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How to Use the Underwriting Page to Set Defaults and Generate Property Underwriting in PadPulse

Overview

The Underwriting page allows you to evaluate potential property acquisitions by applying your investment assumptions, estimating renovation costs, analyzing projected income, and generating detailed underwriting reports.
Before underwriting properties, you should configure your underwriting defaults to match your investment strategy.



Configure Your Underwriting Defaults

Navigate to the Underwriting section and review your default assumptions.
PadPulse provides default values that can be adjusted based on your investment criteria.
Available default settings include:


Financing Assumptions

  • Financing terms
  • Cash assumptions
  • Property assumptions


Management Fees

Management fees can be configured as either:

  • A percentage of revenue
  • A flat monthly fee


Utility Assumptions

Utilities can be configured using default values.
For example:

  • Electricity costs are calculated on a per-room basis and scale automatically based on bedroom count.


Remodeling and CapEx Assumptions

Configure default renovation costs for:

  • Additional bedrooms
  • Additional bathrooms
  • Kitchens
  • Other property improvements


You can also configure:

  • Additional rehab costs as a percentage of purchase price
  • Fixed rehab amounts
  • Renovation buffers and contingency costs


Required Fields

PadPulse will notify you if required underwriting fields are missing.
Incomplete underwriting defaults may prevent Buybox searches from running successfully.

Adding Properties to Underwriting

Properties can be added to underwriting in several ways:


After identifying a property through Buybox, select Open Underwriting to move the property into the underwriting workflow.



Manually Add a Property

Select Add Property and enter the property information manually.



Import from Zillow

Paste a Zillow property URL and PadPulse will automatically pull available property information into the underwriting page.



Reviewing Property Details

Once a property has been added, open the analysis page to review and update underwriting assumptions.
Property details include:

  • Property information
  • Purchase price
  • Financing assumptions
  • Rental projections
  • Renovation estimates
  • Cap rate calculations


Configure Bedroom and Bathroom Layouts

By default, bedrooms are assumed to use shared bathrooms.
If a property contains private bathrooms:

  1. Update the number of private bathrooms.
  2. Save your changes.

PadPulse will automatically adjust rent calculations based on the updated room configuration.



Reviewing Rental Data

PadPulse automatically loads rental information from RentCast.
Available data includes:

  • Median long-term rental estimates
  • Market rental benchmarks

This information can help support underwriting assumptions and financing analysis.



Estimating Renovation Costs

CapEx fields are automatically populated using your underwriting defaults.
You can modify costs as needed based on the property's condition.
Examples include:

  • New kitchen installation
  • Roof replacement
  • Additional bedrooms
  • Additional bathrooms
  • General rehabilitation costs

Review the property's listing information and adjust renovation estimates accordingly.



Setting Market Rent Rates

PadPulse can automatically populate market room rates using city-level data.
To populate rates:

  1. Select Autofill Market Rates.
  2. Review the generated room rates.
  3. Adjust values if more accurate market data is available.



Using PadSplit Market Data

You can open the related PadSplit market page to review available room rates for the property's location.
Depending on the zip code:

  • Market data may be available.
  • No matching room data may be found.

If no zip code data is available, PadPulse recommends using the city-level market rates.



Reviewing Financial Analysis

The underwriting report includes:

  • Revenue projections
  • Expense projections
  • Cash flow analysis
  • Cap rate calculations
  • Depreciation schedules


Depreciation Options

PadPulse provides depreciation estimates for:

  • Standard long-term depreciation
  • Cost segregation scenarios

The analysis includes estimated first-year depreciation benefits and ongoing annual depreciation projections.


Exporting an Underwriting Report

To generate a shareable report:

  1. Open the underwriting analysis.
  2. Select Export PDF.

PadPulse will generate a PDF report containing the property's underwriting details, which can be shared with partners, lenders, or investors.



Moving a Property to the Next Stage

After completing underwriting, you can advance the property to the next workflow stage.
Available options include:


Start Acquisition

Moves the property into the Acquisition workflow and updates the property's status.
The property will then appear in the Acquisitions section.


Move to Renovation

If the property has already been acquired, it can be moved directly into the Renovation workflow.


Important Notes

  • Underwriting defaults should be configured before analyzing properties.
  • Missing required fields may prevent Buybox searches from running.
  • RentCast data is automatically loaded when available.
  • Market rents can be populated automatically using city-level data.
  • Private bathroom configurations impact projected rental income calculations.
  • Underwriting reports can be exported as PDF files for sharing and review.

Updated on: 25/06/2026

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