The Real Estate Financial Modeling Interview Exam Guide

How To Ace Your Real Estate Financial Modeling Interview Exam For Real Estate Investing Careers

Last updated 2022-01-10 | 4.8

- The ability to build a functional
- dynamic real estate financial model from scratch
- Be fully prepared to ace your real estate financial modeling interview exam questions
- regardless of what questions are thrown at you
- Stand out from your competition and maximize your compensation by becoming the most desirable job candidate for any role

What you'll learn

The ability to build a functional
dynamic real estate financial model from scratch
Be fully prepared to ace your real estate financial modeling interview exam questions
regardless of what questions are thrown at you
Stand out from your competition and maximize your compensation by becoming the most desirable job candidate for any role

* Requirements

* Access to Microsoft Excel for PC or Mac
* A basic understanding of real estate finance and financial modeling is recommended

Description

Want to land a six-figure job in private equity real estate investing?

According to CEL & Associates, Inc., the 2020 median total compensation for an acquisitions associate in retail, office/industrial, and multifamily was $137K, $143K, and $121K, respectively. This course will teach you the core fundamental Excel financial modeling skills necessary to land one of these jobs and succeed in your first commercial real estate investing role.

The opportunity in private equity real estate investing careers is HUGE. Top-tier salaries and bonuses, the ability to invest in big deals, and, unlike investment banking, a work-life balance that will general allow you to keep your friends and family and sleep more than 3 hours per night.

But breaking in isn't easy. In fact, many of these jobs require a real estate financial modeling interview exam to test your knowledge and ability to contribute from day one.

Yup, that's right. Writing "proficient in Microsoft Excel" on your resume won't cut it for these roles. The best firms (the ones you actually want to work for) will likely test your real estate financial modeling chops with a timed exam.

These firms want to know your knowledge and skill sets in five main categories:

  1. Microsoft Excel Formulas & Functions

  2. Real Estate Finance

  3. Commercial Real Estate Lease Modeling

  4. Cash Flow Statement Modeling

  5. ARGUS Export Modeling

This exam is usually the last "gatekeeper" for the most coveted private equity real estate investing analyst and associate jobs at multifamily, retail, office, and industrial investment firms.

This course will teach you how to ace that exam.

This is NOT a beginner course. If you're just starting out in real estate investing and real estate financial modeling, this course likely isn’t for you.

BUT if you have a basic understanding of real estate investing and real estate financial modeling and you're either applying for jobs or preparing for an interview at a real estate investment firm, this course will give you an unfair advantage to land the job you're looking for and stand head and shoulders above your peer group.

I'm not really sure why, but it feels like this information is hidden. While investment banking analysts and other professionals generally know what they're getting into with an interview exam, real estate financial modeling exams generally feel like Pandora's box.

When I was interviewing for jobs, no one could seem to tell me what I had to know.

I honestly didn't even know where to look.

So, after taking multiple of these exams, and actually creating these exams for incoming analysts and associates, I decided to create this resource for anyone looking to break into the real estate private equity field.

You can do this.

You just need to be prepared and KNOW what you're going to be asked ahead of time, and HOW you should answer those questions.

Firms are looking for a THOUGHT PROCESS and MODELING EFFICIENCY - and you're going to learn how to master both of these things in this course.

Here's what some of our students have had to say:

★★★★★ "Unbelievable value for money. It feels like I just accomplished an MBA in Real Estate Finance."

★★★★★ "Justin is a very clear instructor who can explain complex topics and formulas with ease. I have learned a ton from all of his courses and hope to use them to enhance my own career path! I highly recommend this course for anyone who is looking to sharpen their excel / real estate financial modeling skills and break into real estate investing."

★★★★★ "This course greatly helped as a refresher when interviewing for a large institutional Lending position. It also enabled me to be much more efficient in my modeling."

★★★★★ "Justin's classes are very clear and he drills the parts that you need to know continuously. It is also helpful that he continues to say the keyboard shortcuts so that you remember them."

★★★★★ "Awesome. Great way to end your programme of courses. I feel like I've definitely gone from a from scratch beginner to probably at the advance intermediate stage now. Many thanks for all your help in putting all these videos together!"

If you're ready to build your real estate financial modeling arsenal so you can tackle any questions that come your way on interview day, click the enroll button to get immediate access to five institutional-quality real estate private equity interview exams, with in-depth walk-throughs and explanations every step of the way.

See you on the inside.

Who this course is for:

  • Current or aspiring real estate investment professionals who want to increase their compensation and land a better job in real estate finance
  • Real estate investment job candidates who will be tested in real estate financial modeling during their interview

Course content

9 sections • 117 lectures

Introduction Preview 01:51

What We Will Cover Preview 03:12

About The Instructor & This Course Preview 02:38

DOWNLOAD ME FIRST! Preview 00:13

Disclaimer Preview 01:23

What Employers Are Looking For - Part 1 Preview 04:07

What Employers Are Looking For - Part 2 Preview 02:45

What Employers Are Looking For - Part 3 Preview 02:07

What Employers Are Looking For - Part 4 Preview 01:56

What Employers Are Looking For - Part 5 Preview 02:44

Modeling Best Practices For Interview Day Preview 03:28

How To Find Values Using HLOOKUP Preview 07:10

How To Use VLOOKUP With Dynamic Month Toggles Preview 03:29

How To Call Out Cells Automatically Using Conditional Formatting Preview 03:05

How To Count Select Cells With COUNTIFS Preview 06:35

Creating A Test Using IF Statements Preview 03:59

INDEX & MATCH For Dynamic Cell Selection Preview 07:27

How To Sum Cash Flows For Only Certain Years Preview 05:31

How To Count The Number of Negative Cash Flows Preview 02:32

How To Sum All Negative (or Positive) Cash Flows Preview 02:04

How To Sum All Cash Flows In A Specific Year Preview 03:21

How To Find The Maximum Value in Any Data Array Preview 01:36

Dynamic Cash Flow Selection Preview 02:45

How To Return Values If Two or More Values Are True Preview 07:34

How To Return Values If AT LEAST One Criteria Is True Preview 03:21

Modeling Weighted Average Rents Preview 03:55

How To Round Values Preview 02:04

How To Calculate Rent Differentials (MAX & MIN) Preview 02:31

Calculating The Future Value of a Real Estate Investment Preview 03:18

Using Goal Seek To Determine Necessary Investment Growth Rates Preview 03:35

Simple IRR Calculations Preview 01:31

Calculating The XIRR With Uneven Dates Preview 01:41

NPV vs. XNPV Preview 02:39

Using Goal Seek To Solve For a Target IRR Preview 04:21

Using INDIRECT For Dynamic Sum Ranges (ADVANCED) Preview 04:53

Creating Data Tables To Sensitize Returns Based On Multiple Criteria Preview 05:24

Check-In - How Are You Feeling So Far? Preview 00:22

Calculating Monthly Debt Service Preview 04:55

Calculating Balloon Payments at the End of the Loan Term Preview 04:17

Modeling Debt Yield & DSCR Preview 02:53

Calculating LTV Based on Cap Rate Valuation Preview 01:50

Modeling Loan Sizing Based on DSCR Preview 02:18

Calculating The Levered Equity Multiple Preview 04:10

Calculating The Levered IRR Using XIRR Preview 02:37

Calculating Dynamic Cash-on-Cash Returns in Singular Years Preview 05:30

Sensitizing IRR Based on Cap Rate & LTV Preview 02:40

Calculating The Going-In Cap Rate Preview 01:26

Calculating The Total Monthly Loan Payment Preview 01:50

How To Calculate Future NOI WITHOUT Built-In Cash Flows Preview 02:39

How To Calculate a Loan Constant Preview 02:37

How To Calculate Cash-on-Cash Returns With I/O Loans Preview 02:31

Calculating The Break Even Ratio Preview 03:47

Calculating The Operating Expense Ratio Preview 01:09

Calculating Variable Leasing Commissions Preview 03:38

Calculating TI Allowance & Return on Cost Preview 03:14

Using Goal Seek To Calculate Minimum Acceptable Base Rent Preview 04:26

Check-In - Exam #2 Complete! Preview 00:22

CRE Lease Modeling Exam Introduction Preview 00:56

Calculating Lease Rent Growth Preview 04:35

Calculating Future Lease-Up TI Amounts Preview 05:45

Modeling Future Lease-Up Rent Preview 02:16

Calculating Future Lease Dates With Dynamic Downtime Preview 05:21

Modeling The Pro Rata Share Preview 01:42

NNN & FSG Lease Modeling Preview 02:01

Base Year Stop Modeling Preview 02:17

Modeling Hybrid Reimbursement Structures Preview 02:43

Calculating Leasing Commissions For New Leases Preview 03:02

Modeling Renewal Leasing Commissions Preview 02:27

Calculating Leasing Commissions Based on Renewal Probability Preview 02:30

Calculating Future Base Rent Preview 02:49

Calculating Percentage Rent Breakpoints Preview 01:32

Calculating Future Percentage Rent Payments (with Inflation) Preview 04:45

Check-In - Over The Hump Preview 00:31

CRE Cash Flow Modeling Exam Overview Preview 03:41

Modeling Dynamic Cash Flow Dates Preview 07:10

Dynamic Monthly GPR Growth Preview 04:50

Modeling Vacancy, Expenses, & NOI Preview 04:52

Modeling Dynamic Renovation Timing Preview 05:44

Modeling Purchase & Sale Metrics Preview 06:56

Modeling Loan Proceeds & Origination Fees Preview 02:53

Dynamic Principal & Interest Payments Preview 04:34

Dynamic Loan Payoff & Levered Net Cash Flow Modeling Preview 05:32

Model Clean-Up & Cash Flow Date Collars Using IF Statements Preview 04:36

Model Formatting Preview 03:42

Modeling Unlevered & Levered IRR Preview 03:15

Calculating Going-In Cap Rates Using Annualized Monthly NOI Preview 02:38

Modeling The Unlevered & Levered Equity Multiple Preview 02:30

Calculating Cash-on-Cash Returns for Specific Years (Dynamically) Preview 02:47

Calculating Going-In DSCR & Debt Yield Preview 02:41

Modeling Break Even Percentage & The Operating Expense Ratio Preview 03:25

How To Use Goal Seek To Value a Property Based on IRR Targets Preview 02:32

Check-In - The Home Stretch Preview 00:18

ARGUS Export Exam Introduction Preview 01:06

ARGUS Export Exam Overview Preview 02:30

Building Out Dynamic Annual Cash Flow "Roll-Up" Dates Preview 04:21

Building Out Dynamic Line Items Preview 02:10

How To Build Out Ten Years of Cash Flows in 5 Minutes Preview 05:44

Dynamic Purchase & Sale Metric Modeling & Cash Outflow Formatting Preview 06:40

Cash Flow Before Debt Service & CF Timing Collars Preview 02:12

CUMIPMT & CUMPRINC Preview 07:30

Dynamic Loan Payoff Modeling Preview 03:01

Cash Flow After Debt Service & Cash Flow Collars - Part 2 Preview 01:56

How To Format a Model in Less Than 5 Minutes Preview 03:59

Going-In Cap Rate, Debt Yield, & DSCR Preview 02:46

Unlevered & Levered Equity Multiple - Update Preview 00:34

Unlevered & Levered IRR & Equity Multiple Modeling Preview 03:57

Average Cash-on-Cash Return Modeling with Variable Hold Periods Preview 07:01

Cash-on-Cash Formula Update Preview 00:47

Using Cash Flows To Determine Asset Stabilization Preview 04:25

Using Cash Flows To Determine Reimbursement Structures Preview 01:11

Calculating Value CAGR Preview 02:59

Modeling LTV at Exit Preview 02:13

Solving For Target IRR - Property Valuation Method Preview 04:50

Check-In - DONE. Preview 00:32

How To Use This Information Preview 01:54

What To Do Next Preview 02:02

Bonus Lecture - The Next Step Preview 00:34