How to Use the Tool
A step-by-step walkthrough of the two-stage underwriting workflow.
Step 1 — Enter Your Deal Inputs
Start at the Deal Inputs page. Enter the purchase price, loan type, down payment, interest rate, unit rents, expenses, and any purchase costs. Every field has a hover tooltip explaining what it represents and how it is used in the calculation. For DSCR loans the down payment is calculated automatically — you do not need to enter it manually.
Step 2 — Choose Your Loan Type
Select FHA, Conventional, or DSCR from the loan type dropdown. FHA automatically assumes house hacking — you occupy one unit and the tool excludes that unit from rental income. For 3 and 4 unit FHA deals the self-sufficiency test activates automatically per HUD 4000.1. DSCR sizes the loan using three constraints simultaneously — DSCR, LTV, and debt yield — and identifies which one is binding.
Step 3 — Run Results
Click the Run Results button after entering your inputs. The engine calculates all outputs across both stages simultaneously. You must click Run Results each time you change an input — the tool does not auto-recalculate to give you full control over when the engine fires.
Step 4 — Review the Screener
The screener gives you a fast acquisition-level verdict. Start at Deal Dashboard for the overall picture, then drill into Income, Expenses, Loan Sizing, Cash Flow, Deal Metrics, and Deal Sensitivity for the full breakdown. The deal verdict — Strong Deal, Investigate, or No Deal — is based on the thresholds you set in Deal Metrics.
Step 5 — Set Your Sensitivity Scenario
Use the Deal Sensitivity page to select your active scenario — Best, Base, Worst, or Stress. Each scenario applies multipliers to your rent, vacancy, expenses, and rate assumptions. Base reflects your raw inputs as entered. All multipliers are fully editable. Switch scenarios to stress test your deal under different market conditions before committing.
Step 6 — Move to Underwriting
Once the screener passes navigate to the Underwriting Dashboard. Here you set your hold period, growth rates, refinance assumptions, property valuation method, and exit assumptions. The underwriting engine models your deal forward up to 35 years with a full proforma, dynamic refinance engine, equity flow, and complete return metrics.
Step 7 — Review Returns
Check the Returns page for IRR, NPV, equity multiple, cash-on-cash, and capital recovery. Leveraged IRR includes operating cashflows, any refinance cash-out, and the exit sale proceeds. Operations Only IRR isolates operating performance excluding financing and exit events. NPV is calculated at your chosen discount rate.
Sensitivity Scenarios — Screener vs Underwriting
The tool has two separate sensitivity systems. The Deal Sensitivity matrix applies to the screener stage and controls how rents, vacancy, expenses, and rates are stressed at acquisition. The UW Sensitivity matrix applies to the underwriting stage and controls how cap rates, rent growth, and refi LTV are stressed over the hold period. They are independent — you can run a Stress screener scenario against a Best underwriting scenario to see a range of outcomes.
Refinance Engine
The refinance engine triggers at the month you specify — subject to a minimum seasoning requirement. At that month the engine looks up the property value and outstanding loan balance, calculates the maximum replacement loan under your chosen LTV, and cascades the new debt service through the rest of the proforma. For FHA the engine applies the 80% LTV cap and finances new UFMIP into the replacement loan per HUD 4000.1. Toggle the refi switch off to model a no-refinance hold.
Property Valuation Methods
Two valuation methods are available. Straight-line appreciation compounds the initial property value at your chosen annual rate through the hold period. Cap rate method derives property value each year by dividing that year's NOI by the effective exit cap rate — which is the acquisition cap rate multiplied by your UW scenario cap rate multiplier. The cap rate method is more conservative in most cases and closer to how commercial appraisers value income-producing properties.
What the Tool Does Not Model
Current known limitations: tax treatment and depreciation are not modeled. Insurance and property tax projections use simplified growth rates. Local market conditions and rent comps are not integrated — you supply your own rent assumptions. Certain edge cases in FHA and DSCR loan structures may not be fully captured. These are known limitations under active development.
Sensitivity Panel — Quick Access on Every Page
Every page in both the screener and underwriting modules has a vertical Sensitivity tab on the right edge of the screen. Click it to expand the sensitivity panel without leaving the current page. From there you can switch the active scenario between Best, Base, Worst, and Stress, and edit any of the sensitivity multipliers directly. Switching scenarios does not require re-running results — the active scenario updates immediately. However if you edit the multiplier values themselves you must click Run Results to recalculate.
DSCR Lender Requirements — Editable on Loan Sizing
DSCR loan terms are not standardized — every lender has their own requirements. On the Loan Sizing page you can edit the three DSCR lender constraints directly: the minimum DSCR floor, the maximum LTV cap, and the minimum debt yield. Adjust these to match the specific lender you are working with. After changing any of these values you must click Run Results for the engine to recalculate the maximum loan amount under the updated constraints.
Deal Metrics Thresholds — Set Your Own Criteria
The deal verdict — Strong Deal, Investigate, or No Deal — is based on thresholds you control. On the Deal Metrics page you can edit the minimum DSCR, minimum cash flow, maximum LTV, minimum debt yield, maximum breakeven occupancy, and maximum OpEx ratio to match your own investment criteria. The verdict updates based on how many of your thresholds the deal fails. After changing any threshold values you must click Run Results to recalculate.
When to Re-Run Results
You must click Run Results any time you change a deal input, a lender requirement, a deal metric threshold, or a sensitivity multiplier value. The one exception is switching the active scenario — changing from Base to Stress or any other scenario updates the displayed outputs immediately without needing to re-run. Everything else requires a manual re-run to ensure the engine recalculates with your latest inputs.
Ready to Analyze a Deal?
Start with the Deal Inputs page. Enter your numbers, hit Run Results, and let the engine do the work.
Go to Deal Inputs →