
Explain the GP and LP roles in real estate equity waterfalls, detailing sweat equity, capital contributions (GP 1–10%, LP 90–99%), fees, and promoted interest.
Model net operating income and debt service for real estate: compute going-in NOI from purchase price and cap rate, apply monthly NOI growth, and estimate monthly principal and interest payments.
Calculate LP contributions and distributions with a min function to meet the 8% IRR, cap at 95% of levered cash flow, and determine the ending balance using max with zero.
Calculates the beginning balance and hurdle two accrual in a real estate equity waterfall model using Excel formulas, IRR thresholds, and distributions.
Track LP and GP cash flows by recording contributions and distributions for each partner, then compute net cash flows to derive IRR and equity multiple.
Learn to calculate promoted interest by tier in a real estate equity waterfall, applying tier-specific GP promote percentages to hurdle distributions, summing across hurdles for total promoted interest.
Learn to integrate the built equity waterfall into a larger pro forma by linking total levered cash flow and hold period to the target model for automatic updates.
Welcome to The Real Estate Equity Waterfall Modeling Master Class!
In this course, you'll learn exactly what a real estate equity waterfall structure is, and we'll walk step by step together through how to build out a dynamic, multi-tier real estate equity waterfall model from scratch in Excel.
If you don't know me already, my name is Justin Kivel, and throughout my career, I've worked on over $1.5 billion of closed commercial real estate transactions on behalf of some of the top real estate investment, brokerage, and lending firms in the world, and I've also taught tens of thousands of students real estate financial modeling and analysis through the Break Into CRE platform.
This course was designed to be a practical, easy-to-follow guide to understanding what real estate equity waterfalls are, how these structures work in practice, and how to build these models from scratch in Excel.
So in this course, we'll start with the basics of real estate equity waterfall structures, covering topics like JV equity partnerships, preferred returns, and promoted interest.
And from there, we'll actually apply these concepts to building out an entire real estate equity waterfall model from scratch in Excel, and by the end of this class, you'll have a complete, institutional-quality real estate equity waterfall model that you've built alongside me.
This course is a perfect fit for anyone trying to break into real estate private equity, or anyone starting their own real estate investment or development firm and looking to raise capital from equity partners to fund their transactions.
Here's what some of our students have had to say:
★★★★★ "I've tried other real estate financial modeling classes, and they tended to be too general (even where they had some hands-on Excel exercises). Justin hit just the right balance between the big picture and the nuts and bolts of building the worksheet, and, therefore, truly understanding it."
★★★★★"Clear and straightforward. Wow! Amazed at this curriculum. He has made something super difficult easy and he explains it super clear. Its like meeting a super cool private equity guy spend the time to show you step by step. He can make your career!"
★★★★★"This course is highly recommended for individuals wanting to learn about equity waterfall modeling. It's obvious that the instructor understands this topic very well and he presents it in a very simplified manner. The process of creating the model from scratch and having the instructor walk you through it on a step-by-step basis really solidified my understanding of this material. Excellent course!"
★★★★★"Highly detailed and informative. Great for analyst who are just getting started. It's like taking an MBA level course!"
★★★★★"This is a phenomenal course as are Justin's other courses. I am a commercial real estate professional working as an analyst at a 'Big Four' broker and have found all these courses to be invaluable, particularly if you are concerned about the technical test for job interviews."
If you're ready to get started building out your equity waterfall model with me, I'd love to have you in the class - go ahead and click that "Buy Now" button, and I'll see you on the inside of the course!