The ABC’s of the Short Sale Process
A borrower facing foreclosure is in a bad spot. Loss of their property, litigation costs, damage to their reputation because ...
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 more 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.
MORE FROM THE LIBRARY
More commercial real estate articles
Explore more of the PropertyMetrics library, including practical explanations, worked examples, and decision frameworks for CRE professionals.
The Foreclosure Process Step by Step
When a borrower fails to meet its loan obligations, the lender may try to foreclose on the property securing the loan. ...
Read article →How to Navigate the Real Estate Eviction Process
How do you feel about a criminal conviction on your record? Defending against a civil suit for intentional infliction of ...
Read article →When a Deed in Lieu is a Friend Indeed
Buying at the tail end of the housing bubble in early 2006, an old professor of mine bought more house ...
Read article →Understanding Arm’s Length Transactions
Arms length transactions are important to understand in commercial real estate, particularly for lenders. To see why, consider the following scenario. ...
Read article →Rezoning, Variance, or Conditional Use Permit: Which One Can Solve Your Zoning Problem?
You’re considering the purchase of a particular property, but know it doesn’t conform to the city’s zoning ordinance. As such, you’ve ...
Read article →Zoning Laws: A Practical Guide
Why is zoning important? Zoning laws determine what kind of structures can be built, whether or not an existing property can ...
Read article →Do You Know These Essential Zoning Terms?
The concept of zoning is fairly simple. A governing body enacts laws to create districts within its jurisdiction and regulations ...
Read article →10 Boring Boilerplate Commercial Lease Clauses You Should Understand
You’ve read the first ten pages of the proposed commercial lease and are satisfied that it reflects the deal points. ...
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.