I'm doing research for a CRE workflow tool I'm building and would really value input from investors/operators who are actively reviewing or pursuing deals.
I’m not selling anything here. I’m trying to better understand how people are currently managing the acquisition process before building too far in one direction.
For those reviewing commercial or small multifamily deals, I’m curious:
When you’re evaluating a deal, how are you currently managing the documents, underwriting, broker communication, partner feedback, and next steps?
Is it mostly email, spreadsheets, Dropbox/Drive, texts, calls, or something more organized?
I put together a short form to collect feedback, but I’m also happy to hear thoughts directly in the comments or by DM.
Appreciate any insight from people who are actually in the deal review process.
Hey @Jordan Kirby. We're still pretty old school. Email, spreadsheets, and Google Drive handle most of our deal flow, with calls and Zoom for due diligence discussions. We've looked at more specialized tools over the years, but spreadsheets are still hard to beat for flexibility. I'm always interested in seeing solutions that simplify the process without adding another layer of complexity. Good luck with the project.
Thank you for sharing this—it’s really helpful. We’ve heard something similar from others: spreadsheets are flexible and familiar, but the overall process can become scattered across email, calls, and different folders. Our goal is not to add another layer, but to bring those existing pieces together in a way that feels simpler.
When a deal is active, where do you experience the most back-and-forth between email, spreadsheets, Google Drive, and your team?
Hey @Jordan Kirby From where Im sitting, there isnt a better tool than Excel right now for deal analysis. Getting to bookkeeping and accounting property management and managing contractors and invoice. I heard of one investment group from Dallas that managed some type of way to bridge everything of their 3-4 businesses(Property Management/Construction/Deal Acquisition/Capital Group) into 1 platform for multifamily investment. I will say if you can build something that helps integrate something like that there is definitely a market for it.