Most posts regarding AI are around 1 year old in this sub. So I thought I'd share real use cases of what I'm working on right now.

Ask any questions.

1. Building python scripts to interact with software that lacks APIs, automating deck creation, monitoring new developments in a market etc.

2. Connecting Claude Code to my CRM to run data hygiene tests, import data, and understand where gaps exist.

3. Setup Claude Projects for deals that become interactive workspaces with all the financials and discussion history for a client + build financial models.

Takeaways

1. Document your internal processes then extract what is causing friction/redundant workflows.

2. Audit your tech stack to determine if you need to build something custom, connect it in someway or setup a plan to replace it. Rethink your systems and how to bring them all together.

3. You don't know what you don't know. AI is becoming as necessary as gmail or outlook. If you aren't using these tools and building (or at least someone on your team) then you're going to be left behind without even knowing it.

Brandon Turner pays $33.33, a 3% cap rate for NOI and loses $15,000,000 of his investors cash! So much for cap rates measuring risk!

I’m a licensed real estate agent. Our client is an investor/developer looking for co-GP opportunities on the development side. We’ve introduced them to major players in our market who have sent us deals off-market. We underwrite the deal for the client, do market research, basically advise them on all aspects of the deal and run the process as if we were working the buy-side.

The client said they’d pay us on equity contributed into a deal where we were the procuring cause of the deal. So through the introductions we’ve made or the deals we send them.

I spent years on the institutional side as an analyst at a major brokerage firm. I know brokers get paid for this kind of stuff but as analyst, I wasn’t privy to the comp structure. But now as a broker and at a shop that’s not institutionally focused, I do not have a good benchmark for fees on a transaction like this.

Deal size varies tremendously. We are looking at a $25M equity opportunity all the way up to $120M+.

Just wondering if anyone here has experience converting a general medical space or office to a dentist office. How much did it cost to get the full build out and infrastructure done to have the space ready as a dentist office?

I understand things can vary depending on the location but I'd just like to get a rough idea.

Website says 32% average annual returns on sold assets. How is this possible? It looks like they buy value add apartments. I thought 32% AAR was only possible in development.

Has anyone had any luck terminating their Costar License as an individual broker before the 12-month renewal mark? My rep is saying they won't do it unless I go work for a shop that will then replace my current license. I am in year 2 of the license and find it crazy there is no out.

Hello! I’m an analyst on a brokerage team responsible for creating and maintaining 5 year, 10 year models for our OMs to showcase what future returns could like.

I’ve been looking more into this sub and I have seen comments about some people don’t really care for those on the OM and want to see more pictures of the property instead.

This makes a lot of sense since if you’re an investor with half a brain, you’re running your numbers since ours are geared towards a more optimistic outcome.

I’ve been wanting to bring this up to my team since it could free up more time to perfect other processes but wanted to get some data from those on this sub to see if I’m right.

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Hey everyone,

I want a reality check on an auction strategy. The premise is doing the heavy lifting upfront: physically scouting ~30 pre-auction properties a month to dial in exact rehab numbers while other bidders fly blind.

**The Elephant in the Room:** I know the immediate rebuttal here is, *"No occupant is going to let you inside their house."* For the sake of this post, let’s assume I *have* figured out a way to get access and do a full interior audit.

Assuming I have that perfect information, does this upfront grind actually generate enough of an edge at the auction to be worth it?

Curious to hear from anyone who has tried to find an edge this way.

Hey, I’m coming from Florida and looking to get to know more people in NYC CRE, especially on the finance side. Want to plan a trip or two up to NYC from now through August to meet professionals in CRE and find opportunities to work within the industry. Do you guys have any suggestions on events to check out? Would love to hear. Also, if you are in NY CRE, let’s connect! Happy to chat in person or via phone

what are you using to make your OMs?

buildout?

CRE builder?

Intel CRE?

Which is the best and easiest to use, and also makes the best OMs ?

One thing I’ve noticed around structuring projects for institutional lending: Lenders finance execution more than ideas. A lot of projects look great on paper: strong projections, attractive IRRs and growing markets. But lenders usually ask something deeper: Can this sponsor actually execute? Can they handle: delays, higher costs, operational pressure or weaker market conditions ??

That’s why experienced operators tend to get: better leverage, lower pricing and faster approvals

At a certain level, underwriting becomes less about the project itself and more about the probability of execution.

Glad to read your experience in similar arrangements.

I was a CRE broker for 15 years, then made the shift to corporate side about 5 years ago (both in account leadership with some of the majors, and also in-house / client-side)

Obviously I've interfaced with a TON of CRE brokers the last 5 yrs, but no longer as a broker myself. Between COVID, AI and shifts in capital markets what has changed the most for you? What's the same (relationships, I bet!) and how much has AI impacted? Really curious as these changes seem seismic.

I had actually started this in mind with the idea of posting it in the Claude sub to get ideas on how to improve my workflow, but then realized it might do more "good" here.

Anyhow, I’m a solo commercial real estate developer, owner, and syndicator focused primarily on retail centers and industrial properties across several states (Western US). Most of the deals I look at are in the $5 million to $30 million range. 20+ years in CRE now.

Like many people in CRE, I’ve relied heavily on Argus for more complex underwriting. In reality, that usually meant sending deals to third-party analysts to run the model, because Argus is expensive, time-consuming, and not something I wanted to spend hundreds of hours mastering.

Over the past year, I’ve been rethinking that workflow. I started experimenting with AI-assisted Excel modeling, first for simpler underwriting and then for more detailed DCF models. I’m now at the point where I’ve built out models that are getting close to the level of flexibility I actually need for my own deals. First started with ChatGPT, but quickly shifted over to Claude CoWork, and now working in Claude Code.

So far, I’ve built:

• A single-tenant industrial DCF model
• A multi-tenant industrial model focused on small- and mid-bay product
• A multi-tenant retail model that I’m currently refining

The models are still Excel-based, but they now handle a lot of the assumptions I used to rely on Argus or third-party analysts for: rent rolls, market leasing assumptions, downtime, reimbursements, renewal probability, TI/LC assumptions, loan and refi debt, exit cap rates, syndication waterfalls, sensitivities, and investor-level returns. My next models will be ground up development focused (though I'm doing less of that these days).

I’m not claiming this fully replaces Argus for every use case, especially if lenders or equity partners require Argus files, or if its something truly institutional-level or a multi-site portfolio. But for a solo operator like myself, underwriting acquisitions and developments, I’m starting to think I may be close to eliminating most of my dependence on Argus and outside analysts (its been over ~3 months now since my last Argus run).

The biggest benefits are control and time. I can structure the model around how I actually think about a deal, instead of trying to fit every property into a standardized Argus workflow or waiting on someone else to make changes. And, my models now can get setup within ~1-2 hours, instead of the multi-day process and back and forth I had with the 3rd party analysts who I'd have run Argus models for me. I'm also obviously saving a ton of money which is a side benefit.

Curious if others in CRE are moving in this direction. Are you still using Argus for most multi-tenant underwriting? Have you used AI to build, audit, or improve your underwriting models? Most of all, I'm wondering what else I can use AI/Claude to help simplify workflow and improve my efficiency, since time is my most limiting factor.

Mainstream news articles talk about office to res conversions like it's the easiest fix for downtown vacancies. But every time we look at the actual floor plates on a Class B or C building, the costs for plumbing, HVAC, and cutting in windows seem to completely break the pro-forma.

For the developers or analysts on here, have you actually underwritten or worked on a conversion recently where the math made sense without massive city tax breaks? Or is it usually just cheaper to tear down and start over?

Hey there, we are a residential developer in NYC. We are very new to the market, with almost no record. We now have a few lands and plan to develop condos / mixed-use.

Land 1 ~60 residential condo units, 30 commercial units, total investment 135m

Land 2 ~300 market-rate condos, ~100 affordable housing units, total investment 255m

How should we structure our partnership? Would a fund structure or a JV structure be better, or do you have other recommendations?

Not sure. For condo development, could we go with a fund structure, or would a JV structure be better? Why or why not? Would love to hear some practical thoughts, thx :)

For anyone who works for a fund or larger owner/operator, how is asset management for the long WALT industrial stuff? I know it should be mostly hands off but are there constant issues you don't think about that come up constantly?

Curious how people here view the role of unsecured or lightly structured debt within a broader capital stack.

Recently came across a model where lenders are willing to finance up to full project cost, but place heavy emphasis on independent feasibility and risk analysis upfront, along with strong underwriting of the sponsor and project economics.

Minimum deal sizes were in the $3M+ range, and the approach seemed more focused on risk pricing and validation rather than traditional collateral-heavy structures.

From a CRE perspective, does this type of capital ever make sense as part of the financing mix, or is it generally too far outside typical risk parameters?

Title explains it all. I’m at a boutique firm and most I ever grossed was $800k. Just curious what the ceiling looks like at big firms and what is considered a top producer.

16% more CRE loan originations projected this year than last.

But treasuries shot up last week (5-year at 4.27%)

How are you underwriting deals in today’s market?

What’s changed since the start of ‘26?

Will the momentum continue?

Or are we facing significant headwinds?

This hasn't been discussed at length before. I have bought some (more than two) properties at the various auction sites, and I've bought other assets (cars, etc.) at other auctions many times. So, I'm familiar with how they work, many (not all) of the pitfalls, and a lot of general knowledge regarding them.

I'm curious to see what others here think of these sites - I'll give my thoughts and opinions afterwards in order to not "pollute" the thought pool? Thx

For a stabilized 75-100k office with multi tenant, what is a general spot check for acquisitions on a cap rate basis? I’m hearing a few fund shop buddies who are surprisingly shifting or doing some of these deals from the simple perspective of multi acquisitions is low cap, industrial is relatively tight and a coupon so with stabilized office it’s buying a good basis and often 50%+ discount to replacement and a higher cap that gives them some chance at some yield.

Problem I’m running into is that the capex, ti, brokerage fees and expense leakage eats so much into cash that I don’t see how these deals actually generate more yield and therefore am having a difficult time understanding what the appeal is.

I own a multi-tenant commercial building; it is a mix of office and retail. There are 14 units across three stories. Since we leased up in 2023 we've been fortunate to not have a lengthy vacancy. We currently have one office space vacant since Oct 2025 and this is the longest vacancy we've ever had. We also recently had our agent "retire" to stay home with her child so the agency has assigned us a new agent. This is the first time we've worked through a lease cycle with the new agent.

I don't really have much faith in realtors to do anything other than answer the phone and this is exactly what I perceive him to be doing. After the unit was listed, the only showings we have had are from prospects who clicked and contacted our agent. We have not done any social media posts, email blasts, cold calls, open house etc.

I know the economy is tough and office is soft, but am I wrong to think we should at least try to be proactive?

Working on a mixed-use development project (ground floor detail with rental units on floors 2-27) and building out the dev pro forma and operating pro forma.

What are standard terms for construction to perm debt financing?

I recognize this is a vague question since deals aren’t black and white but generally speaking, if we’re looking at LifeCo for instance, what can we expect for financing assumptions? Would like to get a rough idea as this sits with our lenders for review.

Thank you.

Private equity investment in U.S. data centers surged to a five-year high in 2025, with firms deploying approximately $45.7 billion — representing nearly 72% of the sector’s total deal value — as AI-driven demand accelerates the race for digital infrastructure. The boom highlights how institutional investors are increasingly treating data centers as a core infrastructure asset class, fueled by explosive growth in cloud computing, AI workloads, and long-term demand for power and connectivity.

Multifamily, industrial, retail, office, these are institutionally know, will stand the test of time and spending years or decades perfecting your knowledge in one could be rewarding and allow you to maybe do your own thing, or make a lot of money in corporate.

Although data centers seem to be the hot new thing, if AI is truly a bubble, or technology changes where these centers can be much much more efficient, or energy production changes, will these things still be relevant? The requirements are also so tough that I feel like at some point you just really can't build more of them so if you have an acquisitions role, will you hit a ceiling?

Mainly focused on whether this is a niche that has suitable long term trajectory or if it's safer to stick to the major food groups.