Posts

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Real Estate Financial Modeling Accelerator (Updated Sep 2022)

Prior to launching the Accelerator program, Michael and I fielded email after email requesting a more structured real estate financial modeling training program on the site. Over the years, we've covered hundreds of real estate modeling…
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Microsoft has blocked the macros in my A.CRE model – What now?

When downloading and opening an Excel model from A.CRE, some users may get the ominous message: "Microsoft has blocked macros from running because the source of this file is untrusted." If you've received this message, you're probably asking,…
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Hide and Unhide Tabs using Drop-down Menus in Excel (UPDATED MAY 2022)

I'd like to share a handy little trick I learned this week for hiding and unhiding tabs in Excel using drop-down menus. Now this method requires you to use some basic VBA code and to save the Workbook as a Macro-Enabled file but don't be intimidated…
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Setting Up a New Real Estate Financial Model – Date and Period Headers Plus Formatting (Updated Apr 2022)

We've spent a lot of time here discussing and sharing different real estate models, and we've received a ton of feedback from our readers as a result. In some of that feedback we've received, several people have asked what period and date rows…
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Convert Monthly Cash Flows to Quarterly and Annual Cash Flows (Updated Mar 2022)

Over the past few years, I've been working to build an ARGUS DCF alternative in Excel - or otherwise known here as the A.CRE All-in-One (Ai1) Model. As I've worked on that model, I've been jotting down modeling techniques I use and think would…
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The Definitive Guide to Microsoft Excel for Real Estate (Updated Dec 2021)

Microsoft Excel is the primary tool used by real estate financial modeling professionals. Even while numerous non-Excel alternatives have attempted to de-throne Excel, the 35+ year-old software has shown to be surprisingly resilient to competition.…
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A.CRE Geocoding Excel Add-in to Auto-Populate Latitude and Longitude in Excel (Updated Jul 2021)

The A.CRE Geocoding Excel Add-in uses the Google Geocoding API to automatically convert a given address to latitude and longitude coordinates, or to convert a given latitude and longitude coordinate to an address. The add-in makes auto-populating…
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Custom Function to Auto-Populate Latitude and Longitude in Excel (Updated 2021)

When analyzing real estate investments in Excel, it's often necessary to include the latitude and longitude coordinates of the properties we're modeling. To do this, most of us open up Google Maps, or some other mapping tool, and find the…
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Keyboard Shortcuts I Use Constantly When Modeling in Excel (Formatting)

The more you model real estate in Microsoft Excel, the faster and more accurate you become - and hopefully as a consequence the more valuable you become to real estate employers and investors. Part of the process of mastering real estate financial…
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Using Boolean Logic to Model Multiple Generations of Tenant Improvements

Arguably the most powerful, and least appreciated and understood, functionality in Excel is its use of boolean logic. Or in other words, the use of TRUE and FALSE binary logic. This form of logic can be used to dramatically simplify formulas…
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Create Printable and PDF Reports in Excel for Real Estate Financial Modeling

A common question we've been getting recently is, how do I create printable reports from a real estate financial model in Excel? In this written and video tutorial, I share the three basic steps for creating printable and PDF reports in any…
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Using Excel’s New LAMBDA Feature to Create Custom Functions for Real Estate Financial Modeling

In December 2020, Excel rolled out a new featured called LAMBDA as part of the Office Insiders (i.e. beta) program. This feature allows the user to create custom functions, which can greatly reduce duplicative formulas and reduce errors. Well…
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DateDif: The “Secret” Excel Formula (Updated 11.14.2020)

For one reason or another, there is a perfectly functioning and pretty valuable formula that can be utilized in Excel that Microsoft has chosen to exclude from Excel's list of functions: the DateDif function. This function is a valuable…
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Create Dynamic Sub-Property Type Drop-Down Menus in Excel

A few years ago, I created a tutorial on building smart drop-down menus in Excel using dynamic named ranges and data validation lists. This offered a great way to have drop-down menus in your model that could be easily changed by the user to…
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Using VBA to Hide Rows in Excel

Over the next few minutes, I will show you two techniques for automatically hiding and showing rows in Excel using VBA code. These techniques I use regularly in my real estate financial models to make for a more intuitive user experience. In…
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Using SUMPRODUCT to Calculate Weighted Average in Real Estate

In my experience, using the SUMPRODUCT function in Excel to calculate weighted average is one of the most oft-used Excel techniques in real estate financial modeling. I learned this technique on day one of my first real estate internship and…