You are here: / / / Commercial Real Estate Deal Sheet
Spencer Burton
, , ,

Commercial Real Estate Deal Sheet

As part of our ongoing series of YouTube Shorts, we recently published a video about the importance of keeping a personal commercial real estate deal sheet (see video below). In this context, a real estate deal sheet is a comprehensive list of investments that a real estate professional has worked on in their career. The deal sheet includes key details about each deal, such as property type, investment type, investment size, location, company, etc.

The deal sheet is evidence of a real estate professional’s deal seasoning, which is essential when interviewing for CRE jobs or raising capital.

In the aforementioned YouTube short, I discuss the importance of the deal sheet and relate how I’ve kept my own personal deal sheet of $30+ billion of investments over a 20+ career in CRE. Soon after publishing the video, several viewers asked for an example of this great tool. I of course can’t share my deal sheet publicly, as many of the investment details included in the deal sheet are proprietary. So, instead we decided to take my deal sheet and create a template version for A.CRE readers to download and/or use for their own careers.

What is a Commercial Real Estate Deal Sheet in the Career Context?

Again, in this context, a real estate deal sheet is a comprehensive list of investments that a real estate professional has worked on in their career. The deal sheet includes key details about each deal, such as property type, investment type, investment size, location, company, etc.

The deal sheet may be kept in a journal, in a personal Excel file, in a Word document, or any other such medium that the real estate professional finds capable. What really matters is that a log of each investment is kept so that the real estate professional can reference back to that deal sheet in the future.

The individual investment information you store in that deal sheet may be confidential, but the aggregate level information contained in the deal sheet (e.g. underwritten 121 market rate apartment investments) is not. And that aggregate data is incredibly valuable to you as your career grows.

Why Keep a Commercial Real Estate Deal Sheet?

As mentioned, the aggregate level data in your deal sheet becomes quite valuable to you as your career progresses. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Record Keeping

A deal sheet serves as a comprehensive record of all transactions, including those underwritten and closed by the professional. This can be useful for future reference and for maintaining an organized account of all deals.

2. Self-Improvement

By periodically reviewing past deals, professionals can glean important insights and lessons from their experiences. This can help them identify their strengths and weaknesses, and make more informed decisions in the future.

3. Showcasing Expertise

A deal sheet can serve as tangible proof of a professional’s track record in the industry. It provides a detailed account of their involvement in various deals, demonstrating their hands-on experience and seasoning in the field.

4. Career Advancement

Whether a professional is seeking a new job or a promotion, a well-maintained deal sheet can be persuasive to potential employers who often seek evidence of past success as an indicator of future performance.

5. Raising Capital

When raising capital, a deal sheet can be used to confirm the experience and seasoning of the professional to potential investors. This can increase their confidence in the professional’s ability to manage and grow their investment.

Download the Commercial Real Estate Deal Sheet Template

To make this tool accessible to everyone, it is offered on a “Pay What You’re Able” basis with no minimum (enter $0 if you’d like) or maximum (your support helps keep the content coming – typical real estate tools sell for $100 – $300+ per license). Just enter a price together with an email address to send the download link to, and then click ‘Continue’. If you have any questions about our “Pay What You’re Able” program or why we offer our models on this basis, please reach out to either Mike or Spencer.

We regularly update the tool (see version notes). Paid contributors to the tool receive a new download link via email each time the tool is updated.

Proceed to Download Page

Frequently Asked Questions about the Commercial Real Estate Deal Sheet

A deal sheet is a personal record kept by a CRE professional listing all the investments they’ve worked on. It includes key details such as property type, investment size, location, company, and deal type, and serves as evidence of deal seasoning.

Keeping a deal sheet helps with record keeping, self-reflection, showcasing experience, advancing your career, and supporting capital raising efforts. It provides a verifiable track record to employers and investors.

Include investment name, property type, investment type, size (e.g., $MM), location, role or contribution, employer, and status (e.g., underwritten, closed). Aggregate insights (e.g., “underwritten 121 apartment deals”) are also useful.

It demonstrates your transaction experience and credibility. Recruiters and hiring managers often ask for deal sheets to evaluate a candidate’s real-world experience and exposure to various types of deals.

No. While individual deal details may be proprietary, aggregate-level information (e.g., number of deals, asset classes, roles) is generally acceptable and useful to include without breaching confidentiality.

You can download the A.CRE deal sheet template from the post. It’s offered on a “Pay What You’re Able” basis—enter any amount, including $0, to access the file and receive updates.

Excel is recommended for flexibility and filtering, but any tool—Word, Google Sheets, Notion—can work as long as it’s structured and consistently updated.

Update it regularly—ideally in real time after each deal milestone or at least quarterly. This ensures details are fresh and easy to recall for future reference or interviews.

Version Notes

v1.0

  • Initial Release

About the Author: Spencer Burton is Co-Founder and CEO of CRE Agents, an AI-powered platform training digital coworkers for commercial real estate. He has 20+ years of CRE experience and has underwritten over $30 billion in real estate across top institutional firms.

Spencer also co-founded Adventures in CRE, served as President at Stablewood, and holds a BS in International Affairs from Florida State University and a Masters in Real Estate Finance from Cornell University.

Contact Spencer
by
Takeaways from the Trammell Crow Company Memo from 1989 – Learning from...¡A.CRE Estuvo Presente en la Smart City Expo Bogota 2023!