Build an IB-grade REIT model in 3 days.
Master the techniques I-bankers, PE-analysts and equity researchers use to model REITs on the job — cleaning published financials, 3-statement projections, FFO bridge, fair-value adjustments, equity-method JVs, iterative interest expense calculation — built from a real REIT’s actual annual report. Five progressive Excel assignments, each with a solution video, step-by-step PDF guide, and Excel-shortcut reference, culminating in a complete dynamic forecast model. Plus optional in-depth written reading materials per module and a final exam (Pro tier).
The first time a senior hands you a half-built REIT model.
Friday afternoon. You open the file. The first sheet has 27 named ranges, three circular references, a footnote in row 412 referencing “the new IFRS treatment,” and a hardcoded €1.5 billion in cell K84 that you can’t trace.
You’re a junior on the REIT desk. You’ve done a 3-statement model before — for a manufacturer, a software company, a generic corporate. You know what FCFF looks like. You can build a debt schedule.
But this is different. The P&L starts with revenue from leases. There’s a line called “fair-value adjustment on investment property” that flips the operating income figure by €200 million. The cash flow statement has a “Funds From Operations” subtotal that doesn’t tie to net income. And nobody is going to walk you through it.
What you actually need isn’t the answer. It’s the construction.
Generalist modeling courses cover the wrong industry.
The dominant online financial modeling courses are built around a manufacturer, a tech company, or a stylized “Acme Corp.” They teach the mechanics that apply to most industries — and treat real estate as a chapter, or skip it entirely.
The line items where REIT analysts actually get stuck are the ones generalist courses don’t cover:
- The FFO bridge. How REITs report operating performance — and why net income alone is misleading. The bridge from net income to FFO, the non-cash adjustments that drive it, and the mistakes that break REIT-to-REIT comparisons.
- Investment property at fair value. Why the balance sheet flips €200M when the appraisal report lands, why this is non-cash, and how it flows through the P&L.
- JVs under the equity method: model-in-a-model. A REIT typically owns 30% of a vehicle that owns 100% of an asset. How you treat the asset, the debt, and the cash flow at the parent level.
- The iterative cash-and-debt schedule. A circular reference between revolver draws and interest expense. You enable iterative calculation in Excel and build the “excess-cash switch” that toggles repayment behaviour. Almost no generalist course teaches this.
- Reconciling the fair-value adjustment. Why operating income flips when the appraisal lands, why analysts strip the gain out, and how to model the underlying rental yield as the real driver instead.
“Prior to taking this course I had taken a week-long financial modelling course with one of the biggest financial trainers in the City. For a company that regard themselves as the industry leaders, they left out what I now know to be crucial and imperative tools and techniques to creating a reliable and accurate financial model… I cannot suggest this course enough.”
Jonathan Reeves — Lloyds Commercial Banking
By the end, you can:
- Open a REIT’s annual report on Monday and start modeling. Not “understand the basics” — actually build the working file: feed in revenue from leases, drop in the fair-value adjustment, link the JV vehicle to the parent.
- Bridge net income to FFO from disclosure footnotes. Not just define it — find the inputs in the published accounts and reconcile to the company’s own reported FFO figure.
- Construct a cash-and-debt schedule that handles circularity. Revolver draws → interest → cash → repayments, with iterative calculation enabled and the “excess-cash switch” wired correctly. The same architecture used in transaction models on the desk.
- Treat a JV with the model-in-a-model approach. Build the standalone vehicle, then bring the parent’s share back via the equity method — the way buy-side and IB analysts actually do it.
- Walk a senior through your model with the right vocabulary. Non-cash adjustments. Non-recurring items. The excess-cash switch. The IP revaluation. You’ll know which figure to point at and what to call it.
“I would highly recommend the program for prospective new entrants to the industry as well as experienced analysts seeking to refresh their knowledge before interviewing. Some aspects of the course, such as modeling the debt schedule, are maybe even going beyond the scope of an introductory course.”
Nikola Plecas — London Business School MBA
What’s in the course.
The same 3-statement modeling fundamentals any generalist program covers (P&L projection, balance-sheet roll-forwards, cash-flow construction, iterative interest-expense calculation) — taught alongside the REIT-specific divergences in the same lessons, against a real listed European REIT’s actual annual report.
The core: 4 modules · 34 video lessons (37 including step-by-step demo splits) · 5 Excel exercises with self-grading green-check feedback · downloadable models · final exam + verifiable certificate (Pro tier).
The bonus stack: step-by-step PDF solution guides paired with each Excel exercise · optional in-depth written reading materials per module · Excel-shortcut references throughout · the downloadable Alstria annual report as your working document · a final exam (Pro tier).
Self-paced, no cohorts.
Financial Statement Analysis
How to read the three statements as a modeler — with a whole sub-section on cleaning published financials as a judgement skill. Which non-cash items (fair-value revaluations, impairments) and non-recurring items (gains on sale, one-off disposals) to strip out and why. The work an analyst does before any projection, and the part that gets you taken seriously at desk meetings. Ends with an Excel exercise: pulling and cleaning a real P&L.
The P&L
Building the projected income statement from Alstria’s actual revenue lines. Lease revenue, operating expenses, the fair-value adjustment, FFO subtotal. Two Excel exercises with green-check feedback.
The Balance Sheet
Investment property at fair value, capex, working capital, equity. The JV “model-in-a-model” treatment. Excel exercise: the full balance sheet roll-forward.
The Cash Flow Statement
Cash from operations, investing, financing. The iterative cash-and-debt schedule with the excess-cash switch — enabling Excel’s iterative calculation, breaking the circular reference cleanly. Final Excel exercise.
“The course offered direct insights into how Financial Analysts in the Real Estate industry think and model… The on-the-job training with concrete Annual Reports of ‘real’ companies made the course especially worthwhile.”
Daniel Wurstbauer — IREBS / University of Regensburg
Who this is built for.
Honesty about fit beats a wider net. Three buyer types take the course and finish it. Three don’t.
You’ll get value if you’re…
- A junior analyst on (or recruiting into) a REIT-coverage equity research, RE PE, REIT investing, or RE IB desk
- An MBA RE concentrator preparing for an internship or full-time recruiting
- A mid-career analyst pivoting from generic corporate finance into REIT or RE coverage
- Someone with basic familiarity with the three financial statements who wants the line-by-line REIT mechanics
This isn’t the right course if you…
- Want a generalist modeling course covering tech, manufacturing, or services — we’re built around real estate, not as a chapter but as the whole spine
- Have never opened a financial statement — take an introductory accounting refresher first; this is intermediate, not zero-to-one
- Want live cohorts, weekly Zooms, or instructor 1:1 calls — by design, this is self-paced only
“A great online course to gain hands-on expertise for finance, structured to suit finance novices, but also with in-depth knowledge for advanced pros. Integration of Excel exercises for immediate learning transfer. Also a big plus is the flexibility — perfect for professionals with busy schedules.”
Marko Wolter — IMD Lausanne MBA
Two tiers.
Same course in both. The difference is access duration and the certificate.
- Full course — 34 lessons, 5 Excel exercises
- Downloadable models and exercise files
- Step-by-step PDF guides (one per Excel exercise)
- Email support
- 12 months of access from the date of enrollment
- Exit exam and certificate
- Everything in Basic
- Add-to-LinkedIn one-click integration
- Priority email support
- Step-by-step PDF guides (one per Excel exercise)
- Lifetime access — including future revisions to existing lessons
- Exit Exam + Verifiable Certificate of Completion issued via Accredible (course-completion credential; not a regulated qualification)
14-day refund window with up to 25% course completion. After 25% completion, the course is non-refundable. All prices in EUR; VAT applied at checkout where applicable.
How it works.
Enroll and get instant access.
Checkout via card (Stripe) or EU bank transfer. The course unlocks immediately. You’ll receive a welcome email with login details and a getting-started guide.
Watch modules at your own pace.
Self-paced. Take it on your schedule — a focused weekend if you can clear it, or a few evenings across a couple of weeks if that fits better. The Alstria annual report is the spine; you have it open while you watch.
Apply first, then watch the expert solution.
Five Excel exercises, one per major modeling step. You attempt each one independently — the file grades cell-by-cell with green checks and red crosses. Then watch the paired step-by-step demonstration video: an on-screen expert solution with the keyboard shortcuts and best-practice modeling tips a senior analyst would use. Apply, then verify. (Not lecture-then-attempt, the way most generic courses do it.)
Take the final exam (Pro tier).
A structured set of questions and a short modeling task that ties the four modules together. Pass to earn your certificate (Pro tier).
Add to LinkedIn (Pro).
Your Accredible certificate carries a public verification URL and one-click LinkedIn add-to-profile. Recruiters in RE finance recognize the credential format.
“I found this modeling course, which is both comprehensive and easy to follow, to be the perfect supplement to my MBA classes and would recommend it to anyone serious about learning or beefing up their financial modeling skills.”
Vincent Lambert — London Business School
“The narrator made it sound like a live class rather than standard audio recording on online courses. Building the model elements one by one in Excel was very instructive, not to mention the Excel shortcuts that accompanied them.”
Amritha Appaswami — London Business School
Testimonials shown verbatim from 2013–2015 IREBS-era student survey responses. Original consent: “this testimonial is intended for promotional purposes.” Fresh testimonials from post-2020 students are being added as the new student pool grows.
Want to see the course before deciding?
Three low-stakes options:
- Preview the course for free. The Paste Special Mastery lesson — one of the M1 foundation videos — runs unedited. Preview the course for free
- Read the FAQ. Refund policy, time commitment, software requirements, certificate details, what’s covered, what isn’t. Read the FAQ →
- Get the free FFO Reference Card. The four formulas and three common adjustments, distilled to a 3-page PDF. Delivered to your inbox. Get the PDF →
The next REIT model on your desk.
Could be the one where you open the file, find the fair-value adjustment in row 84, build the JV equity-method bring-back cleanly, and walk your VP through it without the senior having to fill in the gaps. Two routes from here.