Real estate pitch decks – what investors want to see
Real Estate is a trillion-dollar industry, but when you’re just starting a project, no matter how compelling, the financing will not always come pouring in automatically.
In order to get your point across to the right real estate investor, you’ll need an institutional-grade, comprehensive pitch deck.
Investment opportunity communications usually begin with a dialed-in pitch that displays a visually compelling slide deck demonstrating an analysis of why you are the right company to work with.
Let’s dive in and discuss what it takes to create an industry-grade investor presentation that will help seal the deal!
Best practices for building your pitch deck
There are several indicators of all sizes that will either make or break your opening pitch. We can’t stress how important it is to make your deck a perfect representation of the partnership you are offering.
This portion will go over some great practices.
Understanding your audience
Who are you pitching to?
Set a target of your ideal real estate investor. Make sure the project you are presenting is completely aligned with what they are looking for. Commit some time to do your own research and investigate what has been a success for the business person you are presenting to.
According to DocSend, investors only spend less than 4 minutes looking at a pitch deck. Investors are likely busy people, meaning they are strategic and sophisticated. Meaning, they usually know what they are looking for. That said, it is highly important to make your pitch deck as concise as possible.
Every slide should be straight to the point, every piece of information should be accurate and properly displayed.
Leveraging your value proposition
Always highlight the value of the project you are proposing.
Articulate what you can offer and what strategy you will use to create value and how you plan on generating attractive returns. Always support your document with facts, this will show your value proposition as a great opportunity to investors.
Ready to get your Pitch Deck working for you?
Building a summary statement
Imagine a strong summary statement as the preview to your pitch book.
The slide should display a brief piece of information that will show investors what your proposition is all about in just one glance. Focus on your brand identity, your vision, and your value proposition.
Your company’s summary statement should follow the theme of being clear and concise.
The opening slide should be able to pique your investors’ interest and keep them engaged to read through your entire pitch deck.
Cutting excess
Keep it simple, informative, and straight to the point.
Don’t go overboard on jargon, too many slides, or unnecessary information. These acts set the tone of “trying too hard” and can hurt the next steps to closing the deal.
Time is of the essence and if a pitch deck displays any of the above examples, it risks being perceived as unorganized and a small understanding of how important time is.
Your theme should be simple, succinct, and direct. An ideal investor presentation should only have about 20 slides or less. Additionally, each slide should have a direct purpose while supporting one another.
This will help paint a clear picture of the real estate opportunity and value you are presenting to target investors.
Now that we went over a few best practices, let’s move on to getting the structure of your pitch deck just right.
Real estate presentation development and design by Launch Module Media.
How to structure a real estate pitch deck
Structure is key in life and is equally relevant while creating investment pitchbooks. With so many moving parts, things can get messy really fast. Here are a few key tips to achieving a strong structure while creating the perfect pitch deck.
Presentation format and theme
Every book begins with a clean title page. While simplicity is key, it’s important to get everything you need placed in the correct formats. Correct formatting and placement allow you to set the tone when deciding on your theme.
A dialed-in title page should display the following:
- Company Logo – Make sure to remove the background and make the image transparent (we recommend using Remove BG) so your theme isn’t disrupted by a background that doesn’t match. You can also include contact details like phone numbers and email.
- Tag Line – An optional tag line that summarizes your value proposition/
- Table of Contents – Attach a table of content to give your investors a broad overview of your pitch deck’s coverage. This will help navigate through your file and find specific parts of your proposition
- Disclaimer – Your terms, conditions, and limitations of your corporation, proposition, and business should be clearly stated. It can be ideal to consult a professional attorney for disclaimers.
The executive summary
An executive summary is your chance to show your investors what you are all about. After review, they will likely decide whether to read on or pass on.
Check out these tips to build on the right approach when it comes to the executive summary:
Brand – Be sure to establish your brand on the executive summary page. Strong branding the key to explaining your company identity.
Overview – This is the appetizer to what you are really presenting. Give a few strong details of the reason for your pitch, but keep it short and sweet. In the later parts of your presentation, you will deliver the main course.
Demonstrate your leadership skills – Articulate your goals and how you aim to pursue them.
Ultimately, it should not go beyond 2 pages or slides. While it is one of the first pages of your pitch deck, it is best to create it last, you have all the details laid out.
Property overview
Your pitch book is a visual presentation of the opportunity you have for real estate investors. Approach this as a way you would consider looking for an apartment to rent. No one likes going forth on simple specs and details so the best practice is to get all the information on the table in one shot.
Check out these tips on presentation of a property overview:
Description – Give a brief explanation of the specs, region, location. Present key points on what makes the location strategic for the project to highlight the opportunity you would want to pursue with them.
Photos – Up-to-date photo examples are highly important. Make sure the photos are high-quality, relevant, and well placed.
At the end of the day, a detailed property overview will allow your investors to fully visualize your project so they can align their vision to yours.
Market analysis
A business’ revenue opportunity is often based on what market can it tap on and what demands or industry gaps can it address.
Gather information on who your real estate project can serve, whether it be residential, commercial or others. Emphasize the size of the market you are pursuing, by starting with a global scale like the industry or industries you can tap into. You can narrow it down to your primary target market to the customers or clients your property can cater to.
Your market analysis is highly supplementary to show your investors how big the opportunity you are presenting is.
You can use graphs or visual representations for your market analysis to be easily understood in one glance.
Ready to get your Pitch Deck working for you?
Business plan
Real estate investors support ventures to gain a share of profit, hence it is necessary for your investors to know how you are planning to generate and increase revenue for your real estate property or project.
Present a clear and realistic road map of your project to present how you can achieve your target revenue for a certain span of time. Consider including a marketing plan and an outline of the project which include the projected expenses too.
You can lay your business plan in specified phases, points, or stages. This will put you and your investors on the same page on where you are at on the property or project and where you want to take it in the future.
Income and expenses
For the financials section, make sure to lay out your income and expenses in an easy-to-read table.
This will allow your investors to easily compare how much you can make against how much it takes to complete, maintain or operate your real estate project. Provide a land or property acquisition price if possible as well of cash flow statements with exit valuations.
If you have complex financial statements, keep your pitch deck simple by detailing income and expenses and prepare a separate file that has a comprehensive financial model that you can easily link.
Financing options
If you are securing a real estate property or land for your project using loans, list them down on your pitch book as well.
You can include the lenders and the amortization, as well as the interest type and rates applied. Also, be transparent about other financing options you are considering. If these options are not finalized yet, cite financial disclaimers that the information on the page is subject to change.
Other assets in your real estate portfolio
Build trust with investors by demonstrating previous real estate projects you have completed.
Include the most successful, recent ones if you have multiple assets to choose from. However, if you do not have a portfolio yet, you can skip this part.
Team and organizational chart
Show off your talent by creating a strong team and organizational chart. Make this page readable and impressive. Include the leadership or management team and give brief information about their background. Along with your portfolio, your team’s page should build trust and credibility.
This will let the investors know who will they be working with and what their qualifications and advantages are. You can also include strategic advisors, sponsors, partners, or investors.
Real estate presentation development and design by Launch Module Media.
Common mistakes to avoid when creating your presentation
If you are new to business or have a limited idea of real estate investing, putting together a good pitch book for real estate investors can be challenging. As you start, try to avoid the following mistakes:
Lengthy pitchbooks – Anything exceeding 20 slides will increase the chances of investors losing interest.
Format – Non-uniformity on font sizes, theme, layout, and margins will show signs of unorganized workflows. Be are of using maps, images, and graphs that are poor quality or blurry.
Too much detail – Going overboard with details and financials in the wrong areas will display tones of overcompensation. This includes using lengthy sentences and unnecessary words.
Being outdated – Not updating your pitch deck over time can display carelessness.
Branding – Not personalizing and fusing your branding into your pitchbook can provide a perspective that your presenation is a stock template. Branding goes a long way – simply adding your company’s logo, the investor’s logo, and the date can go a long way.
What real estate investors want to know
As mentioned, investors are often sophisticated and have specific criteria in the companies they work with. When you create a pitch presentation, do the extra work and research the investor you are pitching and make sure to directly provide what will get their attention, and ultimately, get funding. Here are some important points they would want to know about your real estate project:
- Property location and valuation
- Project timeline and development process
- The “ask” or minimum investment amount as well as the investment process
- Your company’s brand, credibility, and focus
What software you can use to build your deck
If you are starting out and will be crafting a pitch deck by yourself, here are quick and easy-to-use apps you check out to put that perfect pitch deck together.
Microsoft Powerpoint or Google Slides
Microsoft Powerpoint is the most basic software you can use to create slide presentations such as a real estate pitch deck. Basic, as it is often readily available on your PC, but it is reliable to help you layout and built your best pitch presentation. It has presentation templates and formatting tools for building pitch books.
Once you’re done, just be sure to save your file as a PDF to keep everything intact.
Google Slides is great cloud-based software that can be worked on in real-time by different members of your team and shared easily by email and stored in your Google Drive.
Keynote
For Mac and iOS users, Keynote is efficient and free presentation software you can use to create a pitch deck. With its minimalist interface and design, it features functional tools for designing and personalizing your pitch presentation. It also provides high-quality pitch deck templates and themes that you can use instantly.
Canva
Canva is an online web platform that has ready-to-use presentation templates for various graphic arts and digital presentations. It can be a great tool for building your pitch deck as it is easy to navigate and has a convenient drag-and-drop function.
Slidebean
Slidebean is a go-to site for start-ups when it comes to creating eye-catching pitch books. They provide creative pitch deck templates and themes for different kinds of businesses. The platform features AI-powered online presentation tools and offers consultancy and design services as well.
How to hire outside talent for your pitch deck
Managing any kind of business requires tedious effort. Should you find creating a pitch deck troublesome or time-consuming, there are many options for finding low-cost help. You can simply reach out to freelancers who have expertise on the matter. For this, it is best to look for talent within reliable freelance sites like Upwork and Fiverr.
Make sure to ask for a sample of a freelancer’s work, check out several candidates, and make the fitting choice.
Once you pick the right freelancer, provide all the necessary information need to create the right pitchbook.
When it’s complete, dissect, edit, and review it so it’s perfect.
Ready to get your Pitch Deck working for you?
Conclusion
Your pitch deck can make or break your prospective investor’s trust. Look at it as a dream job interview that requires a pitch.
Whether you create it yourself or have it professionally done by someone else, your presentation should represent you and your real estate project.
Make it a point to put any effort into crafting your vision into a piece of the file that will allow investors to see really see and appreciate the opportunity you are presenting.
Some investors will still say no, simply because your real estate project does not align with their goals. But if you have the right pitch deck with the right content, you’ll surely win the right investors for your project.
For help on creating the perfect slides and making the best real estate pitch deck, reach out to us.
About the author
Leslie Morales is the CEO of Launch Module and a Certified High Performance Coach. Learn more about Leslie and her team on our About Us page.
