Why Take This Class?

This live financial modeling course teaches attendees how to model complex real estate transactions. All attendees will learn to use the power of Excel to analyze: 

  • Existing cash flow producing investments
  • Construction and development projects
  • Partnerships and joint ventures

Since 2002, Joshua Kahr has taught this class privately over 300 times at commercial banks, investment banks, real estate private equity firms, REITs, business schools, development firms, and government agencies. He's delivered it globally in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Dubai, Mexico City, and over 20 cities in the United States and Canada.

You may attend in person in New York City or over Zoom. The class is held at the NYC Seminar Conference Center at 114 West 26th Street, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10001.

All classes run from 9 am to 5 pm EST. They are held on Thursday and Friday.

The schedule for 2025 is:

  • March 20 and 21, 2025 (Thursday and Friday)
  • June 26 and 27, 2025 (Thursday and Friday)
  • September 18 and 19, 2025 (Thursday and Friday)
  • December 4 and 5, 2025 (Thursday and Friday)

Sign up for the class and pick the dates that work for you. 

This email from a former student puts it best: 


What Topics Are Covered in the Class?

Over the two days, you'll learn the essential tools to build a real estate financial model.

  • On Day 1, we cover cash flow producing properties. All of the major financial topics are discussed including leverage, after tax analysis, and valuation. We also explore the differences in modeling different property types.

  • On Day 2, we cover constructon and development in the morning, and joint ventures and waterfalls in the afternoon. Real world documents and working models are used for all topics.

  • All examples are fully modeled in Excel. We start with the simple financial functions (IRR, NPV) and work our way up to advanced topics including circulation calculations, dynamic arrays, and all of the "What If" tools. You'll leave the class with not only complex financial models, but also the ability to use them and modify them as needed.

Agenda

Day 1 Day 2

Cash Flow Analysis

  • Introduction and Terminology
  • Core Excel Functions for Real Estate
  • Unleveraged Before Tax Cash Flow
  • Valuation Approaches
  • Amortization Schedule
  • Leveraged Before Tax Cash Flow
  • Product Type Specific Issues for the Major Real Estate Classes
  • Expense Recoveries
  • Rollover Assumptions
  • Rent Control
  • Depreciation Schedule
  • Leveraged After-Tax Cash Flow (Income Tax, Capital Gains, and Tax Loopholes)
  • Partitioning the IRR and Advanced Analysis
  • Sensitivity Tables
  • Partnership Primer
  • Argus and Excel Integration

Construction and Development

  • Basic Construction Concepts
  • Construction and Unit Sales Schedules
  • Construction Lending and Developer’s Cash Flow
  • Construction I: Build and Hold – Construction and Permanent Financing
  • Advanced Scheduling
  • Construction II: Single Family Suburban and Condominium Development


Partnerships and Joint Ventures

  • The Basics of Waterfalls
  • Partnership I – Preferred Return plus Split of Cash Flow
  • Promote vs. Splits
  • Return “of” vs. “on” of Equity
  • Partnership II – IRR Hurdles and IRR Lookbacks
  • More on Partnership II – Advanced IRR Lookbacks
  • Partnership III – Funds, Catch-ups, and Clawbacks

Excel

Tools and Concepts

Functions

  • Absolute and Relative References
  • Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Data Validation
  • Conditional Formatting
  • Goal Seek
  • Sensitivity and Data Tables (2 variable, 1 variable, and multi-output)
  • Solver
  • Scenario Manager
  • Circular Calculations and Iterations
  • Dynamic Arrays
  • Introduction to Visual Basic
  • Introduction to Power Query

  • SUM
  • ROUND
  • IF, AND, OR
  • PV, FV, RATE, NPER
  • PMT, IPMT, PPMT
  • IRR, NPV
  • XIRR, XNPV
  • EDATE, EOMONTH
  • OFFSET
  • TRANSPOSE
  • ISERROR
  • VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP
  • INDEX, MATCH
  • XLOOKUP
  • INDIRECT and ADDRESS
  • SUMIF, SUMIFS, SUMPRODUCT, and Array Formulas

Build better spreadsheets, starting today

Course curriculum

    1. Day 1 - 9/18/2025 - Cash Flow Analysis

    2. Day 2 - 9/19/2025 - Construction/Development & Joint Ventures/Waterfalls

    3. Day 1 - 12/4/2025 - Cash Flow Analysis

    4. Day 2 - 12/5/2025 - Construction/Development & Joint Ventures/Waterfalls

    1. December 2024, Day 1

    2. December 2024, Day 2, Part 1

    3. December 2024, Day 2, Part 2

    4. March 2025, Day 1

    5. March 2025, Day 2

    6. June 2025, Day 1

    7. June 2025, Day 2

About this course

  • $995.00
  • 12 lessons
  • 43.5 hours of video content

Bonus material

When you take this class, you get multiple additional benefits.

  • Access to all prerecorded courses for one year.

    $399 value

    As much as we can cover in two days, we can't cover everything. When you sign up for this course, you will also have a year of access to all of the prerecorded courses that we have released or will release in the coming year. We plan to release additional content on such topics as distressed debt, real estate market analysis, and real estate capital markets.

  • Take it again.

    $995 value

    Miss something? Need a refresher. Take it again at no cost anytime in the next 12 months. We offer the course four times per year.

  • Templates and Spreadsheets

    Priceless

    All the financial models we use in class are unlocked and ready for your use. Modify them as much as you want. In addition, we bundle a wide range of models across property types and risk profiles.

Instructor(s)

Joshua Kahr

Senior Instructor

Joshua Kahr is the principal of Kahr Real Estate Services, a training and consulting company that he founded in 2002 and that serves the commercial real estate industry. In 2009, he founded Metropolitan America, a real estate investment company that owns and manages apartment buildings in New Jersey. In 2020, he started Essex Suites, a coworking company, that opened its first location in Verona, New Jersey.

Prior to this, he held positions in investment sales at a regional brokerage firm in New York City and in acquisitions at a fund that focused on environmentally contaminated real estate.

He was on the board of directors of two public companies, Monmouth Capital Corporation and Monmouth Real Estate. He was an advisory board member of Assess+RE which was sold to LightBox in 2021. He is currently on the advisory board of clik.ai.

Mr. Kahr has served as an adjunct associate professor since 2005 for Columbia University’s MS in Real Estate Development program where he has taught real estate finance, real estate capital markets, and related topics. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Northwestern, New York University, and Georgetown University. For corporations, he has taught over 200 two-day seminars on Excel modeling and Argus.

Publications include two books on real estate market analysis, Real Estate Market Valuation and Analysis (John Wiley and Sons: 2005) and Beyond the Bubble (Amacom Books: 2007).

He has a Master of Science in Real Estate from New York University (’97) and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Reed College (’92).

He is also licensed as a real estate broker in New York and New Jersey.

FAQ

  • How is this similar to your pre-recorded classes?

    It's live. That's the biggest difference. The materials that are covered are roughly equivalent to what is in Real Estate Analysis, Construction & Development, and Joint Ventures & Waterfalls.

  • How big is the class?

    The course is limited to 20 attendees to maximize teacher-to-student interaction. Whether you want to attend in person in New York City or over Zoom, it’s your choice. Either way, you’ll be able to ask questions, participate, and get feedback. All students will receive a Zoom invite when they sign up.

  • What do I need to take the class?

    All attendees will need a computer with a working copy of Excel or Google Sheets. You can use either Windows or a Mac.

  • How is this different from your other courses?

    The main difference between this class and my pre-recorded classes is that it's live. Bring your best and most challenging questions. :)

  • Are there any available discounts?

    For groups of three people or more, a 15% discount will apply. Contact us for details. Email [email protected].

  • Can I access the recordings after class?

    Yes, all of the classes are recorded. After the class has been completed, the recordings will be made available for all attendees.

  • Can I take the class more than once?

    Yes. If you want to take it a second time, you may do so at no additonal charge.

  • I have additional questions.

    Email [email protected] with any questions, concerns, or feedback.