Real Estate IRR Excel Calculation Question

Hi everyone first time posting. Just started working at a real estate development firm at i've been working on our projected cash flow for a current project.

Because we will be planning to re-invest equity from unit sales throughout the projected timeline through multiple phases, the projected IRR is currently over 40% unleveraged and 60% with leverage over a 24 month timeline.

I've checked my numbers and they look pretty accurate, but am worried that the IRR is inflated due to financing draws and equity reinvestment. Surely there is a way to calculate for the reinvestment of capital to make the IRR more realistic? I just don't want investors or developer looking at the IRR as unusually high and suspicious.

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"Sheu"I've checked my numbers and they look pretty accurate, but am worried that the IRR is inflated due to financing draws and equity reinvestment. Surely there is a way to calculate for the reinvestment of capital to make the IRR more realistic? I just don't want investors or developer looking at the IRR as unusually high and suspicious.

I think the primary thing to remember is that your IRR is your return assuming you reinvest your cash flows at your IRR. So if your project's IRR is 40% then the formula has calculated that your project's annual return is 40% assuming cash flows are reinvested at 40%. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but given that assumption, I believe it would be double counting to throw back in to your DCF the cash flows from your reinvested capital; that would, indeed, inflate your IRR. In my view, the IRR's reinvestment assumption is the key weakness of the IRR metric (which is why there is the modified IRR; however, nobody really uses this metric, unfortunately).

The other thing to discuss is how to effectively market a project with a stupidly high return (that some investors might find off-putting because it appears too good to be true). I handle this by taking the excess in my promote and beating that number down (in my view, this is the best way to do it--it's win-win). Or I'll use much more conservative metrics to beat the numbers down to something reasonably marketable. To your point, you want to under-promise and over-deliver.

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