Building CRE Pro Formas in Excel
Model any CRE deal from a blank spreadsheet
A hands-on Excel workshop. You'll build a complete institutional-quality pro forma from scratch: rent roll, expense growth assumptions, debt service, levered and unlevered returns, sensitivity tables, and tornado charts. Downloadable template included.
What you'll learn
- Structure a CRE pro forma with inputs, calcs, and outputs cleanly separated
- Model rent growth, vacancy, expense inflation, and reversion value
- Build a monthly loan amortization schedule and compute debt service coverage
- Create sensitivity tables on cap rate, rent growth, and loan terms
- Download and use the MaxLife pro forma template on your own deals
Lessons
- 01
Pro Forma Structure — Inputs, Calcs, and Outputs
How to lay out a CRE pro forma in Excel so it's auditable, flexible, and fast to build — the three-section discipline every institutional model follows.
14 min - 02
Building the Revenue Side — Rent Roll, Escalations, Vacancy, Growth
How to model the revenue line items in a CRE pro forma — base rent, escalations, vacancy, bad debt, and other income — without falling into the optimism trap.
14 min - 03
Modeling Operating Expenses — Line by Line
How to project operating expenses in a CRE pro forma with the right growth rates, the right categories, and a realistic view of what actually costs what.
13 min - 04
The Loan Amortization Schedule — Monthly P&I, DSCR, and Balloon
How to build a monthly loan amortization schedule in Excel, compute debt service coverage ratio, and handle balloon maturities on a typical CRE loan.
13 min - 05
Calculating Returns — IRR, Equity Multiple, NPV, and Cash-on-Cash
How to wire the outputs section of a CRE pro forma — unlevered IRR, levered IRR, equity multiple, NPV, and cash-on-cash — using the right Excel formulas on the right cash flows.
12 min - 06
Sensitivity Tables and Tornado Charts
How to use Excel Data Tables to stress-test a CRE pro forma across ranges of key assumptions, and how to build a tornado chart to rank drivers by impact.
12 min - 07
Full Template Walkthrough — Building a Complete Model End to End
A complete walkthrough of building a CRE pro forma for a 24-unit value-add multifamily deal — from blank spreadsheet to fully stressed institutional-quality model.
20 min
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