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Insights & analysis

Blog

Thoughts and insights about valuing real estate. Regularly updated with posts that apply to what is happening today.

  1. It's time to lease a bigger office, and your CFO asks which option is cheapest. You could make either one look cheapest—and they know it. The financial debate takes over and the strategic conversation never happens.

    The problem isn't your assumptions. It's that every standard metric ignores something important. The fix is a single number that accounts for everything—so you can stop defending your methodology and start making the actual decision.

    Separating financial from strategic in lease decisions

  2. Spec suites lease faster and command a premium. Traditional leases run longer with less overhead. Both look compelling — but standard metrics like NPV, NOI and NER give you the wrong answer, just in opposite directions.

    The fix is a metric that normalises across different economic lives and converts every cash flow into a single comparable number.

    Spec suites versus traditional leasing — choosing the right cash flow machine

  3. Most rent-controlled portfolios contain properties where the embedded rent upside will never materialize in your hold period. You're managing them, absorbing the costs — and handing the gains to whoever buys them next.

    Can you tell which ones to sell, and which ones to buy more of?

    Switching lanes to avoid traffic—knowing when to sell a rent-controlled property

  4. Two buildings each have 10% embedded rent. Your model shows the upside unlocking over your 5-year hold. IRR clears your hurdle.

    But here's what traditional models can't answer: Will that embedded rent actually materialize within your hold period—or does it belong to the next buyer?

    One building will take only 54 months to unlock half the value, while another will take 132 months. Does your model treat them identically?

    Different properties will take different amounts of time to realize the embedded rent

  5. Tortoise or hare? In rent-controlled markets, lease incentives can be framed as a race: discount to market (the tortoise) vs. free rent (the hare).

    The math seems straightforward—when will the hare catch up to the tortoise? But tenants who pay market rent behave much differently than tenants with discounts.

    Given that this decision repeats hundreds or even thousands of times across large portfolios, wrong assumptions about tenant behaviour can quietly erode returns.

    Free rent or discounted rent—a tortoise vs. hare race

  6. Tired of seeing your premium flex income ignored? The Top Slice method offers a simple, defensible way to reflect your property's full performance–without stepping outside accepted valuation practices.

    Learn how splitting your NOI into “stable” and “premium” slices can give lenders, investors, and auditors a clear picture of your property's true worth.

    Using the wrong tool for the job.
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