Reading CRE Financial Statements
Decode rent rolls, T-12s, and operating statements like a broker
Every CRE deal revolves around three documents: the rent roll, the T-12 (trailing 12-month operating statement), and the pro forma. This course teaches you to read all three, spot the numbers that matter, and identify the accounting tricks sellers use to make a property look better than it is.
What you'll learn
- Read a rent roll and flag expiring leases, below-market rents, and tenant concentration risk
- Analyze a T-12 for seasonality, one-time expenses, and normalized NOI
- Compare actual operating statements against pro forma projections
- Categorize operating expenses and spot missing line items
- Identify common seller tricks: expense omissions, above-market rent assumptions, ghost tenants
Lessons
- 01
The Big Three Documents Every CRE Deal Revolves Around
Rent roll, T-12, and pro forma — what each one is, what it tells you, and why you must read all three to underwrite any commercial real estate deal.
10 min - 02
How to Read a Rent Roll Like a Broker
A line-by-line walkthrough of a real commercial rent roll — what every column means, what to flag, and the five things that determine whether the deal is real or fake.
14 min - 03
The T-12 — Finding Normalized NOI in 12 Months of Messy Data
How to read a trailing 12-month operating statement, spot one-time items, identify seasonality, and calculate the "real" NOI that should drive your offer.
13 min - 04
Operating Expenses — Categories, Benchmarks, and Missing Line Items
Every operating expense category you should see on a CRE statement, the typical percentages for each asset class, and the ones brokers conveniently forget.
12 min - 05
Pro Forma vs. Actuals — Where the Broker's Math Gets Creative
How to compare a broker's forward-looking pro forma against the T-12 and rent roll, find the assumptions that don't line up, and build your own realistic projection.
12 min - 06
The Six Most Common Seller Tricks on a CRE Deal
A catalog of the specific ways sellers and brokers dress up weak deals — expense omissions, ghost income, above-market rent assumptions, and how to spot each one.
12 min - 07
Full Walkthrough — Reading a Real Multi-Tenant Retail Deal
Applying every skill from this course to a realistic multi-tenant retail deal — rent roll, T-12, pro forma, red flags, and a final offer price.
18 min
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