Remote work considerations for commercial real estate teams
Logan Nagel
In this article we discuss special remote work considerations for commercial real estate teams.
Highlights from our 1H 2022 CRE Freelance Rate Trends Report
Tyler Kastelberg
We’ve collected a large amount of data on freelance commercial real estate talent pricing trends. In this report, we share insights into pricing dynamics by property type, role, and beyond.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tyler Kastelberg
What type of companies do you work with? We typically work with commercial real estate investment, development, capital markets, brokerage, and corporate teams. Some of our clients are small, one-person
How Mason Fiascone built a brokerage machine in a tertiary market
Logan Nagel
This broker brought big-city polish to an undeserved geographical market and carved out a winning niche for himself.
How Saber Equity took advantage of the COVID-19 hospitality contraction
Logan Nagel
Saber Equity is leveraging expertise in hospitality to build a niche converting hotels into apartments. Here’s how.
Multifamily investor CF Capital’s blueprint for scaling success
Logan Nagel
CF Capital shares how they are building an effective multifamily organization by focusing on the right people decisions at the right times.
Basics of Affordable Housing
Logan Nagel
We speak with Bullpen freelancer and BofA affordable housing VP Edd Hamzanlui on what it takes to succeed in the affordable housing investment landscape.
From W2 to full-time freelancer
Logan Nagel
Bullpen freelancer Asheesh Patel’s journey from full-time professional to student to freelancer points to the unexpected benefits of freelancing for motivated professionals.
Tips for analyzing grocery-anchored retail properties
Tyler Kastelberg
Does a Whole Foods command a higher cap rate than Kroger? Here are a few tips for analyzing grocery-anchored retail properties.
What does a commercial real estate marketer do?
Tyler Kastelberg
A real estate marketer can mean a lot of things, but at Bullpen, we use the term “marketer” to describe design professionals. Companies that hire marketers typically need help creating
Tips for your talent interview
Tyler Kastelberg
You’ve made it to the interview stage! At this point, our Talent team has already vetted your candidate for their background and soft skills. Now, it is your turn to
What does a corporate retail specialist do?
Tyler Kastelberg
Corporations like WalMart and McDonalds are some of the largest real estate tenants and owners in the country. With the insatiable desire to grow, corporations with physical stores hire corporate
What does a property accountant do?
Tyler Kastelberg
As commercial real estate firms continue to grow and scale, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep track of the money that flows through each property in the portfolio. For this
What does a market researcher do?
Tyler Kastelberg
Commercial real estate is a business built on comparables. That is to say that the prices investors or tenants are willing to pay for a property are typically based on
What does a lease analyst do?
Tyler Kastelberg
Leases are the lifeblood of a commercial property. The income that they produce is used to pay for a property’s operating expenses/debt service and anything left over is distributed to
What does an investor relations professional do?
Tyler Kastelberg
Nearly all commercial real estate investment transactions are financed with some combination of debt and equity. Debt is usually obtained from a bank or real estate lender while equity is
What does a development manager do?
Tyler Kastelberg
Developing a commercial real estate project from the ground up and/or performing a major renovation is an exercise in planning, logistics, and execution. Each new project has dozens of moving
What does a commercial real estate analyst do?
Tyler Kastelberg
In this article, I’m going to use the term analyst to represent underwriters, financial modeling professionals, and commercial real estate analysts. At a high level, the job responsibilities of an
What does an asset manager do?
Tyler Kastelberg
As the name suggests, the job of an “Asset Manager” is to manage the performance of your commercial real estate asset. On a day to day basis, common tasks include:
“My Boss Is a Jerk” – Why Real Estate Workers Are Leaving In Droves And What Can Be Done About It
Bullpen Editors
So, the question is, why are workers leaving in droves and what can employers do about it?
Three Real Estate Markets That Will Benefit From The Electric Car Revolution
Bullpen Editors
While the future can be notoriously difficult to predict in a fast-changing industry like electric automobiles, we think that potentially lucrative real estate markets share five characteristics …
Guide to the Low Income Housing Tax Credit
Bullpen Editors
When Congress passed the Tax Reform Act of 1986, it was then-President Reagan’s top domestic priority and it was a landmark piece of legislation. The purpose of the law was to simplify the tax code, reducing the number of tax brackets and lowering the top tax rate from 50% to 28%. But, that wasn’t the only major change. The law also created the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program (LIHTC Program).
Institutional vs. Non-Institutional Commercial Real Estate
Angela DiFuccia
We often come across the term institutional, but what is the actual definition? I was surprised to find there is no standard definition of institutional in commercial real estate. Yet, the distinction between institutional and non-institutional is very real and recognizable, including in the way the investment is modeled and reported.
Investing in a Marina – Is it Worth It?
Bullpen Editors
The basic premise of a commercial real estate investment is this: a property is purchased, the space within it is leased to rent paying tenants, rental income is used to
Top Real Estate Markets for the Billionaire Space Race
Bullpen Editors
On July 11th, 2021 UK entrepreneur, Virgin Galactic founder, and billionaire, Sir Richard Branson successfully completed the first private space flight. It lasted roughly an hour, reached an altitude of
How to scale your investment business using Bullpen
Tyler Kastelberg
What you need is a team. However, the ebbs and flows of the real estate investment business make hiring full-time employees risky.
Difference in Core, Core Plus, Value-Add, and Opportunistic Real Estate
Tyler Kastelberg
Commercial real estate investment strategies can be broken down into four categories: Core, Core Plus, Value-Add, and Opportunistic. These terms are used by commercial real estate investors as shorthand for the risk profile, quality, location and strategy of an individual property.
Everything you should know about the operating expense ratio in real estate
Bullpen Editors
The operating expense ratio, or “OER”, is a simple formula that’s easy to calculate and reveals how efficiently a property runs on a day-to-day basis.
6 Steps to Scope Your Project and Win More Gigs
Bullpen Editors
A project’s cost is a function of the number of hours that it takes to complete it so providing an accurate estimate is critically important. Get it right and you’ll deliver within the client’s budget. Get it wrong and you risk upsetting them.
What is a Broker’s Price Opinion (BPO)?
Mason Fiascone
A broker’s price opinion (BPO or sometimes referred to as a broker’s opinion of value, BOV) is an analysis performed by a commercial real estate broker that provides an estimate of value or price for real estate.
Guide to New Markets Tax Credits
Tyler Kastelberg
The New Markets Tax Credits program, or NMTC, is a component of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000. The goal of the program is to stimulate investment in low-income areas. Commercial real estate developers use the NMTC program to secure advantageous debt and equity terms for developments.
8 Ways to Level Up Your Multifamily Real Estate Modeling
Tyler Kastelberg
Use the following 8 tips to level up your multifamily real estate modeling!
Ground Lease Basics for Commercial Real Estate Investors
Bullpen Editors
A Ground Lease, sometimes called a Land Lease, is a long term lease whereby a property owner agrees to lease their land to an investor/developer.
How to lose a client in 10 days (freelancer etiquette)
Tyler Kastelberg
Freelancer etiquette matters, and by avoiding a few common pitfalls, you’ll be well on your way to building a successful, freelance career. First, a familiar movie narrative …
7 Creative Ways to Find Brokerage Clients
Mason Fiascone
Here are seven creative ways to find new brokerage clients in any market. Add these to your tried and true arsenal and you’ll be building a powerful book of business in no time.
Lease Abstracts 101 (Download a Free Template)
Tyler Kastelberg
Most commercial leases are dense and complex. A lease abstract makes the information more digestible by outlining pertinent financial, business, and legal provisions.
Key Parts of a Real Estate Offering Memorandum
Tyler Kastelberg
A real estate offering memorandum (also referred to as equity offering package or investment memo) is used by sponsors, developers, and other real estate professionals who raise money to invest
Can your commercial real estate analyst answer our hardest interview questions?
Tyler Kastelberg
At Bullpen, we ask our analyst candidates a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions to determine their competency. We’ve curated some of our favorite …
Pros and Cons of Using Google Sheets for Real Estate Financial Models
Tyler Kastelberg
If you’ve been following Bullpen’s blog for a while, you’ve probably started to notice that we’re transitioning our excel-based real estate financial models to Google Sheets.
Basic Value-add Multifamily Quick Calc Model
Tyler Kastelberg
Top real estate acquisition teams review hundreds, if not thousands, of deals per year. A deep-dive analysis on every deal isn’t possible. Instead, deal teams run a “back of the
Everything You Need to Know About CAM Charges
Tyler Kastelberg
CAM charges describe the expenses a commercial property owner bills back to tenants in return for maintaining shared spaces. CAM is one of the most important concepts to grasp in
Use tenant retention curves to build better multifamily developments
Tyler Kastelberg
Real estate development is like walking through a minefield with a 5-year-old map. It’s fraught with risks and unknown variables. Underwriting models do a great job of showing your assumptions,
An underwriting tool you should consider, Argus + Excel
Bullpen Editors
Financial modeling is the most foundational skill in commercial real estate. However, the underwriting process usually involves an underwriting tool that is filled with headaches …
Hustle is Dead, Product-Market Fit is the Key to Brokerage Growth
Tyler Kastelberg
Many new brokerage businesses are built on the fallacy that “hustle” is the key to success. Influencers in the brokerage community preach hard work, grinding, cold calling, early morning routines
Everything You Need to Know About Buying REO Real Estate
Bullpen Editors
REO (Real Estate Owned) real estate refers to bank and angency owned properties transferred to the bank/agency due to a foreclosure or breach of lending contract.
Why I Started Break Into CRE, feat. Justin Kivel
Tyler Kastelberg
Justin Kivel, Founder of Break Into CRE, has done what many entrepreneurs dream of doing, evolving an idea into a successful business (from 0 to 1 in the words of
3 Multifamily Technologies You Need Post-COVID
Bullpen Editors
There are many questions as to what the post-COVID “new normal” will look like for multifamily operations. I would submit that the “new normal” has already begun in the sense
6 Multifamily Underwriting Essentials That You Should Know
Bullpen Editors
Many believe that multifamily is the easiest of all asset classes to underwrite. While this may be true, multifamily properties have their own set of unique challenges. Follow these 6
Improved Real Estate Acquisition Checklist
Bullpen Editors
When acquiring improved commercial real estate, you have many things to worry about. The first step in a successful acquisition is to be and stay organized. The following ‘Improved Real
Definitive Guide to Creating a Real Estate Investor Presentation
Shawn Amsler
The following blog is a compilation of teaching notes and best practices for the creation of an institutional quality real estate investor presentation from my “Real Estate Capstone” course at
Download a Ground Up Multifamily Development Model
Bullpen Editors
A good development project starts with the land. Watch as consultant Marina Gitas shows Greg Dickerson how she analyzes a potential development using both a back-of-envelope model and a detailed
3 Reasons Co-working is in Trouble
Bullpen Editors
In 2010, there were 600 standalone co-working locations – today, there are nearly 50,000. We can expect that period of exponential growth to come to a grinding halt. As I
Site Visits — 3 Hidden Things Can Kill Your Deal
Bullpen Editors
Site visits are a key component of due diligence and can often be overlooked. A wise buyer will dig deep on environmental hazards, ingress/egress and easements, parking, and more. These principles apply across real estate asset classes and should be considered for any acquisition.
Retail Disposition Model
Bullpen Editors
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of free investment models online to help maneuver the seemingly complex world of commercial real estate valuation. Many of these models, however, are overly
An Innovative Solution to Loan Guarantees with Daniel Weingarten of LGIS Group
Tyler Kastelberg
LGIS Group offers the first patented investment-grade insurance coverage against foreclosure and deficiency loss for short term commercial real estate loans. Commercial real estate professionals are often asked how to
How to Create & Manage a Remote Team
Tyler Kastelberg
There a benefits and drawbacks to creating a remote team, actively building a bridge between communication gaps gives you the benefit of a powerful team in house and remotely.
The Weakness in Opportunity Zones – What Say the Naysayers?
Tyler Kastelberg
Opportunity zones are a hot topic in commercial real estate. Why? Investors receive big tax benefits when investing in these government-designated areas. However, no good thing comes without risk. Read
A Smarter Way to Build Your Team
Tyler Kastelberg
What is Bullpen? Bullpen connects expert commercial real estate freelancers with top companies who value time and efficiency. Like a staffing agency? Not really. Bullpen leverages its web platform to
A Deep Dive on Data Center Investing with Lawrence Vo
Tyler Kastelberg
This piece is an excerpt from a recent interview with Lawrence Vo, a Bullpen freelance analyst and data center expert. In the interview, we discussed Lawrence’s background as well as
Top 3 Considerations for New York Real Estate Developments
Tyler Kastelberg
The planning process is the most important part of a New York real estate development project. One key component of this process is a market analysis (or location study). A
Top 10 Commercial Real Estate Influencers on Youtube
Tyler Kastelberg
Content is king. Commercial real estate gurus are embracing the new age of content marketing, creating impressive online followings. These content creating influencers use podcasts, vlogs, and interviews to get
Top 5 Real Estate Analyst Mistakes
Tyler Kastelberg
Your commercial real estate analyst might be good, but nobody is immune to human error. Long hours and monotonous PowerPoints will cause even the most diligent real estate analyst to
Market Analysis for Real Estate Developments
Tyler Kastelberg
The planning process is the most important part of a commercial real estate development project. One key components of this process is a market analysis (or location study). At Bullpen,
Build a Low-Cost, High Performance Team
Tyler Kastelberg
The situation … You run a small real estate investment/development organization. You have a ton of work … modeling new deals, pursuing relationships with brokers, and running your current deals.
Top 10 Real Estate Modeling Videos on Youtube
Tyler Kastelberg
Why pay for a degree in real estate when you can learn how to model commercial real estate from the best on Youtube? We’ve compiled a list of the top
Only What Matters: Equity Multiple
Tyler Kastelberg
What is it? Equity multiple is the second most popular profitability metric for real estate investors and developers. How is it calculated? Equity multiple describes the number of times an
Yield (Cash on Cash) and Why It Matters
Tyler Kastelberg
What is it? Yield (also known as Cash on Cash Return) is a popular commercial real estate return metric. It measures the cash paid to investors on invested capital in
All You Need to Know: Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
Tyler Kastelberg
What is it? IRR, or Internal Rate of Return, is the most commonly used profitability metric in commercial real estate. Why is it so popular? Unlike other return metrics, IRR
The Art of Financial Engineering
Bullpen Editors
When underwriting your property, an analyst can “engineer” an investment IRR by adjusting the debt or business strategy in the pro forma.
Strategies When Talking to CRE Brokers
Tyler Kastelberg
Approaching experienced professionals as a novice in any industry can be nerve racking. Before meeting an experienced broker, master your knowledge, position, and questions. Use the following strategies when talking
Top 3 CRE Analyst Tasks
Tyler Kastelberg
Analysts work on a vast array of tasks, but what are the top 3 commercial real estate analyst tasks? Using data collected from hundreds of Bullpen projects, we’ve compiled a
5 Pro Tips to Master A Bullpen Analyst Phone Interview
Tyler Kastelberg
As a Bullpen freelance analysts, you’ll regularly meet with potential clients on the phone. During the phone interview, clients want to learn about you and your background. Most importantly, they’ll
Layman’s Guide to Federal Historic Tax Credits
Tyler Kastelberg
In 1978, the government implemented the federal historic tax credit program in an attempt to curb the demolition of historic buildings. The goal of the credit is to incentivize real
15 Step Due Diligence Checklist
Tyler Kastelberg
Due Diligence refers to the time after signing a purchase contract that a buyer has to inspect a property. During this time the buyer is able to make a decision
CRE Investment Alternatives: K-Deals and K-Certificates
Tyler Kastelberg
Alternative (or non-traditional) assets are important for portfolio diversification because they allow investors to distribute risk across several investments, rather than build their portfolio (and potential risk) around a single
5 Steps to Attract Tech Tenants
Tyler Kastelberg
The United States accounts for $1.6 trillion of the global tech industry, which makes it the number one contributor in the world. It’s expanding at about twice the rate of overall
Difference in American and European Equity Waterfalls
Tyler Kastelberg
An equity waterfall, also known as a distribution waterfall, maps cash flow between sponsors (general partners) and limited partners of a private equity fund. A fund’s limited partnership agreement describes the terms of
Real Estate Investors – 3 Steps to Becoming a Successful Money Raiser
Tyler Kastelberg
One of the biggest challenges that small to medium-size investors and developers face when building a commercial real estate syndicate is finding qualified investors. We’ve compiled business tips that the
Where Does Your Real Estate Analyst’s Time Go?
Tyler Kastelberg
You pay your commercial real estate analyst a salary, but how much time do you get in return? Assuming 52 weeks per year and an average work week of 40
Opportunity Zone Teaser
Tyler Kastelberg
Commercial real estate developers in the U.S. are eager to invest in opportunity zones (OZs), federally-designated areas where real estate investors can get a significant capital gains tax deferral. Sales in
Top Questions To Ask Before Writing a Commercial Real Estate Offer
Tyler Kastelberg
The commercial real estate market is more competitive than ever. How do you write a compelling commercial real estate offer on a potential purchase? Ask good questions! A seller will
Top 5 Mistakes Made by Multifamily Value-Add Investors
Tyler Kastelberg
1. Account for adequate vacancy and downtime during renovation period A rolling renovation of multifamily units creates a sustained period of vacancy in the property. It’s important to consider the
Top 10 CRE Skills Your Analyst Needs
Tyler Kastelberg
Commercial real estate analysts are the fingers of the industry. A good real estate analyst can be a game changer for a growing investment firm, developer, or debt/equity broker. At Bullpen,
Top 7 Types of Commercial Leases
Tyler Kastelberg
A commercial lease governs the relationship between a landlord and a commercial tenant. There are seven main types of commercial leases, each of which comes with a different set of
Top 6 Reasons to Outsource Your Real Estate Analyst
Tyler Kastelberg
1. Reduce and control fixed costs: Real Estate investors and developers remember the Great Recession and recall the pain of layoffs. Fixed costs are defined as costs that are constant
Beginners Guide: Common Commercial Real Estate Return Metrics
Tyler Kastelberg
INTERNAL RATE OF RETURN (“IRR”) IRR is a return metric that considers the time value of money and the impact of re-invested distributions. It is also referred to as “economic
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