Student Housing Underwriting Tool

Aurobindo Saxena

Tool, Deal Screening

Student Housing Underwriting Tool for Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA)

Underwrite a new PBSA development or a stabilized acquisition with your own numbers, checked only against the hurdles you name, and stress-tested across a Downside, Base and Upside case.

How this tool works

Four steps, all in your browser

Nothing you enter is sent anywhere unless you submit the Request Access form near the bottom of this page. Every calculated figure below comes from arithmetic on the numbers you type in, not a lookup against RAYSolute's own research.

1

Set up your deal

Country, city, deal type (new development or stabilized acquisition), currency and your bed count by type. Only one city on this page, the labeled illustrative example, carries pre-filled numbers.

2

Enter your assumptions

Costs, rent, occupancy ramp, operating expenses, financing and your own hurdles. Nothing here is looked up for you; it is arithmetic on what you type.

3

Get your Go / Conditional Go / No-Go read

Checked only against the hurdles you name yourself, minimum stabilized yield on cost, minimum levered Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and maximum development cost per bed. Never an invented industry benchmark.

4

Stress-test with sensitivity

See a Downside, Base and Upside case built from your own base numbers, moved by the magnitudes you choose, before you decide anything.

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Request access

This tool is available on request — I review every request personally, usually within a few hours.

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Deal ticket, your inputs drive every number

Build your deal ticket

Every currency and number field below is typed by you. Selections (country, city, deal type, currency) set context and toggle which sections apply.

Deal Assumptions

Fields update the deal ticket live. Select a city to see whether RAYSolute has a market file for it.

Identity

Country

City

Deal type

Currency

Expected opening date

Product

Beds by type

Studio

Ensuite

Cluster

Twin

Average Net Saleable Area (NSA) per bed (sq. ft.) All bed types are underwritten at the same rent per bed in this screening tool; a full feasibility study can model rent by unit type. Net Saleable Area (NSA) is shown for reference only and is not used in the financial engine below.

Development path

Land cost (in selected currency)

Construction cost per bed (in selected currency)

Soft cost (% of construction cost)

Contingency (% of construction plus soft costs)

Construction period (months)

Acquisition path

Purchase price (in selected currency)

Purchaser's transaction costs (% of purchase price)

Capex plan (in selected currency)

In-place rent per bed per year (in selected currency)Shown for reference against the underwritten rent below; the underwritten rent, not the in-place rent, drives the cash flow projection.

Operations

Underwritten rent per bed per year (in selected currency)

Day-1 occupancy (%)

Stabilized occupancy (%)

Months to reach stabilized occupancy

Operating expenses, basis

Operating expenses per bed per year

Management fee (% of EGI)

Vacancy / credit loss (%)Applied to occupied-bed rent, on top of the occupancy ramp, to compute Effective Gross Income (EGI).

Ancillary income per occupied bed per year (in selected currency)

Rent growth rate (% per year)

Opex growth rate (% per year)Management fee and Net Operating Income (NOI) are deducted from EGI using these same growth-adjusted figures each year.

Capital

Financing basis

Loan-to-Value (LTV) %

Equity amount is not entered separately; it is computed as total project or acquisition cost less the debt amount above, and shown in your results.

Interest rate (% per annum)

Loan tenor (years)This tool assumes interest-only debt service through the hold period, with the full balance repaid at exit; it does not model amortizing principal.

Target levered Internal Rate of Return (IRR) (%), your own target for reference

Hold period (years)

Exit capitalization rate (%)

Exit transaction costs (% of exit value, your own assumption)

Your hurdles

Leave a hurdle blank or at 0 to skip that check. This tool never substitutes an industry-standard or RAYSolute-chosen figure in its place.

Minimum stabilized yield on cost (%)

Minimum levered IRR (%)

Maximum development cost per bed (in selected currency, development deals only)

India-specific checklist

Flags and questions only, not scored numbers. RAYSolute has not sourced exact statutory figures for this free tool; a commissioned engagement confirms them for your specific project.

Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) applicability

Zoning treatment: student hostel / lodging vs. residential apartment

Goods and Services Tax (GST) treatment of accommodation rent

RAYSolute will confirm the applicable GST rate as part of any commissioned engagement, not as part of this free tool.

Fill in the deal ticket and select "Run Underwriting" to see your Go / Conditional Go / No-Go read, key metrics, and a year-by-year cash flow, based entirely on your inputs.

Where this tool stops

What a full RAYSolute feasibility study adds

This tool is a self-service screening calculator you complete yourself in your browser. It does not do the following, and a RAYSolute feasibility study does.

Real market rents, cap rates and occupancy for any live city

This tool deliberately does not carry live Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) market data for Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune or any other real city; only the labeled illustrative example carries pre-filled numbers.

Verified construction and land cost benchmarks

The engine above runs on the construction, land and operating costs you type in. A feasibility study replaces your estimates with quotes and verified comparables for your specific site.

Statutory confirmation of RERA, zoning and GST treatment

The India-specific checklist above records your own flags and questions; it does not answer them. A commissioned engagement confirms the applicable Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) status, zoning classification, and Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate for your specific project.

Primary demand and competitive research

Site visits, interviews with universities, competing operators and prospective residents in your specific catchment. This tool cannot see your site or talk to your market.

A defended, board-ready underwriting memo

A model built to withstand scrutiny from a lender, an investor or a board, with sourced assumptions and a full sensitivity band, carrying RAYSolute's name.

Methodology, fully disclosed

How this tool calculates your numbers

Every formula and simplification below is disclosed so you know exactly what the engine is (and is not) doing.

Engine formulas

Effective Gross Income (EGI): total beds multiplied by underwritten rent per bed, multiplied by average occupancy for the year, less vacancy and credit loss, plus ancillary income.
Net Operating Income (NOI): Effective Gross Income (EGI) less operating expenses and the management fee.
Total project cost (development): land cost plus construction cost plus soft costs plus contingency plus financing costs during construction (assumed on an average 50% drawn debt balance across the construction period).
Total acquisition cost: purchase price plus purchaser's transaction costs plus your capex plan.
Yield on cost: stabilized Net Operating Income (NOI) divided by total project cost (development) or total acquisition cost (acquisition, shown as "going-in yield" for Year 1).
Unlevered and levered Internal Rate of Return (IRR): computed over your stated hold period using a bisection solver on your year-by-year cash flows, your exit capitalization rate, and your exit transaction cost assumption.
Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR): Net Operating Income (NOI) divided by annual interest expense, at the year your occupancy first reaches its stabilized level. This tool assumes interest-only debt service through the hold period, not an amortizing principal schedule.
Go / Conditional Go / No-Go: every computed metric is checked only against the hurdles you name yourself; a hurdle missed by more than 10% drives a No-Go, a hurdle missed by 10% or less drives a Conditional Go, and every hurdle met drives a Go. Leaving a hurdle blank skips that check rather than defaulting to a benchmark this tool chose for you.
Sensitivity: the Downside case moves rent, occupancy, construction cost (development only) and exit capitalization rate together, using either the moderate or severe magnitude you select, plus a one-year delivery delay for a development deal. The Upside case applies only a +10% rent improvement; this tool does not assume favorable moves in occupancy, cost or exit pricing beyond what you enter as your base case.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions before using this tool

Answers below match the FAQPage schema embedded on this page so AI assistants can surface them directly.

Does this tool use RAYSolute's real market data for my city?

No, not yet. This tool carries one clearly labeled illustrative example (Example City), populated with round, invented numbers for demonstration only. Every other city in the dropdown, including Bengaluru, Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Pune, shows Market file not yet available for this city; you can still run the calculator for that city using your own numbers, but nothing is pre-filled or looked up on your behalf.

Is this an investment, lending or board-ready recommendation?

No. Indicative screening only, based entirely on the numbers you enter. This tool does not currently carry RAYSolute's proprietary market data for any live city, only a labeled illustrative example. Investment, lending, or board decisions require a full RAYSolute feasibility study with primary market research.

How is the Go / Conditional Go / No-Go read decided?

Entirely against the hurdles you name yourself, minimum stabilized yield on cost, minimum levered Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and maximum development cost per bed. This tool never applies an industry-standard or RAYSolute-invented hurdle; if you leave a hurdle blank, that check is skipped rather than defaulted to a number we chose for you.

What does this tool assume about debt?

This tool assumes interest-only debt service through the hold period, with the loan balance repaid in full at exit. It does not model an amortizing principal schedule. A full RAYSolute engagement can model amortizing debt, refinancing, and a multi-tranche capital stack if your deal needs it.

Can I underwrite both a new development and a stabilized acquisition here?

Yes. Choose your deal type at the top of the deal ticket and the relevant fields, land and construction costs for a development, or purchase price and in-place rent for an acquisition, appear automatically. The operations, capital structure and hurdle sections are shared across both deal types.

Request a Scoped Feasibility Study

Share a few details and RAYSolute will follow up with a scope and fee estimate for your specific development or acquisition.

Ready for the version with verified market data?

This tool reflects your own assumptions back to you, for one labeled illustrative example only. For a feasibility study with primary research, verified rents, costs and comparables specific to your geography, and a defended underwriting model, contact Aurobindo Saxena, Founder and CEO of RAYSolute.

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