Before you invest in any platform, you should see exactly how they evaluate deals. Not a teaser. Not a summary. The full evaluation framework applied to a real deal. That's what the ProperLocating free preview is.
There's a reasonable hesitation behind most first-time platform investors: you don't know what you're committing to until you're already in. The marketing materials describe a process. The glossy numbers come from a methodology you haven't seen applied. And after CrowdStreet — where sophisticated investors committed capital to deals that failed to perform the underwriting they were promised — the hesitation isn't paranoia. It's rational.
The ProperLocating free preview is a direct response to that hesitation. See the methodology before deciding anything.
What the Preview Actually Contains
Four components. No truncation.
1. The screening scorecard. The complete 7-criterion evaluation applied to a real deal that ProperLocating has reviewed. Every criterion listed, every score visible, every note documented. NOI verification result. Occupancy trend assessment. Cap rate vs. submarket comp data. Operator track record review. Debt structure audit. Submarket fundamentals check. Exit scenario stress test. You see what passed, what was flagged, and how close the deal was to the edge on each criterion.
2. The full underwriting model. Not a summary of assumptions, the assumptions themselves. Trailing NOI calculation with the source inputs visible. Vacancy allowance and the market data that supports it. Operating expense breakdown. Debt structure and debt service coverage ratio. Year 1 cash-on-cash calculation. IRR across three hold period scenarios. Every number is traceable to a methodology, and every methodology is documented.
3. The stress test. What the deal looks like under three scenarios: base (current assumptions), downside (vacancy +10 points, expenses +10%, exit cap rate +50bps), and worst case (material occupancy disruption, financing stress). The stress test shows you the floor, not just the ceiling. If the worst case still leaves DSCR positive and the IRR positive, you have a sense of the margin. If the worst case shows negative DSCR, you know where the risk sits.
4. The decision rationale. Why ProperLocating passed, flagged, or rejected this specific deal. The reasoning behind the pass decision, what risks were identified and why they were acceptable, and what would have made the deal a rejection. This is the judgment layer — not algorithmic, not a scoring system, the actual reasoning.
What It's Not
Not a lead capture with a follow-up sales call required to access the content. Not a truncated version with "the full model available after you sign up." Not a deal that performed unusually well, selected to make the methodology look good in hindsight. A real deal. The real framework. No asterisks.
Who Gets the Most Out of It
First-time investors on a private platform. The preview removes the "not knowing what I'm getting into" barrier. You see the process before committing to it. The anxiety about trusting an unfamiliar platform is replaced by judgment about a visible methodology.
Experienced investors benchmarking their own process. The preview gives you something concrete to compare against your own underwriting approach. If your methodology is similar, that's a signal of alignment. If it's different, the differences are worth understanding before you evaluate ProperLocating deals.
Skeptics who've been burned before. The preview is specifically designed for you. Show me the methodology, don't describe it. That's what this is.
The Transferable Methodology
The most valuable thing about the preview isn't the specific deal it covers. It's the methodology. The 4-step framework for evaluating any commercial real estate deal is the same whether you're looking at a ProperLocating opportunity or a deal your broker sent this morning.
Working through a real deal with the methodology is the fastest way to internalize it. After that, you own the framework.
Step 1: NOI Verification
The first thing the ProperLocating framework does with any deal is verify the NOI independently of the offering memorandum. Sponsors have every incentive to present the most favorable income picture. The OM is a marketing document.
How to apply it independently:
- Request the trailing 12-month rent roll directly, not the OM summary
- Verify collected rent vs. scheduled rent — the difference is the real vacancy rate, not the reported one
- Check operating expenses against market benchmarks: property management (8–10% of EGI in most markets), maintenance reserves ($50–$150/unit), insurance (market-dependent), taxes (verify the post-acquisition assessment, not the current owner's basis)
- Rebuild the NOI from the rent roll up, not from the OM down
Most OM NOI figures are overstated by 5–15%. That gap has a direct effect on cap rate calculation and a compounding effect on IRR.
Step 2: Vacancy Stress Test
The pro forma vacancy assumption is almost always optimistic. The ProperLocating framework applies a +10 percentage point stress to the pro forma vacancy and recalculates.
How to apply it:
- Take the OM's projected vacancy rate (typically 5–8%)
- Add 10 percentage points (to 15–18%)
- Recalculate effective gross income at the stressed vacancy rate
- Run that through to cash-on-cash and DSCR
If the deal survives +10 points of vacancy — DSCR above 1.05x, cash-on-cash positive — it has real margin. If it doesn't, the deal pencils only if the operator's optimistic vacancy assumption holds. That's a different risk profile.
Step 3: Cap Rate vs. Market Comp
The cap rate in the OM reflects what the seller wants you to think the yield is. The relevant question is: what are comparable assets actually trading for in this submarket?
How to apply it:
- Find 3–5 recent comparable sales in the submarket (similar asset class, similar vintage, within 12 months)
- Calculate the implied cap rate for each comparable using the same trailing NOI methodology
- Compare the deal's cap rate to the comp range
If the deal is at 6.9% in a market where comparables are trading at 6.4–6.8%, the pricing reflects a small quality or condition premium — that's worth investigating. If the deal is at 6.2% in a market where comparables are at 6.8%, you're paying for projected improvement that may or may not materialize.
Step 4: Exit Scenario Modeling
The deal has to work at exit, not just at entry. The ProperLocating framework models two exit scenarios:
Scenario A — Rates ease 50bps during hold period: Exit cap rate compresses modestly (25–35bps is typical for 50bps rate movement). Run the exit valuation at that compressed cap rate. Calculate IRR at the base hold period, +2 years, and -1 year.
Scenario B — Rates flat through hold period: Exit at the same cap rate as entry. No compression benefit. The return is entirely income + debt paydown. Calculate IRR at the same three hold periods.
If the deal delivers acceptable IRR under Scenario B, compression is upside — not a requirement. If the deal requires Scenario A to clear your return floor, you're underwriting to rate movement, not income fundamentals.
Why ProperLocating Gives This Away
The preview isn't a sacrifice. It's the most efficient thing ProperLocating can do to bring the right investors into the pipeline.
Investors who see the framework understand the value immediately. The methodology speaks for itself better than any marketing copy could. The investors who review the preview and see a rigorous, transparent evaluation framework are the investors who are going to be in the pipeline for years. The investors who see the preview and decide the methodology isn't for them — that's a better outcome than them joining, discovering it wasn't what they expected, and leaving.
Transparency is the filter. The preview attracts the investors who value what ProperLocating actually does.
Why a Framework Matters More Than Any Single Deal
Every deal is a data point. A framework is reusable. Investors who build a consistent methodology — same inputs, same stress tests, same comparables process on every deal — develop calibrated judgment over time. Investors who evaluate each deal from scratch don't accumulate judgment the same way. The framework is the compounding asset.
After doing the methodology once with a real deal and visible inputs, the framework becomes internalized. The next deal you evaluate — from ProperLocating or from any other source — gets the same treatment, and you recognize the patterns faster.
That's the highest-value thing the preview delivers: not the deal insight, the transferable skill.
The Post-CrowdStreet Standard
"See before you commit" is the new minimum standard for any serious investor considering a private real estate platform. This isn't ProperLocating's standard — it's the standard that the CrowdStreet situation made necessary for the whole category.
Investors who are evaluating platforms in 2026 should ask every platform for the equivalent of a free preview: show me how you evaluate deals, not how you describe evaluating deals. Show me a real underwriting model with visible inputs. Show me how you handle the stress test.
If a platform can't produce that, the hesitation is justified.
ProperLocating can produce it. That's why the preview exists.