The Accelerator

The A.CRE site is broken up into two sections, the A.CRE frontend (i.e. the blog frontend of the site) and the Accelerator program section. The frontend is where, among other things, you download/purchase Excel models from our Library while the Accelerator section is where you access/take real estate financial modeling courses. As an Accelerator member, you have access to both sections of the website and your login credentials are the same for both.

The two sections are, however, largely independent from one another. Materials you purchase/download on the frontend are saved to your ‘My Downloads’ page on the frontend. Materials related to Accelerator courses, such as case studies and Excel models, are downloaded directly from the Accelerator courses (not from your ‘My Downloads’ page on the frontend).

For ease of navigation back to the frontend, in the Accelerator section we’ve included a menu link entitled ‘My Downloads’. That link will take you back to frontend to download models you’ve purchased from the frontend. Likewise, on the frontend we’ve included a menu item entitled ‘Accelerator’ that includes a ‘Members Only’ sub-menu item that will take you back to the Accelerator.

While your login credentials are the same for both sections of the site, occasionally when you navigate from one section to the other, you will be required to log back in. So for instance, if you’re in your ‘My Downloads’ page and you want to return to the Accelerator, you could go to the Accelerator menu link, select ‘Members Only’, and then click either ‘Login’ or ‘Learning Dashboard’. You will then be taken to the Accelerator section, and if your Accelerator session had ended, you will be prompted to log back in. Simply use your A.CRE username and password to log back in.

The most likely cause of the challenges you’re having is related to having multiple A.CRE accounts.

In some cases, Accelerator members will have two A.CRE accounts. This often happens when you’ve used the site for an extended period of time, created multiple A.CRE accounts, and then purchased the Accelerator under one of those accounts. This can create confusion, as you will only have access to view Accelerator course materials when logged into the A.CRE account used to purchase the Accelerator.

Our recommendation is to delete the non-Accelerator accounts to avoid login issues. You can delete your account in your A.CRE Account Dashboard:

https://www.adventuresincre.com/my-account/edit-account/

Within the dashboard, you’ll see a left-hand navigation menu and a ‘Delete A.CRE Account’ option.

If this isn’t the cause of your issue we recommend you email us at [email protected] and we can help troubleshoot.

The A.CRE site is broken up into two sections, the A.CRE frontend (i.e. the blog frontend of the site) and the Accelerator program section. The frontend is where, among other things, you download/purchase Excel models from our Library while the Accelerator section is where you access/take real estate financial modeling courses. As an Accelerator member, you have access to both sections of the website and your login credentials are the same for both.

The two sections are, however, largely independent from one another. Materials you purchase/download on the frontend are saved to your ‘My Downloads’ page on the frontend. Materials related to Accelerator courses, such as case studies and Excel models, are downloaded directly from the Accelerator courses (not from your ‘My Downloads’ page on the frontend).

For ease of navigation back to the frontend, in the Accelerator section we’ve included a menu link entitled ‘My Downloads’. That link will take you back to frontend to download models you’ve purchased from the frontend. Likewise, on the frontend we’ve included a menu item entitled ‘Accelerator’ that includes a ‘Members Only’ sub-menu item that will take you back to the Accelerator.

While your login credentials are the same for both sections of the site, occasionally when you navigate from one section to the other, you will be required to log back in. So for instance, if you’re in your ‘My Downloads’ page and you want to return to the Accelerator, you could go to the Accelerator menu link, select ‘Members Only’, and then click either ‘Login’ or ‘Learning Dashboard’. You will then be taken to the Accelerator section, and if your Accelerator session had ended, you will be prompted to log back in. Simply use your A.CRE username and password to log back in.

We do not have a Spanish version of the program. With that said, Spencer speaks fluent Spanish and developed residential real estate in Panama for seven years. So while the course videos aren’t in Spanish, if you had questions that would be easier to explain in Spanish, Spencer would be more than capable of answering in Spanish.

As an Accelerator member, you are provided exclusive access to a series of Accelerator forums where you can ask Michael, Spencer, or the A.CRE team about anything real estate financial modeling, tech, troubleshooting, or career related.

The team prioritizes forum questions over email. So if you’re looking for a quick response, head over to the Accelerator forum:

Click here to access the Accelerator forums

The Accelerator is a comprehensive real estate financial modeling training program designed to help you get fully proficient in modeling and analyzing real estate, in the least amount of time possible.

• Learn more about the A.CRE Accelerator
• Discover why we created the program

Real estate financial modeling material on the frontend of A.CRE and on our YouTube channels is meant to expose you to specific concepts or models. It’s not meant to teach you the A to Zs of real estate financial modeling. In fact the reason we created the Accelerator is because, while we’ve shared hundreds of posts and models over the years, many of our A.CRE readers need a more regimented methodology for learning the most basic to the most advanced elements of this discipline.

So in response to those requests, we created the A.CRE real estate financial Accelerator Program.

The Accelerator is a comprehensive real estate financial modeling training program that is meant to get you to advanced proficiency in the most efficient (i.e. accelerated) way. The program starts with you taking 16 case-based, core courses using 20 real-to-life case studies, with each course building upon the last.

The 16 core courses begin with the basics – direct cap and DCF analysis – and become progressively more difficult as you continue through the core. In the final three courses, you will build three institutional-quality real estate financial models from scratch – an acquisitions, asset management, and development model. Upon completing the 16 core courses, you will receive the A.CRE Accelerator Certificate of Completion and be considered a graduate of the program.

Beyond the core courses, the program contains hundreds of hours of additional practice and advanced content to augment and broaden the learning in the 16 core courses. This additional material is especially valuable for those who enter the program with a strong proficiency in modeling but are needing to fill gap in their knowledge, as well as those who completed the core and are looking to advanced further. That additional content includes a growing collection of 17 advanced concept modules, six additional practice case studies, 23 extra mini-video tutorials, and 15 additional Watch Me Build videos. We add new modules everyday, so there is likely even more content we you read this.

To help you get the most out of the above on-demand content, the program includes an interactive forum where you can engage directly with the instructors (Spencer and Michael). The guys have responded to over 1,000 questions that you can review for added clarity, or ask your own question related to anything real estate financial modeling or career related. In response to questions, the guys often create custom video tutorials to ensure full comprehension.

Check out the introduction to the Accelerator for more information.

Models shared on the frontend of A.CRE (i.e. in the A.CRE Library of Excel Models) are generally real estate models built-to-use, not built-to-teach.

In contrast, Models in the Accelerator are built-to-teach. Meaning the real estate Excel models/modules in the Accelerator are created in such a way as to help you understand how they are built, and then how to build the model yourself.

In fact, in each course, you’re taught the material and then set free to complete the task/model yourself. At the end of each course there’s a Watch Me Build where Spencer or Michael show you how they would complete that particular task or model.

Yes. Adventures in CRE was started as a medium for Spencer and Michael to openly share their (growing) library of institutional-quality real estate Excel models. The Accelerator training program was launched years later, in response to requests from A.CRE readers asking for more comprehensive and structured training.

Nevertheless, A.CRE’s mission of making industry-standard models readily available to all continues. New models continue to be added to the library and existing models are regularly updated, thanks to the feedback from A.CRE readers such as yourself!

Browse the world’s largest library of readily available real estate Excel models

We highly recommend you follow the Accelerator changelog. The guys are regularly adding new content, so the changelog is a great resource for keeping abreast of what’s new.

• Click here to view the Accelerator changelog

Absolutely! Accelerator membership provides you one-year access to all Accelerator materials, as well as all new and updated content. During that time, you’re welcome to take any course, module, case study, mini-tutorial, and Watch Me Build as many times as you’d like.

Great to hear of your interest in the A.CRE real estate financial modeling Accelerator training program!

We don’t offer individual discounts on the Accelerator, including around special occasions (e.g. Black Friday). We do however offer a two-installment payment plan that makes the cost more manageable. The plan calls for 50% to be paid upon registration, with the balance due 30 days later. Select the ‘Payment Plan’ option at checkout to pay for the Accelerator via the installment plan.

Furthermore, we do offer a range of group discounts for the Accelerator. The two most common are:

1. Student group discounts through direct partnerships with universities, professors, and student real estate clubs. A student partnership with A.CRE means more than just getting a discount on the Accelerator. We also often offer greater visibility for your school or club, as well as free personalized career training and advice, guest lectures, interview prep, and more. If your school, class, or club is interested in a student group discount and/or a collaboration with Adventures in CRE, click here to reach out to us.
2. Company group discounts and employee training. A.CRE has created an Accelerator for Enterprise platform, exclusively tailored to the needs of real estate companies. Some of the largest real estate companies in the world use the A.CRE Accelerator to train their analysts and associates on real estate financial modeling. Click here to learn more about the A.CRE Accelerator for Enterprise.

Yes. Upon successful completion of all 16 core courses of the Accelerator, you will be granted a ‘Certificate of Completion’ with a verifiable, unique-to-you URL certificate.

View the list of current Accelerator Graduates together with their unique Certificate of Completion.

Some Accelerator members begin the program with little to no knowledge of Excel, and while the learning curve is steeper, they’re able to do well as the instructors teach everything through video and walk everyone through the keystrokes as they go.

In the first course, Guide to Getting Started, there is also an extensive list of the most important Excel functions used with links to supplementary material for said functions as well as some ancillary resources and guidance. Additionally, both Spencer and Michael are available to help answer any and all questions, Excel related or otherwise, via the Accelerator forum at any time. They almost always respond to questions within a few hours and will even review your Excel files if need be. This combination, along with year-long access, works out well for people at a beginner’s skill level.

We do not offer a trial period. We have created a thorough video walkthrough, discussed the Accelerator program’s purpose and structure at length, and shared the specifics of the Accelerator curriculum.

Nevertheless, after enrolling in the program, taking an Accelerator course, and browsing the material, should you discover the program is not right for you, just email us within the first 30 days and we’ll issue a full refund.

Absolutely. The program will teach you how to model and value buildings in Excel, among many other things. By the end of the 16 courses, you will be building institutional real estate models from scratch.

While the instructors are US-based, the concepts taught are consistent with international institutional real estate analysis. Roughly 1/3rd of Accelerator members are based outside the US.

Additionally, one of the two instructors, Spencer Burton, has worked extensively in LatAm and has underwritten real estate investments in Europe.

So while there will be nuanced differences between how property is analyzed internationally versus US markets, the core principals will be the same. Even so, we offer a 30-day money-back guarantee so you’re free to give it a try and so if it’s a fit.

Yes, all Accelerator courses and modules are self-paced (i.e on-demand). All course materials, tutorials, case studies, advanced modules, training videos, etc are offered on-demand. Your Accelerator membership gives you one year access to the program, meaning you can finish earlier but you will continue to have access to all materials, updates, and the instructor-student forums for one year.

When you purchase the Accelerator Plus+, you receive lifetime access and the right to professionally use all models in the A.CRE Financial Models bundle. That bundle includes the 22 most updated real estate financial models shared to our Library of Excel models.

Upon completing your purchase of the Accelerator Plus+, all models in the bundle will automatically be added to your ‘A.CRE My Downloads’.

On that page, you’ll see a column titled ‘Download’ with a series of green buttons. On the green button, you’ll find the name of each model. Simply click the button to download the latest version of that model.

That’s one of the reasons professionals take the program. The program is used by various top universities and companies to train their students/employees. So having the certificate on your resume demonstrates a clear proficiency in what is arguably the most important skill for real estate analysts and associates to possess, real estate financial modeling.

The Accelerator is a comprehensive real estate financial modeling training program. Each course progressively builds on the last, culminating in three capstone projects wherein you build from scratch, three  institutional-quality real estate models: an acquisitions model, a value-add model, and a development model.

As a result, it is not possible to purchase individual courses or modules.

Accelerator membership provides you one-year access to all Accelerator course materials, case studies, and forums. Some members wish to continue to have access the materials beyond the one year. To accommodate that request, we’ve created a discounted extension option where members can extend in six-month increments at a discounted rate.

If you’re an Accelerator member and you’d like to extend, head to your Accelerator Learning Dashboard and click the extend my membership link at the top of your profile.

A good share of our Accelerator members are new to real estate financial modeling. Many come with little to no past finance knowledge and limited Excel skills. And they’ve gotten a lot out of the program.

Now for those with less experience with real estate or finance, the courses may take longer to complete. You might need to review content more than once or rely on supplementary materials that Spencer and Michael share to fully grasp certain topics. But the program curriculum is designed in such a way that even those new to the material will be able to grasp it.

We of course offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. So if you get going and after the first course realize it’s too much, just let us know and we’ll refund your purchase. A beginner to these concepts should expect to spend 200-250 hours completing the program.

The 30-day money-back guarantee is meant to provide members a look at the Accelerator to determine if it’s the right fit; to take a course or two and browse the curriculum to see if the teaching style and content are consistent with the member’s expectations.

The money-back guarantee is not meant to allow one to complete most of the program within the allotted time and then request a refund. Thus, to limit abuse of the policy, the 30-day money-back guarantee has the following conditions (per the “Terms and Conditions of Use”):

“Within the first 30 days of purchasing the Accelerator, you may ask for a full and absolute refund. Such refund shall be for the entire amount spent and shall be processed within 7-10 business days without question and irrespective of the reason, subject to the following restrictions:

• Only one refund per individual; no purchasing the program, requesting a refund, purchasing the program again, requesting another refund, and so forth
• No refund will be provided if you have completed more than two courses or more than 20% of the Accelerator program as measured by the number of lectures you reviewed
• No refund will be offered if you have violated any of the Terms of Service for the Accelerator, such as sharing login details, publishing or sharing Accelerator material with others, etc.”

The models shared on A.CRE as well as the Excel files and models used in the Accelerator were built in Microsoft Excel. As a result, we can’t ensure compatibility with non-Excel spreadsheet alternatives such as Apple Numbers, Google Sheets, OpenOffice, etc.

Nevertheless, the simpler Excel files and models shared on A.CRE can be imported into non-Excel alternatives with most (or all) features converting without issue. We recommend you check out our article on real estate financial modeling in Google Sheets.

We have had hundreds of people through the program now, who, like yourself, come from a strong real estate background with a decent amount of modeling experience. The first few courses may be more of a refresher for you, but the later courses and especially the Advanced Concepts section should provide a lot of value.

To support our more advanced Accelerator members, we’ve developed a comprehensive set of additional resources and advanced concept lessons. And those resources continue to grow monthly as we have time and as specific requests come in from Accelerator members. As of July 2020, those resources include:

• A fast growing library of real estate case studies and modeling tests to practice your craft (six add’tl cases/tests on top of the 20 in the core)
• ‘Watch Me Solve’ videos and/or answer keys for various cases in our growing Library of Real Estate Case Studies
• An extensive list of Advanced Concept modules with video tutorials on how to tackle difficult modeling tasks (12 property-level, and 5 partnership-level modules)
• An ever-growing collection of short video tutorials that arise from questions raised in the Accelerator forums (20 videos with completed Excel files)
• A series of additional ‘Watch Me Build’ videos covering a wide array of modeling challenges (14 videos with Excel files)
• An active forum where you can ask questions, and get detailed (and often video/tutorial supported) answers (over 1,000 responses)

These practice and support materials and resources constitute hundreds of additional hours of learning, on top of the 16 core courses, to help you continue to grow and thrive in your mastery of real estate financial modeling.

First off, all Excel files/models used in the Accelerator courses and modules are provided free via direct links in the lectures where the models are used. So this question only relates to models shared on the frontend of A.CRE as part of our Library of Excel Models.

If you are an Accelerator Plus+ member, you have lifetime access to download and use professionally the 22 most updated institutional-quality real estate models in our library. You can find those download links in your ‘A.CRE My Downloads‘ page.

If you’re not an Accelerator Plus+ member wanting to download a model from the library, or you’re Accelerator Plus+ member interested in downloading a model not included in your bundle, there are two options.

1. Download the model via the ‘Free (Educational)’ option. This is the most common for Accelerator members, as most Accelerator members download frontend models for educational purposes. Simply select this option, enter $0 for the price, and download and use the model to practice and learn at no additional cost.
2. Download the ‘Paid (Unlimited Downloads + Updates)’ option. If you’re looking to use a model in our library professionally and for purposes beyond learning, we recommend you consider the Paid version. While there are no structural differences in the model itself between educational and paid versions, paying for the model gives you unlimited downloads and lifetime updates and supports the long-term mission of A.CRE.

In either case, once you’ve purchased/requested the model via the model’s download page, you will find a download link for that model in your ‘A.CRE My Downloads‘ page.

Members of the Accelerator do not receive a PDF manual of each of the lectures. All lectures include written and video instructions, and are provided via a web dashboard. Case studies and supplementary materials are available for download.