How can I learn how to make pro forma for commercial real estate properties?
I am an undergraduate who took a real estate finance class, and I really enjoyed it but we didn't go as in depth as I would have liked (we were going to learn how to use ARGUS but we never got to it).  I would like to learn how to go about making pro forma to appraise properties, project cash flows, determine the IRR and ROI, etc.  I have a basic grasp on how it works I think, but I would like to go further.  In my class we just looked at pro forma that were already composed and were asked to change a value here and there to see how it affected other values, but we never had to make any ourselves. 

Ideally I would like to be able to take a property being advertised by a broker and make my own pro form in excel to compare it with the numbers the broker is giving and determine if it is a good investment.  

Thanks for any guidance!
[{"id": "drfy4xl", "text": "I used https://www.getrefm.com/ to learn the basics, but was given the training files for certification by a friend. \n\nBasically, read the news and watch for major property acquisitions or dispositions, and create your own models to evaluate the situations.", "replies": [{"id": "drg83dx", "text": "Thanks, I'm going to look into whether there is any way to get access to this through my school (since I can't afford what seems to be a pretty high cost for accessing the tutorials).", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "drfzlgt", "text": "REFM is the best answer and has a ton of samples. I'd also look at YouTube and just google for more models. Personally, I'd start with a single family rental model to understand basics. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "drg1gq4", "text": "adventuresincre. also I'm down to teach!", "replies": [{"id": "drg84lw", "text": "Thanks, I'm checking out this guy's website now, it seems very helpful!  I'll get back to you when I have a question as I inevitably will, I hope that's okay!", "replies": [{"id": "drh7myr", "text": "of course!", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "drgb4ol", "text": "Check out the real estate section on Wall Street oasis. Search for case studies and models, that should give you enough to play around with. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "ds3fg8x", "text": "Pro forma and cash flow are required to evaluate an investment properly.  I've got the most substantial, detailed processes I've encountered, so you may find some of this to be overkill.  I've found it's the only way to really understand what you are looking at.\n\nI use excel exclusively, and I build one workbook per municipality from headings down to details. I've done somewhere north of 100 due diligence efforts, I don't really know anymore. ARGUS is limited in what it can do. I don't think you can get it to calculate IRR, or you couldn't in the last version I looked at.  You might be able to get a trial version to play with for a month, look into it.  As for content, you need to know your market.  \n\nThe pro forma is in whatever format you need it to be in, so pick someone else's for a similar product type and change it from there to suit your site.\n\nThe cash flow is essentially the pro forma spread horizontally by month to reflect the project schedule.  You'll need to figure out the project timeline from LOI/Offer, through closing, rezoning and permitting, construction, OP/CTO, and the wind down phase.  It's going to depend on city processing times, how fast local GCs build your product type, how fast you can pre-sale, forward sale, or pre-lease to get financing.  You need to add your capital stack to the analysis to figure out how much debt/equity you use each month for an IRR calc.  How big you construction loan is hard to figure out.  Unless you are a stable developer, you probably won't know the lender's risk tolerances for the group you develop with.  You'll also need to account for guarantees, which is another unknowable item unless you know the group's financial capacity and reputation.\n\nRevenue -\nLease rates, cap rates, price p/ft of secondary product is typically readily available.  Sales of new product may be available, it may not.  Places to look are local real estate boards, data vendors, brokers, and in some cases real estate taxation bodies collect sales data that's publicly available.\n\nLand - \nMarket comparables can usually be found, brokers can give price guidance and info on transactions their shop has worked on.  Do a residual value and see if it conforms to the previous and you can get a feel for where the market is at.\n\nHard Costs -\nA GC will have to advise you on this to be accurate.  You'll probably not have one available, but you might be able to get a rough /buildable ft figure. 5% contingency is normal.  You should add more if there's problems with the soil (need to tank the site, sink piles, etc.) or you need to do any substantial off site work.\n\nSoft Costs -\nEach municipality is different in terms of fees, contributions, dedications, etc.  You'll need to spend time online or at city hall to figure that out.  I roughly use 3% of HC for consultants, but it's case-by-case. You need to estimate legal, marketing cost, customer service, insurance, admin and management costs, any other soft costs specific to the project that is envisioned.\n\nFinancing -\nYou need to model out your budget by month to do a proper interest and IRR calc.  Rates and fees can be got from a banker, or loan broker active the market and product type you are investing in.\n\nMarketing and Sales -\nDepending on the project you might have a substantial marketing budget (A condo tower for ex).  Sales commissions are the market % on revenue (of uses you are selling).  You may need to cost out a presentation center and related lease costs.\n\nHope that helps.\n", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]