Real estate underwriting software turns deal documents (an offering memorandum, rent roll and operating statement) into the cash flows, returns and risk review an investment decision rests on. The best choice depends on your asset class and the output you need. For office, retail and industrial acquisitions, Moraine combines an editable DCF with source-linked diligence. Other shortlists prioritize a house Excel model, multifamily parsing, lending or pipeline management. Compare the required output and the review process before you compare speed claims.
Publisher disclosure: Moraine publishes this guide and is included below. Vendor descriptions are linked; this is not an independent accuracy ranking. Current prices and deployment terms should be confirmed directly.
Choose the workflow before the product
| Primary job | Useful shortlist | What to prove on a real package |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial acquisition DCF and diligence | Moraine; evaluate other model-led options against your actual scope | Tenant cash flows, recoveries, scenario controls, source review and XLSX handoff |
| Existing-house-workbook population | AcquiOS, PropRise Primer, Apers | Correct mapping, preserved model conventions, review and final outputs |
| Property/portfolio valuation | ARGUS Enterprise/Intelligence, Rockport VAL | Required reports, valuation conventions and accepted deliverables |
| Multifamily analysis | Archer and other asset-specific products | Unit mix, concessions, historical financials and the required model |
| Document extraction and reconciliation | Docsumo; evaluate Clik.ai against its current lending/servicing workflow | Field accuracy, periods, exceptions, source references and destination mapping |
| Deal pipeline and team process | Dealpath and other deal-management systems | Deal records, process ownership, workflow and integrations |
These are starting points, not statements that a vendor has no other functionality. If a tool appears in several categories, ask for a demonstration of the workflow you actually intend to buy.
What each shortlisted product says it does
| Product | Vendor-described focus | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Moraine | Source-linked office/retail/industrial DCF and diligence | Product facts |
| ARGUS | Commercial property valuation and investment-management product family | Altus |
| Rockport VAL | Property and portfolio cash-flow modeling and valuation | Rockport VAL |
| AcquiOS | Acquisition workflows using existing templates | AcquiOS |
| PropRise Primer | Deal materials mapped into a firm’s workbook | Primer |
| Apers | Institutional real estate and Excel modeling | Apers |
| Archer | Multifamily underwriting, parsing and comps | Archer |
| Cactus | AI underwriting and property valuation; its site lists commercial, multifamily, self-storage, industrial and retail | Cactus |
| Clik.ai | CRE lending and servicing automation | Clik.ai |
| Docsumo | Read, check and map rent-roll/T-12 data into downstream workflows | Docsumo CRE |
| Dealpath | Deal-management workflow | Dealpath |
Do not choose a multifamily tool for commercial lease recoveries without testing those requirements. Equally, do not choose Moraine for multifamily: that asset class is not supported today.
Commercial or multifamily: pick software built for the asset
Commercial and multifamily underwriting run on different inputs. An office, retail or industrial model is built lease by lease: rent steps, expense recoveries, renewal probabilities, downtime, tenant improvements and leasing commissions. A multifamily model works from a unit mix, concessions, loss-to-lease and trailing financials. A tool that is excellent at one is often thin on the other, so match the product to the asset before you compare anything else.
Some vendors cover several asset types and some cover one. Archer describes itself as multifamily underwriting, parsing and comps. Cactus lists commercial, multifamily, self-storage, industrial and retail on its site. Moraine supports office, retail and industrial only.
Is there free real estate underwriting software?
Most free options are spreadsheets and calculators, not software that reads your documents. A free pro forma template in Excel covers the cash-flow layout, and the free CRE calculators solve single metrics such as cap rate, DSCR, debt yield and NOI. Paid products usually offer a trial instead of a free tier. Moraine’s evaluation is 14 days of unlimited underwriting with Excel exports, with no card required.
Why a chatbot is not an underwriting model
A general AI chatbot will summarize an OM and answer questions about it. It will not produce a tenant-level cash flow with recoveries, rollover and scenarios that a reviewer can trace to the lease. The test is the same for any product: can you open the source for every number, and does the model change correctly when you change an assumption?
Seven questions for a software trial
- Asset fit: Can it handle the specific tenancy, recovery and capital assumptions in your property type?
- Source fit: Does it accept your actual OMs, scans, rent rolls, statements and amendments, including difficult files?
- Financial model: Does it calculate the required model or deliver inputs to another system? Which model version remains authoritative?
- Review: Can the analyst distinguish source facts, assumptions, conflicts and missing documents? Can a reviewer open the supporting source?
- Handoff: Does the exported file or report meet the recipient’s requirements? Native ARGUS output, an Excel import and an XLSX export are different capabilities.
- Team and security: Who can view, edit and approve? Confirm actual security documentation, provider processing and contractual requirements.
- Economics: Include onboarding, mapping, recurring seats, separate diligence charges and reviewer time as well as the headline price.
Run a closed-deal acceptance test
Use one previously reviewed commercial acquisition and one difficult source package. Establish the expected opening income, expense treatment, lease dates and recovery terms. Match dates and units before comparing calculations.
Measure the analyst’s time to reach usable reviewed output. Log material corrections and missing inputs, check populated fields as well as exceptions, and compare cash flows before headline returns. Change a rollover or exit assumption, export the result and have another reviewer reconcile the exhibits.
A vendor’s claimed percentage accuracy or processing time is not a substitute for results on your files. A fast narrative answer is not evidence that tenant-level modeling is correct.
What Moraine costs and where it does not fit
Individual is $300/month for one user. Team starts at $1,500/month for five users. The full diligence suite is separately $3,000/property. Institutional starts at $75,000/year, with Enterprise by agreement. The free evaluation lasts 14 days from the first usable model, with no card required. See current pricing and scope.
Moraine currently supports office, retail and industrial. It does not support multifamily, hotels or self-storage, finished PDF memo exports, live multi-user editing or native Yardi/MRI connectors. Its SOC 2 audit report has not yet been issued; see security.
Start with the question you need answered
- ARGUS alternatives for office, retail and industrial
- OM-to-DCF software
- Rent roll abstraction software
- AI IC memo workflows
- Underwriting for a small team without ARGUS
The right shortlist is the one whose supported outputs, evidence and review process match the investment assignment, not the one that includes the most AI labels.