Before you buy, and after

Commercial Real Estate Analysis Software
Deal Analysis vs Operating Analysis

"Analysis software" covers two different jobs. One underwrites a building you are thinking of buying. The other tells you how the building you bought is doing against that plan. Most owners need both, from different tools.

See the worked example See SealedFolio's two plans

The two jobs side by side

Deal analysisOperating analysis
WhenBefore purchase or refinanceEvery month and quarter you own it
InputsAsking price, pro forma rent, assumed expenses, loan termsActual rent collected, actual expenses, loan balance
OutputsCap rate, cash on cash, DSCR, IRRActual NOI, variance to budget, DSCR, LTV
Typical toolsARGUS, Dealpath, PropertyMetrics, spreadsheetsProperty accounting software
SealedFolioFree calculators for quick checksThe app: books, budgets, scenarios, SREO

Worked example: underwriting against year one

Diagram comparing underwriting with year one: NOI of 210,000 dollars underwritten against 187,000 dollars actual, yield on cost falling from 8.75% to 7.79% and DSCR from 1.40 to 1.25
Underwriting against year one actual. Diagram by SealedFolio.
  1. Underwriting. A $2,400,000 neighborhood retail building, underwritten at $210,000 of NOI, a 8.75% cap rate, with $150,000 of debt service for a DSCR of 1.40.
  2. Year one actual. Rent came in at plan, but property tax rose $14,000 after the sale reassessment and repairs ran $9,000 over budget. Actual NOI is $187,000.
  3. What it means. The actual yield on cost is 7.79%, and DSCR is 1.25, right at a typical covenant.
  4. The fix. The tax increase is permanent, so the owner budgets it in year two and recovers $6,000 of it through the tenants' tax pass-through at renewal.

Quick pre-purchase math is on the cap rate calculator and the cash-on-cash return calculator. For what the building is worth on its actual income, see commercial real estate valuation software.

Where SealedFolio fits

SealedFolio is operating analysis for the owner. It records actual income and expenses by property and category, compares them with monthly budgets, projects cash flow under vacancy, rent growth and expense growth scenarios, and rolls value, debt, NOI, LTV and DSCR into the schedule of real estate owned. It does not run discounted cash flow or IRR models, or price acquisitions.

Budgets, scenarios and the SREO are on the Portfolio plan. More on the commercial setup is on commercial real estate software without the 50-unit minimum and the real estate investor page. To score what could go wrong, see commercial real estate risk assessment; to compare lease offers, commercial lease analysis.

See how the deal is really doing

SealedFolio Pro is $19 a month or $179 a year for up to 3 properties. Portfolio is $39 a month or $297 a year for unlimited properties. Both come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

See SealedFolio pricing

Commercial real estate analysis software: frequently asked questions

What is commercial real estate analysis software?

Software for two jobs: deal analysis, which underwrites a purchase with projected rent, expenses, financing and returns, and operating analysis, which measures the owned property's actual NOI, cash flow and debt coverage against that plan.

What do professionals use to underwrite commercial deals?

Institutional teams use ARGUS Enterprise and deal platforms such as Dealpath; smaller investors often use PropertyMetrics or a spreadsheet model. All of them project the deal; none of them keeps the books afterward.

What should I compare after I buy?

Actual NOI, occupancy, expenses by category and DSCR against the underwriting, every quarter. The gap tells you whether the deal is performing or the assumptions were wrong.

Is SealedFolio a deal underwriting tool?

No. Its free calculators handle quick pre-purchase math, and the app measures the property after you own it: actual income and expenses, NOI, budgets against actual, scenarios and the SREO.