Financial Analysis for CRE
Discounted cash flow, IRR, NPV, and MIRR from the ground up
The gateway course for the CIRE — Certified Investment Real Estate Expert track. You'll build the mental model that underpins all serious CRE investing: the discounted cash flow, the time value of money, and the reason IRR and cap rate answer completely different questions. By the end you can underwrite a 10-year hold on any asset class.
Download the Financial Analysis for CRE Workbook
Printable PDF with exercises, worksheets, and fill-in notes designed to go alongside every lesson in this course.
What you'll learn
- Explain the time value of money and why it drives every CRE decision
- Build a 10-year discounted cash flow (DCF) projection for a sample deal
- Calculate and interpret IRR, NPV, MIRR, and equity multiple
- Understand the capital stack: senior debt, mezz, preferred equity, common equity
- Use a full cash flow model to compare two competing investment opportunities
Lessons
- 01
The Time Value of Money — The Idea That Runs All of Finance
Why a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow, and how that single idea becomes the foundation for every commercial real estate valuation decision.
12 min - 02
Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) — The Framework That Runs Institutional CRE
The complete DCF framework for commercial real estate — how to build it, what goes in each line, and why institutional buyers use it instead of simple cap rates.
14 min - 03
NPV and IRR — Two Sides of the Same Coin
Net present value and internal rate of return explained — what each one really tells you, when to use each, and how they help you compare deals.
13 min - 04
MIRR — The Honest Version of IRR
Why IRR overstates returns on many real estate deals, how the modified internal rate of return fixes it, and when MIRR should drive your decision instead of IRR.
11 min - 05
Equity Multiple, Levered vs. Unlevered Returns
Why equity multiple is the essential companion to IRR, how leverage turns a 7% unlevered return into a 15% levered return, and where leverage stops helping and starts hurting.
12 min - 06
The Capital Stack — Who Gets Paid, When, and at What Return
Senior debt, mezzanine, preferred equity, and common equity explained — the full CRE capital stack, how each piece works, and how to build one for your own deal.
13 min - 07
Full Walkthrough — Comparing Two Deals with Everything You've Learned
A complete side-by-side analysis of two realistic CRE deals using DCF, IRR, NPV, MIRR, equity multiple, and leverage — and picking the right one.
18 min
Up next — Course 05
Building CRE Pro Formas in Excel
Model any CRE deal from a blank spreadsheet