Advanced Real Estate Finance

Release date: 2026

Course length: 8 hours/ 8 modules 
Level: Intermediate to Advanced 
Designed for: Developers, owners, asset managers, financial managers, investors and brokers.
Course Access: Upon enrollment, students have 90 days to complete this course.

This course provides the intermediate- to senior-level real estate professional with techniques used to analyze, finance and structure real estate transactions. It is designed to provide a decision-making framework that offers you an intuitive understanding of real estate finance and investment and allows you to effectively analyze a broad range of real estate problems and solutions. Completion of the Basic Real Estate Finance course is recommended but not required.

Course modules: 

  1. Basic Real Estate Finance Review
  2. Market Demand and Lease Concessions
  3. Discounted Cash Flow Model and Analysis
  4. Debt Funding and Underwriting
  5. Equity Financing and Returns
  6. Real Estate Taxation
  7. Value-add Property Investment Analysis
  8. Case Study Analysis

After completing this course, you will be able to:

  • Describe real estate market trends and key metrics.
  • Evaluate the cost of concessions and lease turnover.
  • Utilize scenario analysis, sensitivity analysis and stress testing to evaluate commercial real estate investments.
  • Explain how lenders underwrite loans and make lending decisions.
  • Discuss equity financing sources and returns.
  • Calculate the impact of asset depreciation on taxes.
  • Outline real-estate-specific tax strategies.
  • Identify and analyze value-add property investment opportunities.

Key:

Complete
Failed
Available
Locked
Module 1: Basic Real Estate Finance Review (AREF26)
Module 1: Basic Real Estate Finance Review E-learning Module
Begin self-paced component package.
Begin self-paced component package. This module reviews key real estate finance concepts and introduces capital markets and property valuation using direct capitalization and the discounted cash flow approach. It covers basic financial metrics, including net present value and internal rate of return, and explains common debt ratios, debt payments, loan balances and levered investment analysis. Learners who are already comfortable with these topics, or who have completed NAIOP’s Basic Real Estate Finance course, may choose to skip ahead to module two.
You must register to access.
Module 1: Basic Real Estate Finance Review Slides
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 2: Market Demand and Lease Concessions (AREF26)
Module 2: Market Demand and Lease Concessions E-learning Module
Begin self-paced component package.
Begin self-paced component package. This module focuses on market demand and lease concessions and their impact on commercial real estate development projects. It covers absorption, supply and demand effects and tenant turnover costs and explains how to evaluate concession types, market drivers and their effect on revenue and return metrics. The module also introduces methods for summarizing and modeling concession data, including the use of pivot tables, and encourages learners to apply market analysis concepts to the properties, locations and asset classes they work with.
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Module 2: Market Demand and Lease Concessions Slides
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 2: Rent Roll Pivot Tables Solutions
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 3: Discounted Cash Flow Model and Analysis (AREF26)
Module 3: Discounted Cash Flow Model and Analysis E-learning Module
Begin self-paced component package.
Begin self-paced component package. This module introduces the 10-year discounted cash flow model used to evaluate properties held for longer time periods. It explains how changes in debt structure and capital expenditures affect cash flows, returns and property value. The module also introduces scenario analysis, sensitivity analysis and stress testing and demonstrates how these tools can be used to evaluate investment risk, including IRR sensitivity analysis and maximum purchase price modeling using Excel.
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Module 3: Discounted Cash Flow Model and Analysis Slides
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 3: Unlevered 10-year DCF Solutions
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 3: Levered 10-year DCF Solutions
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 3: Sensitivity Analyses Solutions
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 4: Debt Funding and Underwriting (AREF26)
Module 4: Debt Funding and Underwriting E-learning Module
Begin self-paced component package.
Begin self-paced component package. This module focuses on debt financing for commercial real estate projects. It reviews common types of commercial loans and their sources and explains the components of a loan submission package. The module also covers permanent loan underwriting, including how lenders evaluate risk and make financing decisions, and explains how to calculate prepayment penalties.
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Module 4: Debt Funding and Underwriting Slides
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 5: Private Equity Financing and Returns (AREF26)
Module 5: Private Equity Financing and Returns E-learning Module
Begin self-paced component package.
Begin self-paced component package. This module focuses on private equity financing in commercial real estate, including common sources of equity capital and the types of investors involved. It explains how private equity differs from public equity and examines negotiated investment structures such as joint ventures and private equity funds. The module also explores private equity investment strategies, fee structures and waterfall return calculations used to allocate cash flow and returns.
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Module 5: Private Equity Financing and Returns Slides
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 6: Real Estate Taxation (AREF26)
Module 6: Real Estate Taxation E-learning Module
Begin self-paced component package.
Begin self-paced component package. This module introduces key taxation concepts relevant to commercial real estate and explains how tax considerations affect investment decision-making. It covers tax classifications and exemptions, asset depreciation and their impact on taxable income and returns. The module also reviews common real estate tax strategies and explains how to calculate after-tax cash flows and return metrics to support more informed investment analysis.
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Module 6: Real Estate Taxation Slides
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 6: ATCF Levered 10-year DCF Solutions
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 7: Value-add Property Investment Analysis (AREF26)
Module 7: Value-add Property Investment Analysis E-learning Module
Begin self-paced component package.
Begin self-paced component package. This module focuses on value-add property investment analysis and explains how value is created by increasing cash flow, improving revenue, reducing expenses and lowering risk. It reviews non-asset variables, key metrics and structural considerations used to evaluate value-add investments from both debt and equity perspectives. The module also examines how to analyze investment returns for value-add commercial real estate projects.
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Module 7: Value-add Property Investment Analysis Slides
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 7: TTOC Case Study Excel Solutions
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 8: Case Study Analysis (AREF26)
Module 8: Case Study Analysis E-learning Module
Begin self-paced component package.
Begin self-paced component package. This module applies concepts covered throughout the course using two commercial real estate case studies. It guides learners through scenario analysis, structured questions and review conclusions to reinforce investment decision-making. The module integrates equity financing, taxation, depreciation and value-add analysis to evaluate commercial real estate investment opportunities.
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Module 8: Case Study Analysis Slides
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 8: ATCF Case Study Solutions
Open to download resource.
Open to download resource.
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Module 8 Waterfall Case Study Solutions
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Open to download resource.
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End of Course Items
Advanced Real Estate Finance Acknowledgement of Not Taking the On-demand Course Test
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Agree to terms to continue. If you are not planning on taking the test, please click the Read Terms button. Then you will be able to complete the Evaluation and print your transcript.
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AREF Exam - Required for Certificate Candidates
30 Questions  |  5 attempts  |  24/30 points to pass
30 Questions  |  5 attempts  |  24/30 points to pass If you are a NAIOP certificate candidate, the test is required. You must get 24 out of 30 questions correct in order to pass the test. You have five attempts to pass the test.
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Advanced Real Estate Finance Evaluation
7 Questions
7 Questions Please fill out this evaluation in order to get credit for the course.
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Advanced Real Estate Finance Transcript
8.00 PDH, AIA Learning Units credits  |  Certificate available
8.00 PDH, AIA Learning Units credits  |  Certificate available
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Tuition & Register

Payment for a NAIOP on-demand course entitles access for one person only to the course and all materials.

Course Tuition

Member TypeUSDCAD
Member$399$539
Nonmember$624$842
Developing Leader$290$392
University Faculty Member$149$201
Student Member$149$201
Student Nonmember$199$269


How to Register

  • Register online: Click on the green Register button at the top of the page. You will need to log in or create a free account in order to see the Register button.
  • Mail: Send check payments to: NAIOP, CL500060, PO Box 5007, Merrifield, VA 22116-5007
  • Register over the phone/questions: 866-666-6780

Note: You have 90 days from the date you register to complete this course. 

Confirmation

All registrations processed online receive an automatic order confirmation and receipt. If you register via mail or phone, a receipt must be requested by contacting education@naiop.org.

Login instructions to access the on-demand course are sent under separate cover from NAIOP Learning. If you do not received the login instructions, please check your spam folder. If the login email is still not there, please contact the NAIOP Education Department.

Cancellation Policy

No refunds will be issued.

Course testimonials

"In order to thrive in competitive markets, real estate investors must have a comprehensive understanding of how deal structures and capitalization strategies affect financial performance. NAIOP's Advanced Real Estate Finance course is designed to provide such an understanding."
Dustin Read, Ph.D., JD, Department Head and Bates Family Professor of Real Estate in the Blackwood Department of Real Estate at Virginia Tech 

 

"The Advanced Real Estate Finance course provides industry focused content that can familiarize the most seasoned professionals on the various assumptions, variables, and evolving complexities to real estate development and opportunities. To be successful in this industry we need to understand the numbers and everything in between."
Cory Bultinck, CPA, Partner at Wipfli Advisory LLC