An investment committee memo (IC memo) is the formal document presented to a real estate investment firm's decision-making body to recommend or evaluate a potential transaction. It synthesizes market research, financial analysis, risk assessment, comparable transactions, and deal terms into a structured narrative that enables informed investment decisions. AI can now draft IC memos by pulling together outputs from upstream analysis workflows.
A comprehensive IC memo typically includes: executive summary and investment recommendation, market overview and submarket analysis, property description and physical assessment, financial analysis (returns, sensitivity tables, scenario modeling), risk factors and mitigants, comparable transaction analysis, development or business plan overview, exit strategy analysis, and key terms summary.
Traditional IC memo preparation takes 1-2 weeks of analyst time, gathering data from multiple sources and assembling it into a coherent narrative. AI systems can draft an IC memo in hours by synthesizing outputs from automated market research, financial modeling, and due diligence workflows. Human investment professionals then refine the narrative, add judgment-based insights, and finalize the recommendation.
AI underwriting in commercial real estate uses artificial intelligence to automate the financial modeling, sensitivity analysis, and return projections that inform investment and development decisions. AI underwriting systems can produce institutional-grade financial models in minutes — incorporating market data, comparable transactions, construction cost estimates, and financing assumptions.
CRE market research is the systematic analysis of commercial real estate market conditions — supply and demand dynamics, demographic trends, economic indicators, comparable transactions, and competitive landscape — used to inform investment, development, and leasing decisions. AI has transformed CRE market research from a time-intensive manual process into an on-demand capability that can synthesize thousands of data points in hours.
AI due diligence in commercial real estate uses artificial intelligence to automate and accelerate the research, analysis, and reporting that precedes a real estate investment or development decision. AI systems can process environmental records, zoning codes, title documents, financial data, and market comparables simultaneously — producing comprehensive due diligence packages in hours instead of weeks.