MODEL DESIGN
How to Build a Multifamily Value-Add Pocket Model
Overview
ARTICLE IN PROGRESS
We're writing a deep engineering essay on AQ-130. How we built it, the design choices behind it, and how to use it. The model itself is live and available today.
AQ-130 is the value-add multifamily screener. It runs 5-year annual projections on a single sheet with a blended unit-turnover renovation assumption, just enough structure to tell a value-add story without pretending to be an IC-ready model. The point is to decide which deals deserve a real underwriting.
Planned Sections
When the full piece is published, it will cover:
- The value-add screen: deciding which deals deserve a real model.
- Design choice: blended unit-turnover renovation assumption vs per-unit detail.
- Design choice: 5-year annual cash flow vs longer hold.
- Design choice: simple stabilized exit cap vs forward-curve exit.
- When you must graduate to the institutional value-add model (AQ-131).
- How to use the pocket model in a sponsor's first-look workflow.
For an example of the engineering-essay format this article will follow, see how we engineered AQ-141, the Multifamily Opportunistic Pro Forma Model.
About the Model
AQ-130 is a Pocket-tier multifamily value-add screener. Single tab, 5-year annual cash flows, blended renovation assumption, no monthly granularity. Built for REPE analysts, brokers, and family offices working the value-add segment of the multifamily market.