Excel Alternative · Updated 2026
Excel is the default underwriting tool for most multifamily investors. It's flexible, familiar, and free. But that flexibility comes with a cost: every new deal means rebuilding formulas, re-entering data, and hoping nobody accidentally broke a cell reference three tabs deep.
Dealyze replaces the spreadsheet grind with AI-powered extraction. Upload the offering memo or T12 as a PDF. The AI reads every number, populates the underwriting model, and delivers a complete analysis — NOI, cap rate, DSCR, IRR, sensitivity tables, and a Go/No-Go verdict — before you'd even finish setting up the spreadsheet.
Dealyze vs Excel for multifamily deal analysis — the metrics that matter.
| Criteria | Dealyze | Excel Spreadsheet |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first analysis | ~2 minutes | 2-4 hours (first time), 30-60 min (reuse template) |
| Data entry | AI reads PDF automatically | Manual — every field, every deal |
| Transcription error risk | Low — AI extracts from source | High — typos, wrong cells, copy-paste mistakes |
| Formula maintenance | None — model is built in | Ongoing — broken references, version drift |
| NOI / cap rate / DSCR | Automatic | If your formulas are correct |
| IRR projection | 5-year, automatic | Possible but complex to build |
| Sensitivity analysis | Auto: vacancy + rent scenarios | Manual data tables or VBA |
| Deal grading (A-F) | Automatic composite score | Not available |
| Go / No-Go verdict | With plain-English reasoning | You interpret the numbers yourself |
| Break-even occupancy | Automatic | Goal seek or manual calculation |
| Learning curve | Upload a PDF, review results | Need to understand formulas, cell references, modeling |
| Collaboration | Share link or export Excel | Version control issues, "which file is latest?" |
| Deal history | Dashboard with all past analyses | Folder of spreadsheets |
| Cost | From $29/mo | Free (but your time isn't) |
Excel is free. The time you spend in it is not.
Building a multifamily underwriting model in Excel from scratch takes 4-8 hours if you know what you're doing. You need income projections, expense breakdowns, debt service calculations, cap rate formulas, cash-on-cash returns, and ideally an IRR model with exit assumptions. Most investors either download a template they don't fully understand or build one that's missing key metrics.
Even with a good template, you're still manually entering every number from every offering memo. A 40-page OM means flipping between the PDF and your spreadsheet, hunting for gross potential rent on page 12, operating expenses on page 23, and the asking price buried in a paragraph on page 7.
A 2023 study found that 88% of spreadsheets contain errors. In underwriting, a misplaced decimal or a formula referencing the wrong cell can make a bad deal look good — or cause you to pass on a great one. The worst part: spreadsheet errors are invisible. There's no validation, no sanity check, no flag that says "this cap rate seems impossibly high."
Dealyze runs the same validated model on every deal. The calculations are tested, the outputs are consistent, and the system flags anomalies — like an expense ratio below 25% or a DSCR below 1.0 — so you catch problems before they become costly mistakes.
In Excel, running sensitivity analysis means either building a data table (which most investors don't know how to do), manually changing inputs and recording outputs, or writing VBA macros. Most people skip it entirely and underwrite to a single set of assumptions.
Every Dealyze report includes vacancy sensitivity (3% to 15%) and rent growth sensitivity (-10% to +10%) by default. You see how the deal performs across a range of scenarios without any extra work. This is the kind of analysis that changes how you negotiate — and most spreadsheet users never do it.
Upload any offering memo, T12, or rent roll. Get a complete underwriting report with sensitivity analysis, deal grading, and a Go/No-Go verdict — in under 2 minutes. One free analysis, no account required.