Stand Out From The Crowd With
REFM’s Excel for Real Estate Certification
Level 1, 2 and 3 Bootcamps

Stand Out From The Crowd
With REFM’s Three
Excel for Real Estate
Certification Bootcamps

Get started with REFM Excel for Real Estate Certification

A highly regarded credential for real estate Excel skills and knowledge of key commercial RE concepts and principles, since 2011.

A highly regarded credential for real estate Excel skills and knowledge of key commercial RE concepts and principles, since 2011.

REFM’s Excel for Real Estate Certification is a 3-course set of hands-on-the-keyboard self study tutorials from which you will learn a diverse set of techniques and topics related to Excel, real estate finance, and equity joint venture partnerships and investment waterfall modeling for single property transactions.

You will follow along in Excel and perform exercises to ensure you are grasping the concepts and mastering the skills being taught by Bruce Kirsch, REFAI®.

Holding each subsequent Level of REFM Certification further validates one’s skills and demonstrates their seriousness about being an expert-level modeler.

The rigorous Certification Program teaches and then tests one’s ability to complete the following practical tasks using Excel, among others:

Overview

REFM’s Excel for Real Estate Certification is a 3-course set of hands-on-the-keyboard self study tutorials from which you will learn a diverse set of techniques and topics related to Excel, real estate finance, and equity joint venture partnerships and investment waterfall modeling for single property transactions.

You will follow along in Excel and perform exercises to ensure you are grasping the concepts and mastering the skills being taught by Bruce Kirsch, REFAI®.

Holding each subsequent Level of REFM Certification further validates one’s skills and demonstrates their seriousness about being an expert-level modeler.

The rigorous Certification Program teaches and then tests one’s ability to complete the following practical tasks using Excel, among others:

  • Forecasting commercial property income and expenses
  • Quickly allocating construction costs over bell-shaped curves
  • Accurately calculating interest payments for multiple loans
  • Building a loan schedule with an Interest-Only component
  • Valuing a property ground-up development site on a residual basis
  • Determining joint venture equity partner profit sharing
  • Calculating IRR and NPV specific to actual calendar dates
  • Forecasting an asset’s future stabilized Net Operating Income
  • Performing sensitivity analyses around key deal variables

REFM Training Clients Include

REFM Training Clients Include

Take REFM Certification to:

Get REFM Certification to:

  • Put the proper technical Excel foundations in place
  • Understand how to model various capital structures
  • Master equity joint venture waterfall mechanisms
  • Have a LinkedIn Certification in as little as a day
  • Accelerate your entry or career advancement in CRE
  • Get lifetime access to professional analysis tools

What Certification Holders Are Saying

What Certification Holders
Are Saying

Format

This self-paced, 100% online program requires approximately 15-20 hours to watch the course video content, perform the numerous hands-on exercises, and complete practice questions and Certification exams. Lifetime access is provided to all course materials.

Format

This self-paced, 100% online program requires approximately 15-20 hours to watch the course video content, perform the numerous hands-on exercises, and complete practice questions and Certification exams. Lifetime access is provided to all course materials.

Get started with REFM Excel for Real Estate Certification

LEVEL 1 CERTIFICATION

Excel for Real Estate Bootcamp

LEVEL 1 CERTIFICATION

Excel for Real Estate Bootcamp

In this 3-hour course, you will learn the basics of operating in Excel, as well as advanced techniques, specifically as they relate to real estate analysis.

You will follow along in Excel and perform exercises to ensure you are grasping the concepts and mastering the skills being taught by Bruce Kirsch, REFAI®.

You will get lifetime online access to:

1. An easily-navigated 3-hour video tutorial, with captions available and playback controls up to 2x speed. Videos are playable on any device including PC, Mac, phones and tablets.

2. Accompanying fully-unlocked, annotated Excel file, compatible with Excel on both PC and Mac, which you can re-purpose for future analyses.

3. The Certification Exam, as well as to 35 practice questions with answer explanations to help you prepare.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will:

  • Have built confidence in your ability to apply the most commonly-used set of formulas, functions and techniques for CRE Excel-based modeling
  • Be able to understand how outputs are generated on any spreadsheet you come across
  • Be ready to build upon the technical foundations you have put in place.
  • Arithmetic and Rounding
  • Statistics
  • Relative vs. Absolute Cell References
  • Inserting and Deleting Rows and Columns
  • Dates and Timelines
  • Conditional Statements
  • Function Wizard
  • Creating Summary Tables
  • Formatting Numbers
  • Conditional Cell Formatting
  • Data Table Lookup Functions
  • Custom Formatting
  • Format Painting
  • Paste Special
  • Transpose
  • Financial Functions for Compounding and Discounting
  • Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
  • Mortgage Payment Calculation
  • Formula Auditing
  • Data Tables for Sensitivity Analysis
  • Circular References
  • Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Best Practices
  • SUM
  • ROUND, ROUNDUP, ROUNDDOWN
  • MAX, MIN, AVERAGE, MEDIAN
  • Cell Anchoring using Dollar Signs
  • EOMONTH, EDATE
  • IF, AND, OR, and combinations thereof
  • SUMIF, SUMIFS
  • COUNTIF, COUNTIFS
  • VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP
  • COLUMNS, ROWS
  • IFERROR
  • RATE
  • PV, FV
  • NPV and XNPV
  • IRR and XIRR
  • PMT, PPMT, IPMT
  • CUMPRINC, CUMIPMT

This is a hands-on-the-keyboard course. You will watch the video and pause it to complete exercises in the associated Excel; you will repeat this process.

Our approach to help you learn is to isolate individual techniques and tie them to real world applications. Examples are given and then exercises are given for you to complete. Solutions are in the Excel, and are reviewed on the video.

Rest assured that you will work very hard in this course programming dozens of formulas, and you will learn a lot about the real estate business in the process.

The video running time is 3 hours. Watching all the video (replaying parts where desired) and completing the exercises will take approximately 4 to 6 hours, depending on the individual.

The 35 sample questions and 35-question Certification exam will take approximately an additional 2 hours to complete.

Sample Video Content

Sample Test Questions

In this 3-hour course, you will learn the basics of operating in Excel, as well as advanced techniques, specifically as they relate to real estate analysis.

You will follow along in Excel and perform exercises to ensure you are grasping the concepts and mastering the skills being taught by Bruce Kirsch, REFAI®.

You will get lifetime online access to:

1. An easily-navigated 3-hour video tutorial, with captions available and playback controls up to 2x speed. Videos are playable on any device including PC, Mac, phones and tablets.

2. Accompanying fully-unlocked, annotated Excel file, compatible with Excel on both PC and Mac, which you can re-purpose for future analyses.

3. The Certification Exam, as well as to 35 practice questions with answer explanations to help you prepare.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will:

  • Have built confidence in your ability to apply the most commonly-used set of formulas, functions and techniques for CRE Excel-based modeling
  • Be able to understand how outputs are generated on any spreadsheet you come across
  • Be ready to build upon the technical foundations you have put in place.
  • Arithmetic and Rounding
  • Statistics
  • Relative vs. Absolute Cell References
  • Inserting and Deleting Rows and Columns
  • Dates and Timelines
  • Conditional Statements
  • Function Wizard
  • Creating Summary Tables
  • Formatting Numbers
  • Conditional Cell Formatting
  • Data Table Lookup Functions
  • Custom Formatting
  • Format Painting
  • Paste Special
  • Transpose
  • Financial Functions for Compounding and Discounting
  • Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
  • Mortgage Payment Calculation
  • Formula Auditing
  • Data Tables for Sensitivity Analysis
  • Circular References
  • Keyboard Shortcuts
  • Best Practices
  • SUM
  • ROUND, ROUNDUP, ROUNDDOWN
  • MAX, MIN, AVERAGE, MEDIAN
  • Cell Anchoring using Dollar Signs
  • EOMONTH, EDATE
  • IF, AND, OR, and combinations thereof
  • SUMIF, SUMIFS
  • COUNTIF, COUNTIFS
  • VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP
  • COLUMNS, ROWS
  • IFERROR
  • RATE
  • PV, FV
  • NPV and XNPV
  • IRR and XIRR
  • PMT, PPMT, IPMT
  • CUMPRINC, CUMIPMT

This is a hands-on-the-keyboard course. You will watch the video and pause it to complete exercises in the associated Excel; you will repeat this process.

Our approach to help you learn is to isolate individual techniques and tie them to real world applications. Examples are given and then exercises are given for you to complete. Solutions are in the Excel, and are reviewed on the video.

Rest assured that you will work very hard in this course programming dozens of formulas, and you will learn a lot about the real estate business in the process.

The video running time is 3 hours. Watching all the video (replaying parts where desired) and completing the exercises will take approximately 4 to 6 hours, depending on the individual.

The 35 sample questions and 35-question Certification exam will take approximately an additional 2 hours to complete.

Sample Video Content

Sample Test Questions

Get started with REFM Excel for Real Estate Certification

LEVEL 2 CERTIFICATION

Real Estate Finance Bootcamp

LEVEL 2 CERTIFICATION

Real Estate Finance Bootcamp

In this approximately 2-hour course, you will learn about the foundations of real estate finance as well as advanced techniques and topics.

You will follow along in Excel and perform exercises to ensure you are grasping the concepts and mastering the skills being taught by Bruce Kirsch, REFAI®.

You will get lifetime online access to:

An easily-navigated 1 hour 48 minute video tutorial, with captions available and playback controls up to 2x speed. Videos are playable on any device including PC, Mac, phones and tablets.

Accompanying fully-unlocked, annotated Excel file, compatible with Excel on both PC and Mac, which you can re-purpose for future analyses.

Access to the Certification exam, as well as to 35 practice questions with answer explanations to help you prepare.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will:

  • Have gained a critical understanding of basic and intermediate capital structuring for real estate transactions
  • Be able to project property cash flows, and discount them at both constant and variable discount rates to solve for the NPV
  • Be able to back-solve for the residual land value of a site for a potential office building development
  • Be able to model the funding and repayment of up to 5 equity and debt layers in a development transaction analysis context, and size a refinancing loan on an existing owned property
  • The Time Value of Money Model
  • The Discounted Cash Flow Model
  • Net Present Value
  • Residential Property Refinancing Feasibility Case Study
  • Back of the Envelope Residual Land Valuation of Development Sites
  • Acquisition and Development Transaction Capital Structuring
  • Senior Construction Loan Mechanics
  • Multi-Party Transaction Equity Structures
  • Senior and Mezzanine Loan Funding and Repayment Dynamics
  • Staggered and Pari Passu Equity Player Funding
  • Maximum Refinance Loan Amount Calculation
  • Equity Player Profit Sharing Introduction
  • Preferred Return, Internal Rate of Return Waterfall and Promote Theory Basics
  • Compounding and Discounting (FV, PV)
  • Net Present Value (NPV)
  • Conditional Statements (IF, AND)
  • Cumulative Principal (CUMPRINC)
  • Minimum (MIN)

This is a hands-on-the-keyboard course. You will watch the video and pause it to complete exercises in the associated Excel; you will repeat this process.

Our approach to help you learn is to walk through a series of mini case studies that illustrate key dynamics of real estate finance. In the interest of getting you to learn efficiently in your limited study time, we give you “skeletons” of the analysis set-ups and teach from that point of progress forward. You are of course welcome to re-build the spreadsheets from scratch at any time.

Rest assured that you will work very hard in this course, and you will learn a tremendous amount about real estate finance and financial modeling in the process.

The video running time is 1 hour 48 minutes. Watching all the video (replaying parts where desired) and completing the exercises will take approximately 3 to 5 hours, depending on the individual.

The 35 sample questions and 39-question Certification exam will take approximately an additional 2 hours to complete.

BONUS LESSONS WITH PURCHASE

  Stabilized asset investment modeling

37-minute video tutorial with Excel-based answer key for the levered acquisition of a stabilized $80MM operating property

  Advanced amortization schedule modeling

49-minute video tutorial with Excel-based answer key for an amortization table that supports fixed and floating rate interest, an interest-only period on the front end of the loan, a floor and cap on floating rates, and balloon repayment from multiple sources

Sample Video Content

Sample Test Questions

In this approximately 2-hour course, you will learn about the foundations of real estate finance as well as advanced techniques and topics.

You will follow along in Excel and perform exercises to ensure you are grasping the concepts and mastering the skills being taught by Bruce Kirsch, REFAI®.

You will get lifetime online access to:

An easily-navigated 1 hour 48 minute video tutorial, with captions available and playback controls up to 2x speed. Videos are playable on any device including PC, Mac, phones and tablets.

Accompanying fully-unlocked, annotated Excel file, compatible with Excel on both PC and Mac, which you can re-purpose for future analyses.

Access to the Certification exam, as well as to 35 practice questions with answer explanations to help you prepare.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will:

  • Have gained a critical understanding of basic and intermediate capital structuring for real estate transactions
  • Be able to project property cash flows, and discount them at both constant and variable discount rates to solve for the NPV
  • Be able to back-solve for the residual land value of a site for a potential office building development
  • Be able to model the funding and repayment of up to 5 equity and debt layers in a development transaction analysis context, and size a refinancing loan on an existing owned property
  • The Time Value of Money Model
  • The Discounted Cash Flow Model
  • Net Present Value
  • Residential Property Refinancing Feasibility Case Study
  • Back of the Envelope Residual Land Valuation of Development Sites
  • Acquisition and Development Transaction Capital Structuring
  • Senior Construction Loan Mechanics
  • Multi-Party Transaction Equity Structures
  • Senior and Mezzanine Loan Funding and Repayment Dynamics
  • Staggered and Pari Passu Equity Player Funding
  • Maximum Refinance Loan Amount Calculation
  • Equity Player Profit Sharing Introduction
  • Preferred Return, Internal Rate of Return Waterfall and Promote Theory Basics
  • Compounding and Discounting (FV, PV)
  • Net Present Value (NPV)
  • Conditional Statements (IF, AND)
  • Cumulative Principal (CUMPRINC)
  • Minimum (MIN)

This is a hands-on-the-keyboard course. You will watch the video and pause it to complete exercises in the associated Excel; you will repeat this process.

Our approach to help you learn is to walk through a series of mini case studies that illustrate key dynamics of real estate finance. In the interest of getting you to learn efficiently in your limited study time, we give you “skeletons” of the analysis set-ups and teach from that point of progress forward. You are of course welcome to re-build the spreadsheets from scratch at any time.

Rest assured that you will work very hard in this course, and you will learn a tremendous amount about real estate finance and financial modeling in the process.

The video running time is 1 hour 48 minutes. Watching all the video (replaying parts where desired) and completing the exercises will take approximately 3 to 5 hours, depending on the individual.

The 35 sample questions and 39-question Certification exam will take approximately an additional 2 hours to complete.

BONUS LESSONS WITH PURCHASE

  Stabilized asset investment modeling

37-minute video tutorial with Excel-based answer key for the levered acquisition of a stabilized $80MM operating property

  Advanced amortization schedule modeling

49-minute video tutorial with Excel-based answer key for an amortization table that supports fixed and floating rate interest, an interest-only period on the front end of the loan, a floor and cap on floating rates, and balloon repayment from multiple sources

Sample Video Content

Sample Test Questions

LEVEL 3 CERTIFICATION

Single Transaction Equity JV Partnership
and Waterfall Modeling Bootcamp

LEVEL 3 CERTIFICATION

Single Transaction Equity JV Partnership
and Waterfall Modeling Bootcamp

In this 3-hour course, you will learn about the customary “dollars in” and “dollars out” dynamics of single transaction commercial real estate equity joint venture (JV) partnerships (not multi-transaction private equity funds), and the important rationales that underpin these dynamics.

You will follow along in Excel and perform exercises to ensure you are grasping the concepts and mastering the skills being taught by Bruce Kirsch, REFAI®.

You will get lifetime online access to:

An easily-navigated 200-minute (3.3-hour) video tutorial, with captions available and playback controls up to 2x speed. Videos are playable on any device including PC, Mac, phones and tablets.

Accompanying fully-unlocked, annotated Excel file, compatible with Excel on both PC and Mac, which you can re-purpose for future analyses.

Access to the Certification exam, as well as to 20+ practice questions with answer explanations to help you prepare.

PDF file of the 67 slides presented in the course.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will:

  • Have gained a critical understanding of the business conventions that underpin the modeling of equity joint venture investment cash flow waterfalls
  • Be able to distinguish between the various structural elements in waterfalls that are new to you
  • Be able to model up to 5 waterfall tiers using IRR-based hurdles at a compounding frequency of daily, monthly, quarterly or annually, and be able to model a double-promote structure.

1. What is a joint venture and why does it exist?

2. Review of what happens on the cash flow tab

3. Dollars in considerations

4. Dollars out considerations

5. Rationale behind targeting “disproportionate financial reward” to the sponsor and how to achieve it

6. Trade-off for disproportionate financial reward / Preferred return

7. Residual cash flow splitting methods

8. Multi-tier waterfall structures

9. Which IRR serves as the trigger?

10. Sponsor promotes, and ambiguity of definition of the promote

11. How to isolate base and incremental dollars within an IRR

12. What if there are 3 equity players? / Double-promote structure

13. Common mistakes when modeling waterfalls

This is a hands-on-the-keyboard course. You will watch the video and pause it to complete exercises in the associated Excel; you will repeat this process through all 3 lessons.

Our approach to help you learn is to not force you to build the model from scratch. Rather, we provide you with pre-formatted, pre-labeled model “skeletons” so that you can focus on learning the business underpinnings of the formulas that you will be writing, and the formula mechanics themselves. Real estate is a business, and the business models, analytical conventions and operating realities must be understood intimately so they can manifest correctly in the Excel-based logic statements and calculations.

Our teaching and learning format not only allows you to learn more deeply, but also allows you to do so 20% faster than if you were to start from a blank worksheet.

You are of course welcome to re-build the spreadsheets from scratch at any time, but in the interest of getting you to learn efficiently in your limited study time, we choose to give you the skeletons and teach from that point of progress forward.

Rest assured that you will work very hard in this course programming dozens and dozens of lines to fully populate the model skeletons, and you will learn a tremendous amount about real estate and financial modeling in the process.

The video running time is 3.3 hours across the 3 lessons. Watching all the video (replaying parts where desired) and completing the exercises will take approximately 5 to 7 hours, depending on the individual.

The sample questions and 27-question Certification exam will take approximately an additional 2 hours to complete.

BONUS MATERIALS WITH PURCHASE

  Professional-grade tools

Downloadable Excel and online software value add and development back of the envelope (BOTE) analysis tools

  Proprietary Joint Venture structure data

Library of actual equity joint venture partnership waterfall structures across strategies and geographies

  Interview training

3.5-hour video tutorial with Excel-based solution set for a simulated technical Excel modeling job interview test

Sample Video Content

Sample Test Questions

In this 3-hour course, you will learn about the customary “dollars in” and “dollars out” dynamics of single transaction commercial real estate equity joint venture (JV) partnerships (not multi-transaction private equity funds), and the important rationales that underpin these dynamics.

You will follow along in Excel and perform exercises to ensure you are grasping the concepts and mastering the skills being taught by Bruce Kirsch, REFAI®.

You will get lifetime online access to:

An easily-navigated 200-minute (3.3-hour) video tutorial, with captions available and playback controls up to 2x speed. Videos are playable on any device including PC, Mac, phones and tablets.

Accompanying fully-unlocked, annotated Excel file, compatible with Excel on both PC and Mac, which you can re-purpose for future analyses.

Access to the Certification exam, as well as to 20+ practice questions with answer explanations to help you prepare.

PDF file of the 67 slides presented in the course.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will:

  • Have gained a critical understanding of the business conventions that underpin the modeling of equity joint venture investment cash flow waterfalls
  • Be able to distinguish between the various structural elements in waterfalls that are new to you
  • Be able to model up to 5 waterfall tiers using IRR-based hurdles at a compounding frequency of daily, monthly, quarterly or annually, and be able to model a double-promote structure.

1. What is a joint venture and why does it exist?

2. Review of what happens on the cash flow tab

3. Dollars in considerations

4. Dollars out considerations

5. Rationale behind targeting “disproportionate financial reward” to the sponsor and how to achieve it

6. Trade-off for disproportionate financial reward / Preferred return

7. Residual cash flow splitting methods

8. Multi-tier waterfall structures

9. Which IRR serves as the trigger?

10. Sponsor promotes, and ambiguity of definition of the promote

11. How to isolate base and incremental dollars within an IRR

12. What if there are 3 equity players? / Double-promote structure

13. Common mistakes when modeling waterfalls

This is a hands-on-the-keyboard course. You will watch the video and pause it to complete exercises in the associated Excel; you will repeat this process through all 3 lessons.

Our approach to help you learn is to not force you to build the model from scratch. Rather, we provide you with pre-formatted, pre-labeled model “skeletons” so that you can focus on learning the business underpinnings of the formulas that you will be writing, and the formula mechanics themselves. Real estate is a business, and the business models, analytical conventions and operating realities must be understood intimately so they can manifest correctly in the Excel-based logic statements and calculations.

Our teaching and learning format not only allows you to learn more deeply, but also allows you to do so 20% faster than if you were to start from a blank worksheet.

You are of course welcome to re-build the spreadsheets from scratch at any time, but in the interest of getting you to learn efficiently in your limited study time, we choose to give you the skeletons and teach from that point of progress forward.

Rest assured that you will work very hard in this course programming dozens and dozens of lines to fully populate the model skeletons, and you will learn a tremendous amount about real estate and financial modeling in the process.

The video running time is 3.3 hours across the 3 lessons. Watching all the video (replaying parts where desired) and completing the exercises will take approximately 5 to 7 hours, depending on the individual.

The sample questions and 27-question Certification exam will take approximately an additional 2 hours to complete.

BONUS MATERIALS WITH PURCHASE

  Professional-grade tools

Downloadable Excel and online software value add and development back of the envelope (BOTE) analysis tools

  Proprietary Joint Venture structure data

Library of actual equity joint venture partnership waterfall structures across strategies and geographies

  Interview training

3.5-hour video tutorial with Excel-based solution set for a simulated technical Excel modeling job interview test

Sample Video Content

Sample Test Questions

Bonus Resources are included that are only available from REFM

Bonus Resources are included only available from REFM

  • Professional tools: downloadable and online value add and ground-up development back of the envelope (BOTE) analysis tools
  • Proprietary data: library of actual equity JV partnership waterfall structures across strategies and geographies
  • Interview training: 3.5-hour video tutorial with Excel-based answer key for a simulated technical Excel modeling job interview test

REFM Certification. Created Just For You.

Targeting a career in commercial real estate, or seeking to move up faster or go out on your own? REFM Certification can help move you along in your career if you are a:

REFM Certification.
Created Just For You.

Targeting a career in commercial real estate, or seeking to move up faster or go out on your own?

REFM Certification can help move you along in your career if you are a:

Current student or recent graduate
Financial or development analyst/associate
Investment sales or leasing broker
Land use or transaction attorney
Real estate entrepreneur
Construction executive
Current student or recent graduate
Investment sales or leasing broker
Real estate entrepreneur
Financial or development analyst/associate
Land use or transaction attorney
Construction executive
Get started with REFM Excel for Real Estate Certification

Meet Your Instructor

Bruce Kirsch, REFAI®
CEO of Real Estate
Financial Modeling

As the founder of Real Estate Financial Modeling (REFM), Bruce Kirsch has trained thousands of students and professionals around the world in Excel-based projection analysis. In addition, REFM’s self-study products, Excel-based templates and its Valuate® property valuation and investment analysis software are used by more than 250,000 professionals. Mr. Kirsch’s firm has assisted with modeling for the raising of billions of dollars of equity and debt for individual property acquisitions and developments, as well as for major mixed-use projects and private equity funds. Mr. Kirsch has also maintained a blog on real estate financial modeling, Model for Success, authoring more than 500 posts.

Mr. Kirsch began his real estate career at CB Richard Ellis, where he marketed highrise New York City office buildings for re-development in the Midtown Manhattan Investment Properties Institutional Group. After CBRE, Mr. Kirsch was recruited to lead acquisitions at Metropolis Development Company, and later joined The Clarett Group, a programmatic development partner of Prudential.

While at The Clarett Group, Mr. Kirsch was responsible for making development site recommendations for office, condominium and multi-family properties in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In addition, Mr. Kirsch had significant day-to-day project management responsibilities for the entitlement, financing and marketing of the company’s existing D.C.-area development portfolio.

Mr. Kirsch holds an MBA in Real Estate from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Kahn/Washington Real Estate Investment Trust Award for academic excellence. Prior to Wharton, Mr. Kirsch performed quantitative equity research on the technology sector at The Capital Group Companies. Mr. Kirsch served as an Adjunct Faculty member in real estate finance at Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies. Mr. Kirsch graduated with a BA in Communication from Stanford University.

Frequently Asked Questions

Pricing

Level 1, 2, 3 Bundle pricing is USD $479 for professionals, USD $399 for employees of nonprofits, and USD $349 for current students and academic faculty/staff and active duty and retired U.S. military. Groups of 2+ receive a 25% discount. Email groups@getrefm.com for details.

You can learn about Academic and U.S. military status verification here.

Yes, if you wish to upgrade from REFM Certification to the broader REFAI® Certification (which includes REFM Certification), you will get credit for the amount you have paid for REFM Certification towards registering for REFAI® (and all exam scores will be transferred over to REFAI® if you wish). Email upgrade@getrefm.com with your Order Number for your custom coupon code towards REFAI®.

Yes, we offer the chance to pay for the course over time through Affirm. You can apply for this option during the checkout process.

Yes, a 25% discount is available for groups of 2 or more. Please email groups@getrefm.com to inquire.

Current students, academic faculty and staff, and current and former U.S. military are eligible for discounted pricing. They must prove their status by providing a current and valid ID from any high school, college or university (both US-based and international), or military ID, as well as government-issued ID that verifies their identity. Credentials can be uploaded here.

Yes, as REFM Certification is fulfilled through the REFM Courses site, which is separate. You can do so here.

No, as each individual candidate’s exams are tied to their username.

Course Materials

No, the videos are streaming only. You must have a stable broadband Internet connection to view them without experiencing interruptions and file buffering.

No, you have lifetime access to everything.

Course Design

You can start the course immediately after registration. The course is self-paced and the online platform is available 24/7/365.

It applies to all property types, and all strategies (core, core plus, value add, opportunistic).

No. The course is self-paced, and you have lifetime access to it.

This self-paced, 100% online program requires approximately 15-20 hours to watch the course video content, perform the numerous hands-on exercises, and complete practice questions and Certification exams.

Lifetime access is provided to all course materials.

You are welcome to take the course just for your own educational enrichment and skill building if you wish.

Yes, the learning platform is optimized for phones and tablets. However, we recommend working on Excel on a desktop or laptop for the best experience.

Any computer purchased in the last 5 years, and Excel 2013 or more recent. For best results, we recommend using Google Chrome as your web browser.

The course is available on-demand, 24/7/365. All of the videos have been produced and edited to achieve the highest production value.

You are welcome to submit a support ticket using the green help button at the bottom left of the screen. The support center is overseen by course creator Bruce Kirsch.

Yes, in your learner profile you have a list of all of the quizzes and links to view the quiz and answer explanations. You can also revisit your graded quizzes at any time and view the answer explanation.

You are given the option of one re-take for each of the three Certification exams.

You can also learn from all of your graded quizzes, by revisiting them at any time.

REFM Certification was designed to be demanding but fair. While the pass rate is quite high, you’re not guaranteed passing and you need to earn a 70% or better to pass each level.

REFM’s Excel for Real Estate Certifications are contained in the REFAI® curriculum, so you have already completed this course.

You will receive them in real time as you complete them, and can list them on your resume and LinkedIn at those points in time. You can go in any order you wish, or you can choose to do them in their numbered order.

To pass the course, you must achieve a score of 70% or better on each exam Level.

To pass With Distinction, you must achieve a score of 85% or better on each exam Level.

You can be a complete beginner and you will be fine. We start from zero and build from there.

You will receive a high-resolution PDF certificate with your name on it, and the With Distinction designation if applicable. You may print the certificate yourself or have it professionally printed and framed.

Pricing

Level 1, 2, 3 Bundle pricing is USD $479 for professionals, USD $399 for employees of nonprofits, and USD $349 for current students and academic faculty/staff and active duty and retired U.S. military. Groups of 2+ receive a 25% discount. Email groups@getrefm.com for details.

You can learn about Academic and U.S. military status verification here.

Yes, if you wish to upgrade from REFM Certification to the broader REFAI® Certification (which includes REFM Certification), you will get credit for the amount you have paid for REFM Certification towards registering for REFAI® (and all exam scores will be transferred over to REFAI® if you wish). Email upgrade@getrefm.com with your Order Number for your custom coupon code towards REFAI®.

Yes, we offer the chance to pay for the course over time through Affirm. You can apply for this option during the checkout process.

Yes, a 25% discount is available for groups of 2 or more. Please email groups@getrefm.com to inquire.

Current students, academic faculty and staff, and current and former U.S. military are eligible for discounted pricing. They must prove their status by providing a current and valid ID from any high school, college or university (both US-based and international), or military ID, as well as government-issued ID that verifies their identity. Credentials can be uploaded here.

Yes, as REFM Certification is fulfilled through the REFM Courses site, which is separate. You can do so here.

No, as each individual candidate’s exams are tied to their username.

Course Materials

No, the videos are streaming only. You must have a stable broadband Internet connection to view them without experiencing interruptions and file buffering.

No, you have lifetime access to everything.

Course Design

You can start the course immediately after registration. The course is self-paced and the online platform is available 24/7/365.

It applies to all property types, and all strategies (core, core plus, value add, opportunistic).

No. The course is self-paced, and you have lifetime access to it.

This self-paced, 100% online program requires approximately 15-20 hours to watch the course video content, perform the numerous hands-on exercises, and complete practice questions and Certification exams.

Lifetime access is provided to all course materials.

You are welcome to take the course just for your own educational enrichment and skill building if you wish.

Yes, the learning platform is optimized for phones and tablets. However, we recommend working on Excel on a desktop or laptop for the best experience.

Any computer purchased in the last 5 years, and Excel 2013 or more recent. For best results, we recommend using Google Chrome as your web browser.

The course is available on-demand, 24/7/365. All of the videos have been produced and edited to achieve the highest production value.

You are welcome to submit a support ticket using the green help button at the bottom left of the screen. The support center is overseen by course creator Bruce Kirsch.

Yes, in your learner profile you have a list of all of the quizzes and links to view the quiz and answer explanations. You can also revisit your graded quizzes at any time and view the answer explanation.

You are given the option of one re-take for each of the three Certification exams.

You can also learn from all of your graded quizzes, by revisiting them at any time.

REFM Certification was designed to be demanding but fair. While the pass rate is quite high, you’re not guaranteed passing and you need to earn a 70% or better to pass each level.

REFM’s Excel for Real Estate Certifications are contained in the REFAI® curriculum, so you have already completed this course.

You will receive them in real time as you complete them, and can list them on your resume and LinkedIn at those points in time. You can go in any order you wish, or you can choose to do them in their numbered order.

To pass the course, you must achieve a score of 70% or better on each exam Level.

To pass With Distinction, you must achieve a score of 85% or better on each exam Level.

You can be a complete beginner and you will be fine. We start from zero and build from there.

You will receive a high-resolution PDF certificate with your name on it, and the With Distinction designation if applicable. You may print the certificate yourself or have it professionally printed and framed.

Have a question that’s not addressed above? Email refm@getrefm.com.

Get started with Excel for Real Estate Certification
  • Forecasting commercial property income and expenses
  • Quickly allocating construction costs over bell-shaped curves
  • Accurately calculating interest payments for multiple loans
  • Building a loan schedule with an Interest-Only component
  • Valuing a property ground-up development site on a residual basis
  • Determining joint venture equity partner profit sharing
  • Calculating IRR and NPV specific to actual calendar dates
  • Forecasting an asset’s future stabilized Net Operating Income
  • Performing sensitivity analyses around key deal variables

Get the proper technical Excel foundations in place

Be able to understand how outputs are generated on any spreadsheet you come across, and be trained to build further

Understand how to model various capital structures

Get familiar with multiple layers of debt financing, as well as multiple joint venture equity investors in a transaction

Master equity joint venture waterfall mechanisms

Get the most-desired advanced set of skills that allow you to split deal profits in the traditional multiple-tier sliding-scale manner

Have a LinkedIn Certification in as little as a day

Go in order of the Levels, or in any order you wish, to prepare for and take your first online Certification exam on an accelerated basis

Accelerate your entry or career advancement in CRE

Apply yourself and put your Certifications on your resume and LinkedIn profile, signaling your readiness to contribute on the job

Get lifetime access to professional analysis tools

Evaluate and analyze investments in multifamily value add acquisition and development opportunities with real world tools

Registration is open for April Excel Bootcamp Webinars Register Now
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