What is Force Majeure and How Does it Work?
When an unexpected event interrupts business as usual, it is common to question whether or not that event will excuse ...
Read article →ARTICLES AND INSIGHTS
Commercial Real Estate Blog
Practical guides to commercial real estate finance, valuation, underwriting, leases, development, market analysis, and investment returns.
Use the library to build your foundation, then explore the latest articles and worked examples.
CHOOSE A PATH
What do you want to learn?
Jump directly to the part of commercial real estate you are working through.
ARTICLES AND INSIGHTS
Commercial Real Estate Articles
Browse practical articles on commercial real estate finance, valuation, underwriting, leases, development, and investment analysis.
EVERGREEN CRE KNOWLEDGE LIBRARY
Learn the concepts behind every CRE deal
Start with a foundational article in each learning path, then use the supporting guides to go deeper.
01 · PROPERTY CASH FLOW & LEASES
Build the property model
Understand the income, expenses, lease structures, and assumptions that drive a commercial property’s cash flow.
BEST PLACE TO START
What Is a Real Estate Proforma?
See how income, expenses, capital costs, and financing come together in one property forecast.
02 · VALUATION & RETURNS
Understand what the property is worth
Move from property income to value, compare return measures, and understand what each metric can—and cannot—tell you.
BEST PLACE TO START
Cap Rate: A Practical Guide
Connect net operating income to value and see why cap rates are so widely used.
03 · DCF & FINANCIAL MATH
Account for timing and risk
Build the intuition behind present value, discounting, DCF analysis, and the return measures used for multi-period cash flows.
BEST PLACE TO START
The Time Value of Money
Understand why timing matters before moving into present value, NPV, IRR, and DCF.
Prefer a guided sequence? Explore the Real Estate Finance guide →
04 · DEBT & CREDIT
Understand what the property can support
Follow the lender’s logic from cash flow and collateral through loan sizing, repayment capacity, structure, and approval.
BEST PLACE TO START
How CRE Loan Underwriting Works
See how lenders evaluate the borrower, property cash flow, collateral, structure, and repayment.
05 · DEVELOPMENT & CAPITAL
Model the project from costs to returns
Connect development costs, construction financing, lease-up, capital structure, and partnership economics.
BEST PLACE TO START
Yield on Cost: A Beginner’s Guide
Compare stabilized NOI with total project cost and understand the development spread.
06 · MARKETS & APPROVALS
Ground the model in the real world
Use market, location, supply-and-demand, and land-use analysis to support the assumptions in the financial model.
BEST PLACE TO START
Why Real Estate Market Analysis Matters
See how market conditions shape rent, vacancy, growth, absorption, exit, and development assumptions.
EXPLORE THE INDUSTRY
New to commercial real estate?
Understand property types, listings, financing, market data, analysis, careers, and how the industry fits together.
WORKED EXAMPLES
Put the concepts together
Follow complete analyses that show how the assumptions, financing, valuation, and returns connect.
CASE STUDY
Industrial Warehouse Analysis
Work through an industrial acquisition from assumptions to returns.
CASE STUDY
Tax Increment Financing Analysis
See how TIF affects project feasibility and public-private financing.
RECENTLY PUBLISHED
More commercial real estate articles
Browse the newest additions to the PropertyMetrics library, including practical explanations, worked examples, and decision frameworks for CRE professionals.
Coronavirus Commercial Real Estate Survey Data
Last week we surveyed our audience about the immediate impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic on commercial real estate professionals. Below ...
Read article →Understanding a Lender’s Credit Policy Requirements
When trying to finance a real estate project, it’s common for a borrower to approach multiple lenders for a loan. ...
Read article →How The Loss to Lease Calculation Works
Loss to lease is a commonly used calculation in a commercial real estate analysis. However, loss to lease can also ...
Read article →The Capital Stack Explained
Depending on the complexity of a real estate project, financing can come from many sources. Collectively, the sources are often ...
Read article →Understanding Personal Guarantee Structures
Unless you run a large company with an established track record of repaying loans, a bank will likely ask for ...
Read article →30/360 vs Actual/360 vs Actual/365: Loan Accrual Calculations Explained
In a former life, I helped banks install loan servicing software. In every installation, there came a point where the ...
Read article →How Term Sheets Work For Commercial Real Estate Loans
The term sheet is an important document in commercial real estate lending. It is used to outline the terms of ...
Read article →Introduction to Interest Rate Swaps
As sure as the sun rises, interest rates are going to go up and down over time. As they change, ...
Read article →READY TO MODEL A DEAL?
Put these concepts to work in PMX Proforma
Build the lease-by-lease cash flow, test the assumptions, and see how each decision changes property value, debt coverage, and investor returns.