Does anyone else use a phased approach, or do you go straight to numbers?

[Todd Henderson]

Before I look at a single property, I define my investment thesis: target cash-on-cash, max price, acceptable vacancy rate, and deal-breakers. Then I validate against real market data — not Zillow estimates. Only then do I underwrite.

Most investors skip straight to the spreadsheet. That's how you end up rationalizing a bad deal because you spent 4 hours on it.

Curious — does anyone else use a phased approach, or do you go straight to numbers?