The Complete Guide
The numbers every passive investor should know.
You don’t need to be an analyst — but you should be able to read the handful of figures every deal is sold on, and know when one is being used to dazzle you.
Real-estate operators quote numbers constantly and explain them rarely. The effect is the same either way: a single impressive figure, stripped of context, can make a mediocre deal look great. The antidote is simple — understand what each number measures, and always read them together.
What the property pays you now
Cash-on-cash return is the income you receive each year against what you put in — the checks that actually show up. Cash-on-cash vs. IRR →
The whole story, including time
IRR folds in the eventual sale and accounts for when each dollar arrives; the equity multiple tells you plainly how many times your money came back. A high IRR with a low multiple can just mean a quick, small win — which is why we never read one alone.
What a property is worth
The cap rate is the yield you would earn buying in cash — and a high one is not automatically a bargain. Cap rate in plain English →
Whether it survives a bad year
Two safety numbers matter as much as any return: debt-service coverage and break-even occupancy. They measure how much can go wrong before an investment is in trouble. DSCR → · Break-even occupancy →
Read them as a set
No single figure captures an investment. When we share targets with qualified investors, we show the income, the total return, the multiple, and the coverage together — always as targets, not guarantees. The goal is never to chase the biggest number on a page; it is to understand exactly what you are being shown.
The Deep-Dives
Each piece, in full.
September 10, 2026
How Distributions Actually Work in a Multifamily Deal
A distribution is not a dividend, not a coupon, and not a promise — it is whatever cash the building produced after every obligation ahead of you was paid.
Read the article →September 8, 2026
The Equity Multiple, Explained: What “1.8x” Actually Means
The equity multiple is the simplest number in a private real-estate offering and the easiest one to misread — because it says nothing at all about how long you waited for it.
Read the article →July 12, 2026
Cash-on-Cash vs. IRR: What Each Number Really Tells You
Two of the most quoted figures in real estate — and the two most often misunderstood. A plain-English guide.
Read the article →July 20, 2026
Cap Rate in Plain English (and Why a High One Isn't Always Good)
The cap rate is real estate's most quoted shorthand for value — and one of the most misunderstood. What it measures, and the trap of chasing a high one.
Read the article →August 13, 2026
What Is NOI? Net Operating Income in Plain English
NOI is the one number that sets an apartment building’s value — which is exactly why it is the number most often inflated. Here is what belongs in it, what does not, and where pro-formas cheat.
Read the article →August 20, 2026
The Preferred Return, Explained: What an “8% Pref” Actually Means
A preferred return is a place in line, not a promise of payment. Here is how the pref works, the four words in the term sheet that change what it is worth, and why a bigger number is not automatically better.
Read the article →Keep Reading
Start with the guide.
Our free playbook distills how we think into seven questions you can bring to any deal — ours or anyone’s.