Commercial Real Estate Lending Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Commercial Real Estate Lenders, Credit Analysts and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-BI-120

Before you join: Participants should have basic experience of corporate lending, credit analysis, financial statements or property finance.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Commercial real estate lending decisions depend on more than property value. Lenders must establish whether rental income can service debt through market disruption, interest-rate increases, lease expiries and refinancing pressure. Weak underwriting can result from overstated net operating income, unsupported valuation assumptions, inadequate sponsor review, poorly designed covenants or late identification of deteriorating asset performance. Credit teams need a consistent method for evaluating transaction risk, structuring protections and monitoring loans after closing.

This course develops the analytical and credit skills required to underwrite, approve and manage commercial real estate loans. Participants assess property markets, lease structures, rent rolls, borrower financial strength and sponsor capability. They build and test property cash flow models; calculate loan-to-value, debt service coverage, interest coverage and debt yield; size debt facilities; and assess downside cases. The programme also covers loan structuring, pricing, security, covenants, interest-rate hedging, credit memoranda, Basel III capital considerations, IFRS 9 expected credit loss concepts and problem-loan response.

Teaching combines focused instructor briefings with lender cases, property cash flow analysis, credit committee discussions, deal-structuring decisions and portfolio-monitoring scenarios. Participants work through the stages of a commercial real estate loan, from initial screening and credit approval to closing, annual review and watchlist management. They leave with a reusable commercial real estate underwriting pack containing a property cash flow model structure, credit memorandum outline, loan-sizing worksheet, covenant checklist, due diligence checklist and portfolio surveillance plan.

The course is designed for banking, insurance and institutional credit professionals who work with income-producing property, development finance or property-backed corporate lending. It is also relevant to risk, portfolio management, relationship management and credit approval staff who need to challenge commercial real estate transactions with confidence.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess commercial property income, market evidence and valuation assumptions for lending decisions
  • Analyse rent rolls, leases, operating costs and net operating income quality
  • Calculate loan-to-value, DSCR, interest coverage, debt yield and break-even occupancy
  • Build property cash flow models with base-case, sensitivity and downside assumptions
  • Size commercial real estate loans using repayment capacity and collateral constraints
  • Structure covenants, reserves, security and cash management protections for property loans
  • Prepare credit memoranda that present risks, mitigants and approval recommendations
  • Monitor portfolio performance using annual reviews, early-warning indicators and watchlist actions

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce defensible property loan analyses for credit approval discussions
  • Challenge rent, vacancy, expense and valuation assumptions with evidence
  • Identify refinancing, tenant concentration and covenant risks before approval
  • Structure stronger borrower protections through covenants, reserves and cash controls
  • Contribute more effectively to annual reviews, watchlists and problem-loan decisions

For your organisation

  • More consistent underwriting across property types, teams and lending locations
  • Earlier detection of weak income assumptions and unsupported collateral values
  • Better alignment between loan size, debt service capacity and downside resilience
  • Stronger credit files with clearer risk mitigants, conditions and monitoring requirements
  • Improved portfolio surveillance for maturity concentrations, covenant breaches and distressed assets

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can identify the main commercial real estate lending structures, risks and creditor positions.

  • Commercial mortgage structures: term loans, construction facilities, bridges and revolvers
  • Senior, mezzanine and preferred equity positions within capital stacks
  • Recourse, non-recourse and limited-guarantee provisions allocate sponsor repayment obligations
  • Loan purposes matched to acquisition, refinance, development and stabilisation phases
  • Fixed, floating and hedged interest-rate structures affect debt service
  • Intercreditor agreements establish priority, standstill rights and enforcement controls

Participants can assess property market evidence, lease income and valuation inputs used in underwriting.

  • Property type economics for office, retail, industrial, residential and hotels
  • Market supply pipelines, absorption and vacancy indicators inform underwriting assumptions
  • Rent-roll analysis identifies tenant concentration, lease expiry and covenant quality
  • Lease structures: gross, net, triple-net and index-linked rent obligations
  • Appraisal approaches compare income capitalisation, discounted cash flow and sales evidence
  • RICS Red Book valuation instructions, assumptions and material uncertainty disclosures

Participants can evaluate borrower ownership, sponsor strength, guarantor support and financial crime risks.

  • Borrower due diligence maps ownership, jurisdiction, governance and beneficial owners
  • KYC and AML checks screen sanctions, PEPs and adverse media
  • Financial statement spreading normalises EBITDA, debt, liquidity and contingent liabilities
  • Sponsor track records tested against realised projects and prior defaults
  • Corporate guarantees assessed through guarantor cash flow and legal enforceability
  • Source-of-equity verification traces deposits, related parties and funding commitments

Participants can reconstruct sustainable net operating income from property-level financial information.

  • Net operating income reconstructed from rent roll and operating statements
  • Effective gross income adjusts contractual rent for vacancy and concessions
  • Expense normalisation separates recoverable costs, reserves and nonrecurring items
  • Capital expenditure schedules distinguish tenant improvements, leasing costs and maintenance
  • Stabilised NOI assumptions tested against market rents, occupancy and expenses
  • Quality of earnings review reconciles property statements to audited accounts

Participants can calculate and interpret the core metrics used to determine lending capacity.

  • Loan-to-value ratios calculated using current, stressed and completed values
  • Debt service coverage ratios incorporate amortisation, interest and cash-trap triggers
  • Interest coverage ratios test earnings capacity under floating-rate debt
  • Debt yield measures lender return independent of valuation assumptions
  • Break-even occupancy quantifies vacancy tolerance before debt service shortfall
  • Amortisation profiles, maturity balloons and refinancing exposure shape loan sizing

Participants can build and review property underwriting models that test repayment capacity under stress.

  • Monthly underwriting models link lease cash flows, expenses and debt schedules
  • Base-case assumptions documented with sources, dates and underwriting rationale
  • Downside scenarios apply vacancy, rent, expense, cap-rate and rate shocks
  • Sensitivity tables isolate DSCR and LTV responses to key variables
  • Development draw schedules align costs, contingencies, interest and completion dates
  • Model integrity checks trace formulas, signs, timing and circular references

Participants can structure commercial real estate facilities with suitable economic terms and lender protections.

  • Loan sizing reconciles maximum LTV, DSCR, debt yield and sponsor equity
  • Pricing grids reflect risk rating, liquidity, capital charges and competition
  • Interest-rate hedging compares caps, swaps, collars and hedge documentation
  • Cash management structures include lockboxes, blocked accounts and cash sweeps
  • Reserve accounts fund taxes, insurance, capital repairs and leasing costs
  • Covenant packages set reporting, financial tests, transfer controls and remedies

Participants can present commercial real estate credit risk clearly within institutional approval requirements.

  • Credit memoranda present transaction rationale, risks, mitigants and approval requests
  • Risk ratings combine probability of default and loss-given-default assessments
  • Basel III commercial real estate risk weights affect capital allocation
  • IFRS 9 staging links credit deterioration to expected credit losses
  • Environmental due diligence reviews contamination, flood exposure and remediation liabilities
  • Climate-risk assessment considers physical hazards, transition risk and insurance availability

Participants can identify the documentation, security and closing controls required before funding.

  • Term sheets specify economics, conditions precedent, covenants and events default
  • Security packages cover mortgages, assignments, pledges and account charges
  • Legal opinions confirm authority, enforceability, perfection and priority matters
  • Conditions precedent verify entity formation, insurance, valuation and equity funding
  • Closing checklists coordinate counsel, agents, borrowers, valuers and insurers
  • Funding controls reconcile disbursement instructions, draw requests and remaining commitments

Participants can monitor commercial real estate exposures and define actions for emerging loan deterioration.

  • Portfolio surveillance tracks covenant compliance, tenant events, valuations and maturities
  • Annual review packs update financials, rent rolls, inspections and market evidence
  • Early-warning indicators flag DSCR erosion, arrears, vacancy and sponsor distress
  • Watchlist governance assigns actions, escalation thresholds and review frequency
  • Workout options compare waivers, restructurings, enforcement, receivership and loan sales
  • Asset-management plans prioritise leasing, capex, disposals and refinancing milestones
  • Personal application plan identifies underwriting controls for immediate adoption

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Commercial real estate credit memorandum template
  2. Property cash flow underwriting model structure
  3. Loan sizing and debt service worksheet
  4. Commercial real estate covenant checklist
  5. Property loan due diligence checklist
  6. Portfolio surveillance and watchlist action plan

Who should attend

  • Commercial Real Estate Lenders — need consistent methods for underwriting and structuring property-backed loans
  • Credit Analysts — need to test property cash flows, collateral values and downside capacity
  • Relationship Managers — need to originate viable transactions and identify credit concerns early
  • Credit Risk Managers — need to challenge assumptions, ratings and proposed risk mitigants
  • Portfolio Managers — need to monitor covenant performance, refinancing risk and emerging distress
  • Insurance Investment Professionals — need to assess mortgage lending risk within investment portfolios

Skills and tools covered

Property cash flow analysisCommercial loan underwritingCredit risk assessmentLoan structuringCovenant monitoringPortfolio surveillance

Tools and standards

Basel III, IFRS 9, RICS Red Book Global Standards, Argus Enterprise

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short technical briefings followed by lender cases, group analysis and structured decision-making. Participants examine rent rolls, property operating statements, borrower information, valuation evidence and proposed loan terms. Cash flow modelling activities test debt service capacity under changing rents, vacancy, expenses, interest rates and capitalisation rates. Credit committee simulations develop concise risk recommendations, while loan-monitoring scenarios address annual reviews, covenant breaches and watchlist escalation. Participants conclude by identifying underwriting and monitoring controls to apply in their own roles.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic experience of corporate lending, credit analysis, financial statements or property finance. They should be comfortable reading an income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement, and performing straightforward ratio calculations in spreadsheets. Familiarity with commercial property terms such as rent, vacancy, lease and valuation is useful but not essential. The course does not require prior real estate underwriting experience, advanced financial modelling, legal training, prior use of Argus Enterprise or knowledge of a particular national property market.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand basic lending or financial statement analysis and be comfortable with spreadsheet calculations. Prior commercial real estate lending experience is helpful but not required.

Participants should bring a laptop capable of opening spreadsheet files, where classroom arrangements permit. They may also bring anonymised examples of property lending challenges for discussion with the instructor.

The course is intended for commercial real estate lenders, credit analysts, relationship managers, risk professionals and portfolio managers. It also suits insurance investment staff assessing commercial mortgage exposures.

This course examines property from a lender's perspective: repayment capacity, collateral coverage, loan structure, covenants and downside protection. Investment courses focus more heavily on equity returns, acquisition decisions and asset management.

Participants can use the underwriting model structure, loan-sizing worksheet, credit memorandum template and covenant checklist in live transaction reviews. The monitoring content also supports annual reviews, covenant testing and watchlist discussions.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The five days progress from transaction fundamentals and property income analysis through modelling, structuring, approval, closing and portfolio management.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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