE modeling, you're constantly pulling comp data, tenant information, and assumption inputs from reference tables. INDEX/MATCH is non-negotiable."}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Use case: "},{"type":"text","text":"Pulling market rent comps by submarket and property type from a reference database into your underwriting assumptions."}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"3. XNPV / XIRR — Time-Accurate Returns"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"NPV and IRR assume equal time periods. Real estate closings don't work that way. XNPV and XIRR use actual dates, so your return calculations account for irregular cash flow timing — partial first periods, mid-year dispositions, capital calls on specific dates."}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Use case: "},{"type":"text","text":"Calculating levered IRR on a value-add deal with a 6-month renovation period, 3 years of stabilized cash flow, and a Year 5 exit."}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"4. MIN / MAX — Covenant & Cap Logic"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Debt covenants, management fee floors, distribution caps — real estate is full of boundary conditions. MIN and MAX let you hardcode constraints without complex IF logic. Lender requires a 1.25x DSCR minimum? MAX(actualDSCRpayment, minimumDSCRpayment) handles it in one cell."}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Use case: "},{"type":"text","text":"Modeling a cash flow sweep where excess cash above a 1.30x DSCR threshold is applied to principal paydown."}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"5. IF / AND / OR — Decision Trees"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Every model has branching logic. Lease expiration triggers, refinancing decision points, promote tier thresholds in waterfall structures. Nesting IF with AND/OR lets you build the conditional logic that makes a model dynamic instead of static."}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Use case: "},{"type":"text","text":"Building promote tiers in an equity waterfall — IF the LP has received their preferred return AND the IRR exceeds 12%, THEN split cash flows 70/30 instead of 90/10."}]},{"type":"heading","attrs":{"level":2},"content":[{"type":"text","text":"The Bottom Line"}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"You don't need 50 functions. You need 5 — and you need to know them cold. Every pro forma, waterfall, and sensitivity analysis you'll ever build is some combination of these."}]},{"type":"paragraph","content":[{"type":"text","text":"Inside CRE Model Lab, we go from zero to building full institutional-quality models using exactly these tools. If you're serious about breaking into CRE finance, stop collecting bookmarks and start building."}]}]}