Greystar interview questions

Asked because approvals can make or break land value.

What is entitlement risk in a development deal and how do you underwrite it?

A first-round development question that tests whether you distinguish owning land from having the right to pursue a deal.

A developer says it has a site "under control" but has not bought it. What does that usually mean, why is it valuable, and what would you negotiate in the agreement?

A practical development-analyst exercise after a monthly construction report.

A project has a $50m approved budget, including $4m of contingency. It has incurred $18m of cost, has $27m of remaining committed contracts, and the project team forecasts $8m of uncommitted cost to…

Asked to test whether candidates understand stabilisation is a process, not a date.

How would you underwrite lease-up for a newly delivered multifamily or office project?

A numerical land-basis question for development interviews.

A project will produce $6m of stabilised NOI. Market cap rate is 5.0%, hard and soft costs excluding land are $85m, and the developer requires $15m of profit. What is the maximum land value?

A judgement question on derisking a project before completion.

Compare a forward sale of a development with building spec and selling after stabilisation.

How a developer decides what a site is worth. And the calculation is unforgiving.

A site can support 200,000 sf of apartments. Stabilised NOI would be $9m, exit cap 5.5%, hard and soft costs $110m, and you require a 20% profit margin on cost. What can you pay for the land?

A development asset-management case after an unexpected field condition threatens a project's budget and delivery date.

During construction, the general contractor submits a $3m change order for subsurface remediation and says it will delay delivery by two months. The project has $2m of contingency remaining. How would…

An investment-committee judgement case for a developer deciding between a single build and phased delivery.

You control a site entitled for 500 apartments. Building all 500 at once costs $150m and delivers in 30 months. A two-phase plan delivers 250 units in 24 months and the other 250 units 18 months…

Tests a candidate's ability to distinguish a property's headline rent from the revenue it truly collects.

An apartment property has $2.0m of gross potential rent, 8% economic vacancy, $90,000 of concessions and $60,000 of other income. Calculate effective gross income and explain why an acquirer cares…

An entry-level market diligence question for an acquisitions analyst.

You are considering a 250-unit apartment building. The submarket has 5,000 existing units, 300 vacant units and 750 units under construction delivering over the next year. What would you investigate…

A common screen in multifamily acquisitions interviews where candidates must avoid relying on one valuation shorthand.

Two 100-unit apartment buildings each trade for $20m. Building A has $1.2m of NOI and Building B has $900,000 of NOI. Calculate each cap rate. Why is price per unit alone not enough to decide which…

A real estate private equity analyst preparing a bid recommendation for a value-add multifamily acquisition.

You are underwriting a 280-unit multifamily acquisition before bid day. Review each data-room release, select the next action, and submit an investment recommendation with price discipline.

A first-round asset-management screen that tests whether a candidate can read beyond a headline occupancy figure.

A 100-unit apartment property is 95% physically occupied. Four occupied units receive one month of free rent during the current month, and one occupied unit is delinquent on $2,000 of monthly rent.…