Investment Committee Memo Template for CRE

What's included

This Excel workbook contains 4 tabs that give you a complete, presentation-ready investment committee memo. The IC Memo tab is the primary document, structured into 8 sections: Executive Summary, Investment Thesis, Property Overview, Financial Summary, Sources and Uses, Market Context, Risk Factors, and Recommendation. Each section includes pre-formatted fields so you fill in deal-specific details without worrying about layout.

The Financial Model tab contains auto-calculating fields for cap rate, equity multiple, cash-on-cash return, and IRR based on your input assumptions. The Rent Comps and Sales Comps tabs provide structured tables for comparable transactions that feed summary data back into the main memo.

This is the format used by institutional CRE acquisition teams to get deals approved. Whether you are presenting to a formal investment committee, a partner group, or capital partners, this template standardizes your process and ensures nothing is missing from the presentation.

Financial calculations

The Financial Model tab auto-calculates key return metrics as you input deal assumptions. Enter the purchase price, projected NOI, hold period, exit cap rate, and financing terms. The template computes going-in cap rate, stabilized cap rate, leveraged and unleveraged IRR, equity multiple, and annual cash-on-cash returns for each year of the hold period.

The Sources and Uses section includes a working table with fields for senior debt, mezzanine financing, equity contribution, acquisition costs, and capital reserves. Loan-to-value and loan-to-cost ratios calculate automatically based on your debt assumptions. All financial figures flow into the IC Memo tab summary so your presentation always reflects the latest model inputs.

Comp tables

The Rent Comps tab captures comparable properties with fields for property name, address, unit count, average rent, rent per square foot, occupancy, year built, and distance from the subject property. Summary statistics (average, median, high, low) calculate automatically and feed into the Market Context section of the memo.

The Sales Comps tab follows the same structure for recent transactions: property name, sale date, sale price, price per unit, cap rate, units, and buyer. These comparable sales support your underwriting assumptions and give the investment committee market context for the proposed acquisition price.

How to present to your IC

Lead with the executive summary and investment thesis. Committee members want to understand the opportunity and why it fits your strategy before reviewing the details. Present the financial summary next, walking through return metrics and the sources and uses structure. Use the comp tables to support your pricing and rent assumptions.

Address risk factors directly rather than minimizing them. A credible risk section builds trust with your committee. Close with a clear recommendation and the specific approval you are requesting (capital commitment amount, timeline, conditions). For teams managing multiple active deals, MotionCRE keeps all deal documents, tasks, and financials organized in one workspace so your IC prep is faster and more consistent.

Use this memo alongside our CRE deal tracker to manage your full pipeline, and the deal room document checklist to ensure all supporting materials are organized before your IC presentation.

Frequently asked questions

What goes in an investment committee memo?

An IC memo should include an executive summary, investment thesis, property overview, financial analysis (cap rate, IRR, equity multiple, cash-on-cash return), sources and uses of capital, market context, risk factors, and a clear recommendation. The goal is to give committee members everything they need to make an informed approval decision in a single document.

How do you write an IC memo for real estate?

Start with a concise executive summary and investment thesis that explains why this deal fits your strategy. Follow with property details, financial projections, comparable transactions, and a sources and uses breakdown. Include a risk section that addresses potential downsides honestly. Keep the memo structured and data-driven. Committee members should be able to evaluate the deal without needing supplemental materials.

What is the purpose of an investment committee memo?

The IC memo is the formal document used to present an acquisition opportunity to a firm's investment committee for approval. It standardizes how deals are evaluated, ensures consistent underwriting across the team, and creates a written record of the investment rationale. For institutional teams, it is typically the final step before committing capital.