Real Estate Investment Case Studies

An excerpt from "Mastering Real Estate Investing" - Work through a series of case studies that deal with five different property types

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Real estate investing is a numbers game, and the only way to win is by understanding how the numbers work. How do I use a building's current rents to estimate its value? What kind of cash flow and return on investment can I expect? Real estate expert Frank Gallinelli, Ivy-League professor, best-selling author, and founder of RealData Software, teaches this master class. You will learn how to make smart income-property investments, and how to separate the winners from the losers.

In this excerpt from his complete course, Frank takes you through a series of virtual case studies that deal with five different property types:

  • Apartment Building
  • Mixed-Use
  • Triple-Net-Leased
  • Retail Strip Center
  • Single-family property

These cases are "invented" properties, similar to those he has covered in his grad-school course at Columbia, and he has designed them with several purposes in mind:

  • One is to give you practice working through comprehensive analyses of income-property investments -- a complete deal analysis, looking at the revenue stream, expenses, financing, cash flow, and resale. On what terms does each deal makes sense to you?
  • A second is to introduce special situations that you need to understand, such as expense recoveries and triple-net leases.
  • And finally, to give you an opportunity you to put yourself inside the deal as if you were a real participant, to think as an investor thinks — beyond the numbers, beyond the surface data -- looking at each opportunity as if you were a buyer or seller in a real situation, with real money on the table.

Master the metrics, formulas, vocabulary, and techniques used by experienced investors.

If you choose later to enroll in the complete course, you'll discover a wealth of important topics:

  • The Four Basic Returns
  • The Vocabulary of Real Estate Investing
  • The APOD and Income Capitalization
  • Time Value of Money
  • Real Estate Pro Formas
  • Discounted Cash Flow Analysis
  • Real Estate Investment Metrics
  • Mortgage Financing and Underwriting
  • Case Studies: Apartment, Mixed-Use, Triple-Net
  • Real Estate Partnerships
  • Real Estate Development
  • Value-Add Investments

Learn How Successful Real Estate Investors Choose Which Rental Properties to Buy, How Much to Pay

Based on the writings and teaching of Frank Gallinelli, best-selling author, and grad-school adjunct professor at Columbia University, this comprehensive course will show you how to perform a complete analysis of an income property so you can make smart and profitable investment choices.

From due diligence to extended cash flow and resale analysis, you'll learn the techniques that successful investors use when they explore a potential acquisition.

  • How do you estimate current market value?
  • How do you calculate and interpret key rate-of-return metrics? Which ones matter most?
  • What will your lender look for when you ask for financing? How much can you expect?
  • How do you evaluate a property's long-term potential to meet your investment goals? What are possible warning signs to look out for?
  • How do you plan out and evaluate a development project?

In this excerpt, you'll find fifteen videos covering the five case studies. The complete course provides you with 60 video lectures that are packed with information. There you'll also find additional resources, such as practice problems to help you master common calculations, and simple spreadsheet tools.

When you complete the course, you'll know how to look at a potential real estate investment with a critical eye. You'll know how to “run the numbers" like a professional and decide at what price and on what terms a particular property makes good sense to you. Success belongs to those who take the time to learn to do things the right way.


"The Real Data Intro to Real Estate Investment Analysis is an outstanding course for all real estate professionals! The course is thorough, clear, concise, and professionally delivered. The content is very relevant to actual real life real estate investing. The case studies are particularly valuable as Frank Gallinelli walks you through the thought process of an investor when making high level decisions. I highly recommend this course to anyone working in fields related to real estate and especially for those looking to invest themselves."

Brad Trauth
Owner/Investor/Developer/REALTOR
Trauth Property Group


Who Should Take This Course?

  • Real estate professionals — Experienced investors and brokers recognize the benefit of updating, refreshing, and perhaps even enhancing their core skills. You should never stop learning.
  • Real estate investing novices — Learn the techniques used by seasoned, successful investors so you can decide what to buy, how much to pay— and learn to avoid common, costly mistakes made by beginners
  • Math-o-phobes — If you’ve avoided studying investment analysis because you’re afraid of the math, this is definitely the course for you. Clear and simple explanations, examples, and practice exercises will take you over that hurdle.
  • Students in a real estate or finance curriculum — For more than a decade, the instructor has taught material like this in his graduate school classes at Columbia University. You'll access quality education in this course.


Your Instructor


Frank Gallinelli
Frank Gallinelli

Frank Gallinelli is the author of the best-selling book, What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know About Cash Flow... now in its third edition, as well as other books and numerous articles on real estate investing and finance. He is a graduate of Yale University with a degree in psychology, holds a Master's degree in education from Southern Connecticut State University, and served as Adjunct Assistant Professor in Columbia's Master of Science in Real Estate Development program for over a decade. Gallinelli has been involved in real estate for more than 40 years and is the founder and president of RealData, providing real estate software to equip and educate investors and developers for success. RealData's flagship product, Real Estate Investment Analysis (REIA), uncovers the value and potential returns of any income property, and the company's development applications guide you through multifamily, commercial, subdivision, and condo projects. With Gallinelli's video courses, you'll develop the confidence and skills to evaluate investment opportunities for maximum profit.


What are our students saying about Frank's complete course, Introduction to Real Estate Investment Analysis?

This is a great video series to learn how to calculate and evaluate income producing properties. The math is the same for all levels of investors. Frank makes sure that you don't just accept what is given to you but explains how to look beyond and see the big picture of the potential investment.


A helpful, insightful, and well-structured course that can take you from newbie to capable investor in relatively short order. Complex concepts are well explained and well illustrated with examples.


I felt this course was extremely useful for my start of multi-family apt investment. I had Frank's book, but this course was perfect for me. I have full confidence my ability to analyze different properties.


This is an AWESOME course. I only passed through once however, I will go through it again. I believe if I can master the thought process as well as the the tools and techniques. I will have a competitive edge in making, presenting and operating all property classes. Thank you for your time hard work and due diligence putting this course together. It is everything you're not told at the seminars.


I felt that this course has properly formed me to make informed, calculated and intelligent decisions in regards to my future real estate investment portfolio. You're the man Frank! I will highly recommend this course to anyone interested in the real estate investment world.


“…thank you for your relentless passion to make sure your student succeeds. I am passionate about learning and I appreciate you so much for this.” -- Ola Ibiwoye


“Thanks. These are the best courses ever!” -- Ken Vance


Great course - especially for a beginner commercial investor like me.


Your skill to translate investment concepts in a clear fashion to real estate investors is outstanding.


The case studies were very very helpful to better understand the lesson in not only mathematically/numbers, but also conceptually and how a certain situation goes by in real life.

Course Curriculum


  About the Captions and Subtitles
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days after you enroll
  Case Study Introduction
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days after you enroll
  The Case Studies — A Prologue
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  The Case Studies — An Epilogue
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  BONUS Case Study 5: Single-Family Property
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days after you enroll
  Introduction to Frank Gallinelli's Real Estate Investment Analysis Course
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days after you enroll
  Get full $119 credit and enroll now in the complete "Mastering Real Estate Investing"
Available in days
days after you enroll

Frequently Asked Questions


When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
How long do I have access to the course?
After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with this course, contact us in the first 10 days and we will refund the purchase price of the course.
Do I need to have a knowledge of finance in order to benefit from this course?

We make no assumptions about your prior background or experience. The course will start with the basics, and from there it will move gradually into topics of greater depth.

Your syllabus shows a lot of metrics and calculations. Do I need to be a math whiz?

Not at all. You'll find the math to be surprisingly simple, and I take special care to explain it clearly, with plenty of examples. Real estate investing is all about the numbers, and success comes to those who understand how the numbers work and what they mean.

How long is the course?

This case studies excerpt includes eleven video lessons. The complete course includes 51 videos totaling more than seven hours -- and growing. Each video is about 8 to 15 minutes long. You can watch each lesson as many times as you like to master its content. You will be able to access additional video lessons as they are added.

Is the course just the videos?

No. For lessons in the complete course that focus on metrics or calculations, we provide a good number of practice problems and answers. We also include several spreadsheet templates that you can use to make many of the calculations and perform some of the analyses discussed in the course. We also provide quizzes so you can test your understanding of the material you've studied.

Do I need to have the RealData software in order to take the course?

You don't need any outside software to take the course, although we do recommend you have Excel or a similar spreadsheet so that you can take advantage of the templates we provide. When you begin working on real deals of your own, we hope you'll take advantage of the powerful and sophisticated tools offered at realdata.com

Do you have a course that will teach me more about the RealData investment analysis software?
Yes, we do. You can find it at... How to Evaluate an Income-Property Investment That course will take you through the analysis of a mixed-use property using the REIA Pro software.

"The course taught the most important concepts that I need to know in my early stage of learning real estate finance. The instructor has a keen talent for explaining the initially mind-boggling concepts in a painless way through easy-to-understand language and examples. I recommend this course to anyone who has any interest in the real estate field."

--Erica Lee


Professor Gallinelli has the magic to make complicated concepts easy to understand. ... I feel much more confident to analyze a property based on all the available information and to make informed decisions with limited information.

--Christina Chao


“Dear Mr. Gallinelli, thanks so much for explaining the hierarchy of a pro forma for an income producing property in a very simple way. Your skill to translate investment concepts in a clear fashion to real estate investors is outstanding”

--Maibi Rojas

Real estate investing is a numbers game, and the only way to win is by understanding how the numbers work. How do I use a building's current rents to estimate its value? What kind of cash flow and return on investment can I expect? Real estate expert Frank Gallinelli, ivy-league professor, best-selling author, and founder of RealData Software, teaches this master class. You will learn how to make smart income-property investments, and how to separate the winners from the losers.

In this excerpt from his complete course, Frank takes you through a series of virtual case studies that deal with three different property types:

  • Apartment Building
  • Mixed-Use
  • Triple-Net-Leased
  • Retail Strip Center
  • Single-family property

These cases are "invented" properties, similar to those he covers in his grad-school course at Columbia, and he has designed them with several purposes in mind:

  • One is to give you practice working through comprehensive analyses of income-property investments -- bumper-to-bumper deal analysis, looking at the revenue stream, expenses, financing, cash flow, and resale. On what terms does each deal makes sense to you?
  • A second is to introduce special situations that you need to understand, such as expense recoveries and triple-net leases.
  • And finally, to give you an opportunity you to put yourself inside the deal as if you were a real participant, to think as an investor thinks — beyond the numbers, beyond the surface data -- looking at each opportunity as if you were a buyer or seller in a real situation, with real money on the table.

Master the metrics, formulas, vocabulary, and techniques used by experienced investors.

If you choose later to enroll in the complete course, you'll discover a wealth of important topics:

  • The Four Basic Returns
  • The Vocabulary of Real Estate Investing
  • The APOD and Income Capitalization
  • Time Value of Money
  • Real Estate Pro Formas
  • Discounted Cash Flow Analysis
  • Real Estate Investment Metrics
  • Mortgage Financing and Underwriting
  • Case Studies: Apartment, Mixed-Use, Triple-Net
  • Real Estate Partnerships
  • Real Estate Development
  • Value-Add Investments

Learn How Successful Real Estate Investors Choose Which Rental Properties to Buy, How Much to Pay

Based on the writings and teaching of Frank Gallinelli, best-selling author and grad-school adjunct professor at Columbia University, this comprehensive course will show you how to perform a complete analysis of an income-property so you can make smart and profitable investment choices.

From due diligence to extended cash flow and resale analysis, you'll learn the techniques that successful investors use when they explore a potential acquisition.

  • How do you estimate current market value?
  • How do you calculate and interpret key rate-of-return metrics? Which ones matter most?
  • What will your lender look for when you ask for financing? How much can you expect?
  • How do you evaluate a property's long-term potential to meet your investment goals? What are possible warning signs to look out for?
  • How do you plan out and evaluate a development project?

In this excerpt, you'll find eleven videos covering the three case studies. The complete course provides you with 60 video lectures that are packed with information. There you'll also find additional resources, such as practice problems, to help you master common calculations, and simple spreadsheet tools.

When you complete the course, you'll know how to look at a potential real estate investment with a critical eye. You'll know how to “run the numbers" like a professional and decide at what price and on what terms a particular property makes good sense to you. Success belongs to those who take the time to learn to do things the right way.

"I just wanted to thank Frank and the team for offering such a great product. I've been looking for a stronger forward but sophisticated learning experience to fine tune my skills as I am leaning toward larger income properties. Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge"

-- Kevin Sweet


Who Should Take This Course?

  • Real estate professionals — Experienced investors and brokers recognize the benefit of updating, refreshing, and perhaps even enhancing their core skills. You should never stop learning.
  • Real estate investing novices — Learn the techniques used by seasoned, successful investors so you can decide what to buy, how much to pay— and learn to avoid common, costly mistakes made by beginners
  • Math-o-phobes — If you’ve avoided studying investment analysis because you’re afraid of the math, this is definitely the course for you. Clear and simple explanations, examples, and practice exercises will take you over that hurdle.
  • Students in a real estate or finance curriculum — For more than a decade, the instructor has taught material like this in his graduate school classes at Columbia University. You'll access quality education in this course.


Get started now!