Last Updated on October 24, 2023 by Neil Sharma
Ascertaining exact valuations for commercial real estate holdings is as daunting as it is convoluted, but an American platform is simplifying the process.
VAL, a cloud-based software that integrates internal and external applications, is a game-changing model for the commercial sector of the real estate industry. In essence, VAL projects valuations through the duration of the asset hold, be it a decade or 15 years, by drawing upon myriad sources of data, and in the process it’s become one of the most efficient cash flow modeling tools on the market.
“In its bare bones, it tells you the value of your asset today based on the way it will perform over however long your time horizon is,” said Stu Sleppin, managing director of Rockport VAL. “It will allow owners to make better informed decisions. Just as someone underwrites a loan to buy a house, they will look at your financials and make a decision; VAL does the same thing with a commercial real estate asset.”
In fact, even banks use VAL to determine a commercial property’s long-term trajectory.
Sourcing building, tenant and construction data compiled over years, VAL is, simply put, disrupting the commercial real estate industry like few things before it. VAL’s calculation engine is its key, says Rockport VAL’s Timothy Benz, director of sales.
“It is constantly calculating all the data, and since it’s cloud-based you can connect with different platforms to take different data,” he said.
Benz added that it will help real estate investors, especially institutional ones, gauge potential new assets with more precision.
“As companies and investors, even just owners, upload information into VAL, we can build out modules that allow them to access their data and produce reports and projections. It aggregates data from everywhere and it’s also a data warehousing tool as well.”
As VAL continues sweeping through the commercial real estate industry, expect cash flow modeling to become easier.
Neil Sharma is the Editor-In-Chief of Canadian Real Estate Wealth and Real Estate Professional. As a journalist, he has covered Canada’s housing market for the Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, National Post, and other publications, specializing in everything from market trends to mortgage and investment advice. He can be reached at neil@crewmedia.ca.
