Checklist de Avaliação Imobiliária Comercial: 7 Portões Antes de Comprar

• Set your hurdles before you see the numbers. Write down your minimum cap rate, minimum DSCR, minimum cash-on-cash return, and maximum break-even ratio first. If you set them after seeing the deal, you will set them to make the deal pass.
• Use trailing-12-month actuals, not the seller's pro forma. A pro forma is a claim about the future; actuals are evidence about the past. Where actuals do not exist, say so and treat the number as unverified.
• Verify each gate with your own calculation. Run the numbers in the site's calculators, then confirm the full chain in the Deal Analyzer. If your hand check and the tool disagree, find the input that differs — do not trust either one blindly.
• Record pass or fail at each gate. One fail means stop. Renegotiate, restructure, or walk.

Income is where most deals are oversold. The seller's numbers are a starting point, not a fact.

• [ ] Rent roll matches the leases. Check the rent roll line by line against signed leases: every unit, every rent, every lease end date. Pass: 100% match. Fail: any rent on the roll with no lease behind it.
• [ ] Vacancy matches reality. Compare the seller's vacancy assumption with the trailing-12-month actual vacancy. Pass: assumed vacancy is at or above the actual trailing-12 vacancy. Fail: the seller assumes 3% vacancy when the building actually ran 8%.
• [ ] Other income is documented. Laundry, parking, pet fees, RUBS — verify from bank deposits or the trailing-12 statement. Pass: documented in actuals. Fail: "projected" income with no history.
• [ ] No growth in year one. Year-one income uses in-place rents only. Pass: no rent growth assumed in year one. Fail: the pro forma bakes in a rent increase on day one.

The formula: effective gross income (EGI) = gross potential income + other income − vacancy and credit loss. Run your numbers in the NOI calculator.

Expenses are where most deals are undersold. A missing expense is worth exactly as much as a fake dollar of income.

• [ ] Taxes verified with the assessor. Pass: the tax figure matches the assessor's current assessed value times the tax rate, or it includes the reassessment a sale will trigger. Fail: the seller uses last year's bill when a reassessment is due.
• [ ] Insurance quoted, not copied. Pass: a written quote in hand. Fail: the seller's old premium copied forward.
• [ ] Management budgeted even if you self-manage. Management typically runs 6–10% of effective gross income. Pass: a management line exists in the budget. Fail: no management cost because "I'll manage it myself" — your time is not free, and a lender will underwrite the cost anyway.
• [ ] Replacement reserves budgeted. A commonly cited underwriting allowance for multifamily is $250–$300 per unit per year. Pass: reserves are deducted before NOI. Fail: NOI is computed with no reserves.
• [ ] Expenses cross-checked against actuals. Pass: underwritten expenses are within 10% of trailing-12 actuals, or every difference is explained. Fail: pro forma expenses are more than 10% below actuals with no reason given.
• [ ] No missing category. Utilities, repairs, administration, legal, turnover costs — every category has a number, or an explicit zero with a reason.

The formula: NOI = EGI − operating expenses. Debt service, income taxes, depreciation, and capital expenditures are not operating expenses.

Cap rate = NOI ÷ price. It is the price check: it tells you what return the property earns at the asking price, before debt.

• [ ] Computed from your NOI, not the seller's. Pass: the cap rate uses your verified NOI from Gates 1 and 2. Fail: the cap rate uses the seller's pro forma NOI.
• [ ] At or above your hurdle. Pass: the computed cap rate meets the minimum return you wrote down before underwriting. Fail: below your hurdle — the price is too high for the income.
• [ ] Cross-checked against the market. Implied value = NOI ÷ market cap rate. Compare with recent comparable sales and published cap rate surveys (CBRE and JLL publish them regularly). Pass: the asking price is within about 10% of implied value. Fail: the asking price is far above implied value with no reason, such as location, upside, or condition.
• [ ] No upside priced in. Pass: the price works on in-place income. Fail: the price only works if rents rise or expenses fall.

Use the cap rate calculator to run the check.

DSCR = NOI ÷ annual debt service. It is the test most likely to kill a deal, because the lender applies it, not you. Typical floors vary by lender and property type — these are the common reference points, not a universal rule: agências institucionais multifamily loans (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac) typically require a 1.25x minimum; most commercial lenders look for 1.20x–1.25x on stabilized multifamily; office and retail typically face 1.25x–1.35x; hospitality typically 1.35x and up.

• [ ] Computed with the real loan terms. Pass: the rate and amortization come from a written quote or term sheet. Fail: a teaser rate, or an interest-only assumption that will not survive closing.
• [ ] At or above the lender's floor. Pass: DSCR meets the floor for your loan type (1.25x for agências institucionais multifamily). Fail: below the floor — the lender will shrink the loan and you will have to add equity.
• [ ] Tested on trailing-12 NOI. Pass: DSCR is computed on actuals, not pro forma. Fail: DSCR only works on projected income.

Use the DSCR calculator to run the check.

Retorno sobre caixa = annual pre-tax cash flow ÷ initial cash invested. There is no lender rule here — this is your return test, so your hurdle is personal. Set it before you underwrite.

• [ ] Cash flow after everything. Pass: cash flow is NOI minus debt service minus reserves, and it is positive. Fail: positive only before reserves.
• [ ] At or above your hurdle. Pass: cash-on-cash meets the minimum you set — for example, 5% pre-tax on a stabilized deal. Fail: below your hurdle — the return does not justify tying up the cash.
• [ ] Down payment is real money. Pass: initial cash includes the down payment plus closing costs. Fail: closing costs are left out, which inflates the return.

Break-even analysis verifies downside safety against vacancy and rate shocks:

• Break-Even Ratio (BER) = (operating expenses + annual debt service) ÷ effective gross income (EGI). Most commercial lenders require BER to remain below 85% (below 75% is considered conservative and strong).
• Break-Even Occupancy (BEO) = (operating expenses + annual debt service) ÷ gross potential income (GPI). It measures the physical occupancy percentage required to cover all operating costs and debt payments.

• [ ] Below 85% BER. Pass: BER against EGI is 85% or lower. Fail: above 85% — a small dip in occupancy wipes out cash flow.
• [ ] Vacancy stress. Re-run the numbers with vacancy 5 points higher than your base case. Pass: DSCR stays at or above 1.00x. Fail: DSCR drops below 1.00x — the deal cannot survive a normal vacancy swing.
• [ ] Rate stress. Re-run at a 1% higher interest rate. Pass: DSCR stays at or above your lender's floor, or at least above 1.00x. Fail: a 1% rate move breaks the deal.

Use the break-even ratio calculator to run the check.

Run the full chain in the Deal Analyzer. It chains NOI, cap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCR, and break-even together, so a mistake in one input shows up everywhere.

• [ ] Five outputs match your hand checks. Cap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCR, break-even ratio, and NOI — each within rounding of the numbers you computed gate by gate. Fail: any output disagrees — find the input that differs before you believe either one.
• [ ] Every gate recorded pass. If any gate failed, the answer is renegotiate or walk — not "proceed and hope."
• [ ] Loan terms match the quote. The rate, amortization, and loan amount in the analyzer are the ones in the lender's written quote.

The deal: a 20-unit apartment building, $750 per unit per month, asking price $1,600,000. The buyer sets the hurdles first: cap rate at least 7.00%, DSCR at least 1.25x, cash-on-cash at least 5.00% pre-tax, break-even ratio at most 85%.

Gate 1 — income. Gross potential rent is 20 × $750 × 12 = $180,000. Other income (laundry and fees, verified from the trailing-12 statement) is $6,000, so potential gross income is $186,000. Vacancy and credit loss at 5% — the trailing-12 actual was 4.6%, so 5% is conservative — is 0.05 × $186,000 = $9,300. Effective gross income is $186,000 − $9,300 = $176,700. Gate 1: pass.

Gate 2 — expenses. Property taxes $18,000 (verified with the assessor); insurance $7,200 (written quote); repairs and maintenance $9,600; management at 8% of EGI = $14,136; owner-paid utilities $6,000; replacement reserves at $250 × 20 units = $5,000. Total operating expenses: $18,000 + $7,200 + $9,600 + $14,136 + $6,000 + $5,000 = $59,936. NOI is $176,700 − $59,936 = $116,764. Gate 2: pass.

Gate 3 — cap rate. $116,764 ÷ $1,600,000 = 7.30%. The hurdle is 7.00%. Gate 3: pass.

Gate 4 — DSCR. The loan is 70% loan-to-value, so $1,120,000. Terms from the lender's written quote: 6.25% interest, 25-year amortization, monthly payments. The monthly payment is $7,388.30, so annual debt service is $7,388.30 × 12 = $88,660. DSCR is $116,764 ÷ $88,660 = 1.32x. The hurdle is 1.25x. Gate 4: pass.

Gate 5 — cash-on-cash. Initial cash is a $480,000 down payment plus $20,000 of closing costs = $500,000. Annual cash flow is $116,764 − $88,660 = $28,104. Cash-on-cash is $28,104 ÷ $500,000 = 5.62%. The hurdle is 5.00%. Gate 5: pass.

Gate 6 — break-even. Annual fixed obligations are OpEx $59,936 + debt service $88,660 = $148,596. Against effective gross income ($176,700), Break-Even Ratio (BER) is $148,596 ÷ $176,700 = 84.1%, passing the lender's 85% ceiling. Against gross potential income ($186,000), Break-Even Occupancy (BEO) is $148,596 ÷ $186,000 = 79.9% (the property covers all obligations as long as physical occupancy stays at or above 79.9%, well below current 95% occupancy). Gate 6: pass. Stress tests: at 10% vacancy, EGI falls to $167,400, NOI to $108,208, and DSCR to 1.22x — below the 1.25x hurdle, but cash flow stays positive at $19,548. At a 7.25% rate, annual debt service rises to $97,145 and DSCR falls to 1.20x. The deal survives a bad year, but the margin against a rate rise is thin — a rate lock or a price cut is worth negotiating.

Gate 7 — Deal Analyzer. Run the same inputs through the Deal Analyzer. The five outputs should read: cap rate 7.30%, cash-on-cash 5.62%, DSCR 1.32x, break-even ratio 84.1% (break-even occupancy 79.9%), NOI $116,764. Verdict: all seven gates pass. The deal is financeable at the quoted terms, with a noted watch item on rate margin.