List all of the underwriting tools you are aware of
I specialize in Multifamily. Post any you have used and what you like/dislike about it. I am liking these web-based solutions but they have a bit to go before we fully transfer from excel models.

* [RedIQ](https://www.rediq.com) \- Web and Excel Sync. Nice OS and RR uploader
* [Argus](https://www.altusgroup.com/argus/) \- The behemoth, feels outdated but making improvements to cloud software
* [Adventures in CRE](https://www.adventuresincre.com) \-  Excel models. Prints a nice report but excel. Customizable but can break if not used properly
* [Biggerpockets](https://www.biggerpockets.com/rental-property-calculator) \- Basic web-based. Prints a nice report. Back of napkin at best
* [Rockport VAL](http://rockportval.com) \- Web only. Nice that it's in the cloud but a bit disorganized on sidebar and missing partnership module
* [Mogul Tool](https://www.mogultool.com) \- Nice ability to compare T12, Broker Proforma, and then your proforma next to each other
* [Enodo](https://www.enodoinc.com) \- Nice multifamily expense comp analyzer. Has an excel model but mainly used for looking at RR and OS. Bought by Walker Dunlop though in 2019
[{"id": "gn5h1cn", "text": "Any of these free?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gn5p6gw", "text": "Check out Realinsight.com, they have a whole origination/underwriting module.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gn5zg5x", "text": "Excel", "replies": [{"id": "gn9uuxt", "text": "I mean is there anything excel can\u2019t do? I think you can write a VB macro to have it deliver babies", "replies": [{"id": "gnbs759", "text": "Excel is tough for more complex CRE that requires multi-tenant DCF modelling, but is just fine for something like multi-family.", "replies": [{"id": "gnbvw2w", "text": "Even Argus runs get dumped into excel - I can\u2019t think of anything that I\u2019ve modeled in my career that hasn\u2019t ended up in excel ultimately, and I\u2019ve modeled like literally everything under the sun. Fuck I\u2019ve even done amusement parks before. \n\nAlso from a straight asset perspective office and retail are the only things you need Argus for, even industrial recoveries can be done quick and dirty in excel.", "replies": [{"id": "gnc2666", "text": "It's not the dumping into Excel, it's the modelling all the lease terms and market reversion timing. Recovery modelling is easier in excel than argus, it's the timing of all of the individual unit terms that seems to be the most challenging to build an Excel template for.", "replies": [{"id": "gnc2lgs", "text": "Yea I don\u2019t disagree, I\u2019d never model that in excel. I\u2019m just saying I wouldn\u2019t use Argus for anything other than the tenant cash flow modeling.", "replies": [{"id": "gnc2o2d", "text": "I agree with that.", "replies": [{"id": "gnkq0v1", "text": "&gt;Mogul Tool\n\nyou can even model multi property portfolio deals in excel you just need a really good dcf template ;) costs a couple thousand usually but for a big broker definately worth it instead of going for argus...", "replies": [{"id": "gnkqvyt", "text": "As someone who used to underwrite regional shopping malls in a custom excel model and now underwrite with argus enterprise, I respectfully disagree.\n\nEdited to add I was also involved in the development of excel appraisal templates for a large brokerage firm, and it costs a lot more than you stated.", "replies": [{"id": "gnselrn", "text": "Also at one of the largest ones in the world. We modeled multi billion portfolio deals with excel and it perfectly worked but our tool had a pretty detailed calculation core in the backend that was programmed externally in VBA.", "replies": [{"id": "gnsfrho", "text": "Ours only used limited VBA, maybe that was the issue. Who developed it?", "replies": [{"id": "gr2078j", "text": "A Professor specialized in VBA development.", "replies": [{"id": "gr29rq5", "text": "Can you send me a message if you\u2019d be willing to share their details?", "replies": [], "depth": 13}], "depth": 12}], "depth": 11}], "depth": 10}], "depth": 9}], "depth": 8}], "depth": 7}], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}, {"id": "hxexm7a", "text": "Yeah I agree. I think with transactions it\u2019s nice to have an Argus file. I also love Argus for one database with all our assets and each of our different scenarios", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gn77qcp", "text": "How is RedIQ?", "replies": [{"id": "gn9uha8", "text": "Our deal team uses it on MF I guess it\u2019s pretty killer for rr analysis. I understand it has a good slicer too that standardizes the RR to drop into our multi model", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gn7a327", "text": "Rentometer.com - great for determining rents\nDealcheck.io - good for fix and flip analysis and ok for a back of the envelope on smaller MF.", "replies": [{"id": "gn8hdec", "text": "I was wary of Rentometer. Do you know which sources they pull their listings from and is it active market or signed lease?", "replies": [{"id": "gnblxxm", "text": "They do active market, they have one of my rentals listed as a comp with the price prior to me cutting it. It's ok, I think it's overrated. And pretty sure not relevant at all for multifamily, I'd rather trust CoStar.", "replies": [{"id": "gne4jc2", "text": "It\u2019s probably dependent on market and size of the property. I\u2019m in a Tier III Midwest city, so it does a pretty good job at giving me estimates for my 4 unit buildings. It\u2019s probably not as reliable if you\u2019re evaluating a 250 unit complex in a Tier I market though.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gn804we", "text": "I actively use Enodo and can attest that it's pretty slick. Especially the rent roll analysis.", "replies": [{"id": "gn9e96v", "text": "Have you compared to RedIq?", "replies": [{"id": "gnaf5yv", "text": "Haven't used RedIQ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gn81urx", "text": "Money Weighted- https://www.moneyweighted.com\n\nAn affordable option for web-based DCF modeling. Striking the balance between usability and applicability is really key for these products.  We took an open \u201csandbox\u201d approach to model building. Basically the flexibility of xls but without all the \u201csumproduct\u201d calcs. Take a look and let me know what you think or reach out in DM\u2019s if you are curious. \n\nI think Argus is feeling the heat. I remember 20 years ago when it was Argus, Dyna, and excel.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gn88oho", "text": "Does ARGUS take a long to time to understand? I have a few years experience in Multifamily management and brokerage, but never used ARGUS before. I was turned down from a multifamily job by a snide asshole because he said he didn\u2019t have a year to teach me Argus.  Really? It takes a year to learn a computer program? Gimme a break.", "replies": [{"id": "gn8c88m", "text": "I mean it takes a week to learn it, it take a while to get good at it. If you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing on the recoveries you can really fuck it up and not know.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "gn8fbol", "text": "The issue with Argus is that you need to understand well how to do an analysis and all the options to do well. But if you have commercial real estate experience you can learn it without that much effort. Their issues is that the UI is  pretty bad.", "replies": [{"id": "hxf20im", "text": "Also the support people can show you how to model anything. They helped me learn and save time instead of trying to figure out where I made a mistake", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "gn8rk8v", "text": "At my college, we're going to have 4 one hour sessions to learn how to use it, so can't be that intense.", "replies": [{"id": "gnavco7", "text": "I don\u2019t mean to disparage anyone taking an Argus class in college, but you won\u2019t learn how to properly use Argus from a couple 1-hour classes. If I was hiring someone who said they took an Argus class, all it really shows me is initiative. Anyone in the industry knows that they will still need to really teach a new analyst how to underwrite using Argus in conjunction with a lot of real estate principles.", "replies": [{"id": "gnbw9w7", "text": "Eh when I was first getting started in undergrad I found the Argus class helpful during my jr year summer internship (and this is back in the day with like REALM and DCF like 2.0) - it\u2019ll teach you the lingo if nothing else. Like yea you won\u2019t know how to really use it but you will conceptually understand that there are different types of opex recoveries / learn about options / other shit that you won\u2019t have to deal with until you\u2019re in the real world.", "replies": [{"id": "gnccy09", "text": "Yeah it also depends on who is teaching the course. I learned everything through DCF and didn\u2019t start using enterprise until after I took a 2.5-day course. When I took the course, I could see how it wouldn\u2019t necessarily be all that helpful for someone who didn\u2019t have any experience with underwriting.", "replies": [{"id": "gncdnqq", "text": "I guess (think) I\u2019m fortunate I never had to learn AE had already been promoted past the point of model building when it rolled out. DCF was around for so long the idea of having to learn a new product doesn\u2019t sound very appealing", "replies": [{"id": "gncos2k", "text": "Hah, having used both, I still prefer to use DCF in most cases!", "replies": [], "depth": 7}], "depth": 6}], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}, {"id": "gnc334f", "text": "The best way to learn is to use it everyday. I used to use Excel, and picked up argus in a weekend playing around, but it's because I'd been in real estate for over 5 years at that stage.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gn8e9uo", "text": "You should really remove biggerpockets from this list.", "replies": [{"id": "gnkvulu", "text": "Biggerpockets, where the scammers go to fish novices in a barrel!  Seth Williams, Greg Dickerson, Dave Pere and others all block my comments on Youtube calling them out for their misinformation.  I guess all this traffic makes money for the website but it seems if they really want to be a valid place for real estate information they would monitor the obvious scammers/", "replies": [{"id": "gnph92s", "text": "What I dislike about biggerpockets is that it just tries to make real estate seem like some get rich quick scheme. Half the people in the biggerpockets community just don't have a clue and lack the mental capability to perform a well-reasoned analysis of a real estate transaction. They were just attracted by the idea of getting rich from real estate.\n\nThey also develop a big cult of personality around random RE figureheads....small minds think about people, big minds think about ideas.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gna1u24", "text": "[Top Shelf Models](http://tsmfinancialmodels.com) they have a number of Excel models for different property types.  I like them because it\u2019s a one-time fee and not a subscription.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gna5lqr", "text": "Just like working out, you can\u2019t outsource your push-ups.\n\nI have been investing in multifamily for 25 years, and I teach Real Estate Finance &amp; Investments to master\u2019s students. Learning to do your own analysis, based on your particular strategy, is better than any underwriting \u2018tool\u2019. \n\nFor example, if you invest in 4-units or smaller, ARGUS would be useless to you. Conversely, a simple spreadsheet model wouldn\u2019t be sufficient if you were syndicating a 100+ unit investment group.\n\nLearn the fundamentals of finance first. Then find the tools you need after that.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gnalum4", "text": "This is good stuff!", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gnbakvu", "text": "I have used [ianalyzerei.com](https://ianalyzerei.com) in the past. Simple but solid. I believe it is paid monthly.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gnbskdt", "text": "I use Argus Enterprise, but would just build my own excel model for multi-family.", "replies": [{"id": "hxexptb", "text": "I would check out new capability in ae for multifamily it\u2019s great", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gnd0j8w", "text": "The idea that you\u2019d ever need more than excel for multifamily is hilarious. I work at an institutional level, we only break out Argus for real commercial stuff.", "replies": [{"id": "hxexsj8", "text": "Nah I think it\u2019s just nice to have it all in one place and for roll ups. If you work with various prop types", "replies": [{"id": "hxexye2", "text": "Everywhere I\u2019ve ever worked (all institutional shops) only used Argus to pull the property level cash flow and dump those into excel templates. A lot of aversion to roll ups and detailed analysis in Argus because it\u2019s such a black box.\n\nThat being said there\u2019s merit to it if you don\u2019t mind the black box.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gned2zs", "text": "All custom excel models. 99% of what I do is MF, and I haven\u2019t seen anything from anyone but custom excels.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gnkhuob", "text": "I would be interested to hear your thoughts on [Leverage](https://leveragecalc.com/). We run property transaction data against today's commercial underwriting guidelines.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gnlrv7r", "text": "God I love excel", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gocizbi", "text": "We have always used excel but I am interested in something else that i can present to clients easier. Deal check is one that I used but its hard for me to get away from the excel sheet because I have used it so long.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "godlzfb", "text": "whats the cost of REDIQ? I am not seeing it on the platform?", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hxf1rnw", "text": "The sensitivity modules pretty badass", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]