TRAINING ARTICLE — How to Underwrite Rents When Listings Don’t Give Them

By Jai Thompson

Why This Matters

That’s normal.
But educated underwriting never stops because the listing is incomplete.

You must know the real rental market to:

• Underwrite cash flow

• Test DSCR

• Build credible pro formas

• Negotiate with brokers

• Win deals with lenders

This article walks you through:

1. How to find market rents

2. How to sanity-check them

3. How to speak about them professionally

4. How to use your 30-Second Deal Calculator

5. Sample language for emails and texts

1️⃣ STEP 1: Break the Property Into Unit Types

First rule of rent underwriting:

Never look at “average rent per unit” first.
You always break the asset into unit types, because rents vary by bedroom count.

For Elmwood Street:

• 4 × 1 Bedroom / 1 Bath

• 4 × 2 Bedroom / 1 Bath (two distinct layouts)

That’s your baseline.

2️⃣ STEP 2: Pull Comparable Rents

You need asking rents, not just the in-place rents that aren’t disclosed.

Use at least two of these three sources:

🔹 SOURCE A — Apartment Listing Sites

Use:

• Apartments.com

• Zillow Rentals

• RentCafe

• Realtor.com Rentals

Search relevant terms:

• “1 bed Orlando apartments”

• “2 bed Orlando rentals”

Filter for:

• Non-luxury

• walk-ups / garden style

• similar age & construction

You’re looking for apples to apples, not Class A luxury.

🔹 SOURCE B — CRE Platforms (Comp Listings)

Sites like:

• Crexi

• LoopNet

Look for properties:

• 6–12 units

• Same neighborhood

• Listings that already list rents

• Or rent estimates in OM

Sometimes brokers accidentally reveal them.

🔹 SOURCE C — Rentometer (Quick Sanity Check)

Use Rentometer to confirm:

• Low

• Median

• High

This gives you directional sanity checks — not gospel.

3️⃣ STEP 3: Build a Simple “Rent Box”

You don’t need perfect numbers.

You need defensible ranges.

Example (illustrative — replace with your actual research):

1/1 Units

• Low: $1,350

• Market: $1,500

• High: $1,650

2/1 Units

• Low: $1,750

• Market: $1,950

• High: $2,150

Why this matters:
Now you can underwrite low, market, and high scenarios.

Professionals don’t guess — they bracket.

4️⃣ STEP 4: Sanity-Check the Rents

Once you have ranges, ask yourself four questions:

✅ 1. Parking Ratios

Elmwood Street:

• 1 reserved space / 1BR

• 2 reserved spaces / 2BR

That supports solid market rents, not economy rents.

✅ 2. Condition

• New roof 2024

• Concrete block construction

• Clean common areas

That supports top-of-Class-B rents.

✅ 3. Tenant Profile

Long-term tenants and low turnover usually mean:

👉 Rents are below market — but not drastically under.

Upside is operational, not speculative.

✅ 4. Location Fundamentals

• Strong school draw

• Supply constraint

• Urban infill

This adds rent durability.

5️⃣ STEP 5: Run It Through Your 30-Second Deal Calculator

You’ve invested in a tool that accelerates underwriting.

Here’s how you use it:

1. Input unit mix

2. Use your rent ranges

3. Input market rent scenario

4. Calculate:

   • Effective Gross Income

   • Expenses

   • Net Operating Income

   • DSCR assumptions

This gives you instant credibility in conversations.

6️⃣ WHAT YOU SAY (WORD TRACKS)

Use these scripts when talking to brokers, lenders, or sellers.

🗣 If a Broker Says “We Don’t Have Rents”

“No problem — I’ll pull market rents and bracket them. I underwrite ranges, not guesses. That way we all have a defensible view of income.”

🗣 If a Seller Says “In-Place Rents Are Exact”

“Great — I’ll compare in-place to market ranges to see where the upside lives.”

🗣 If a Lender Asks How You Underwrote

“I used comparable rents from multiple sources, then tested DSCR at low, market, and high scenarios. My underwriting is conservative and verifiable.”

🗣 If a Team Member Says “Just use the average rent”

“No — averages hide variance. We underwrite by unit type and bracket ranges to protect our risk.”

7️⃣ EMAIL + TEXT DEPLOYMENT

Use these templates.

✉️ EMAIL TEMPLATE (Brokers / Agents)

Subject: Rent Underwriting — Elmwood Street

Hey [Name],

Thanks for sending Elmwood Street. I took a look and the listing doesn’t include a rent roll, so I bracketed market rents by unit type using comps and rent data. I’ve built low, market, and high rent scenarios and run them through my 30-Second Deal Calculator to get a defensible DSCR range.

Happy to share the output and discuss how it impacts valuation.

Best,
Jai

📱 TEXT MESSAGE TEMPLATE (Quick and Sharp)

Hey [Name] — I pulled rent comps by unit type and ran DSCR scenarios. I can send you the calculator outputs when you’re free. Just let me know a good time.

8️⃣ WHY THIS WORKS

You are:

✅ Speaking from data, not hope
✅ Framing income in a way underwriters understand
✅ Demonstrating process, not guessing
✅ Controlling the narrative

That’s how professionals win deals.

FINAL TAKEAWAY

When listings don’t give you rents:

✔ Break units by type
✔ Pull comparable rents (3 sources)
✔ Build low/market/high scenarios
✔ Sanity-check with fundamentals
✔ Run your calculator
✔ Speak in ranges, not averages
✔ Use professional language

This isn’t extra work — this is correct underwriting.