Case Study Commercial / NNN 6 min read

Underwriting a Single-Tenant NNN Retail Acquisition

A full walkthrough — sources & uses, DSCR and debt yield, a 10-year cash flow with contractual rent bumps, and exit IRR — built entirely with REProforma's free Commercial/NNN tool.

About this deal: this is a representative deal built to reflect realistic 2026 single-tenant NNN market terms — benchmarked against CBRE's 2026 cap rate survey and typical dollar-store ground-lease structures — not a closed transaction. It's used here to show, end to end, how the tool underwrites a real deal.

The Question

A small investor is looking at a 9,100 SF single-tenant retail building — the kind of deal a regional bank or private investor evaluates constantly, but where quality underwriting tools usually sit behind a $200+/month subscription or an institutional Excel model. Can a free, browser-based tool produce a bank-grade, defensible answer to: is this a deal worth doing, and what happens to the equity if it doesn't go perfectly?

Deal Snapshot

InputValue
Property9,100 SF single-tenant retail, Milford, DE
Lease structureAbsolute NNN (tenant pays all opex)
Tenant creditInvestment grade
Annual base rent$78,000 ($8.57/SF)
Rent escalations10% every 5 years
Lease term remaining12 yrs + 4 × 5-yr renewal options
Purchase price$1,115,000 ($122.53/SF)
Going-in cap rate7.00%
Financing65% LTV, 6.50%, 25-yr amortization
Hold period10 years
Exit cap rate7.25% (25 bps above entry)

Sources & Uses

UsesAmountSourcesAmount
Purchase Price$1,115,000Loan (65% LTV)$724,750
Closing Costs (1.5%)$16,725Equity Required$406,975
Total Uses$1,131,725Total Sources$1,131,725

Year 1 Operating Snapshot

$77,090
Net Operating Income
Gross rent $78,000, $0 opex (NNN), $910 reserves
1.31×
DSCR
Above the 1.25× typical lender minimum
10.64%
Debt Yield
Above the 8–10% lender stress threshold

10-Year Hold Results

The scheduled Year 6 rent bump (+10%) is the single biggest driver of return — NOI steps from $77,090 to $84,890 and holds flat until the next bump, which falls just after the modeled exit in Year 10.

YearsRentNOIDebt ServiceCash FlowDSCR
1–5$78,000$77,090$58,723$18,3671.31×
6–10$85,800$84,890$58,723$26,1671.45×

Exit (Year 10)

Exit NOI$84,890
Sale Price (7.25% exit cap)$1,170,897
Selling costs (2%)–$23,418
Loan payoff–$561,764
Net Sale Proceeds$585,715

Return Summary

8.28%
Levered IRR
10-year hold, levered cash flows + exit
2.99×
Equity Multiple
Total distributions ÷ equity invested
$222,672
Total Cash Distributions
Over the 10-year hold, before exit proceeds

Deal Quality Read

Lease Structure — NNN
Zero landlord expense risk
5/5
Tenant Credit — Investment Grade
Bond-like income
5/5
DSCR — 1.31× (Year 1)
Above the 1.25× typical lender minimum
4/5
Debt Yield — 10.64%
Above the 8–10% lender stress threshold
5/5
Cap Rate Spread — –0.25%
Exit assumption is no better than today's market
3/5
Verdict: Financeable, moderate-return deal

This deal comfortably clears typical lender coverage tests in Year 1 and gets safer over the hold as the Year 6 rent bump widens the DSCR cushion. The 8.28% levered IRR sits just above the tool's default 8% target — not an outlier, but a clean, bankable deal, which is realistically what most single-tenant NNN retail underwriting looks like in this rate environment.

Why This Matters

This case study is the exact workflow a bank credit analyst or a first-time NNN buyer would run before committing capital: cap rate check → sources & uses → DSCR/debt yield lender tests → 10-year cash flow with contractual rent bumps → exit sensitivity — done for free, in a browser, in under two minutes. That combination of real formulas, real lender thresholds, and zero cost is the specific gap REProforma is built to close, and it's the same workflow a real user (a banker evaluating live deals) described using the tool for.

🏬 Free Commercial / NNN Analysis Tool

Run your own deal in under 5 minutes

Input your rent schedule, lease structure, and financing terms. Get cap rate, DSCR, debt yield, breakeven occupancy, IRR, and a sensitivity table — with Excel export.

Launch Free NNN Calculator →
More Guides
Commercial Analysis Guide → Multifamily Underwriting Guide →