How to present complicated numbers

My name is Chris, and I’m addicted to powerpoint.

They say that admitting the problem is the first step to recovery. I just happen to like making good presentations. And I like helping other people make good presentations.

Presenting Real Estate Investment Numbers to Joint Venture Partners

Today’s slide deck is an example of the slides I’ll use to communicate some numbers to a joint venture partner. It’s hard to communicate a lot of numbers using presentation software (powerpoint, keynote, Google docs, open office or whatever you use.) What’s the solution?

Don’t use slides to communicate complex numbers.

Powerpoint isn’t supposed to be a document. It supports what you have to say. Create a document or a spreadsheet with all the numbers, and give it to them as a take-away. Then you’re free to make a slidedeck with only the information you want to share, and actually maintain people’s focus.

How do you un-suck un-clutter your slidedeck?

Delete everything you possibly can.

Slide number 10 in this presentation is a good example of what I mean. As few numbers and words as possible; no need for any axis clutter, only labels for each bar. No grid lines, I’ve used the values instead. There’s only one point on the slide, and you can’t miss it. $21,520.15 in positive cash flow .

There’s only one element where I added more detail than is needed. I’ll mail a cookie to the first person to correctly guess what that is.

About the numbers

I struggled with these numbers. What I’ve used is the real numbers from my last property. It’s not a typical revenue property by my standards. We got a good deal on the way in, and the renovations went off without too many hitches. We originally guessimated $20,000 for the reno. It ended up being just over $25,000 (the actual number is in the slidedeck). The $250,000 appraisal is an actual hard number. It’s currently rented to a nice couple who are paying $1,500 a month and utilities.

I thought about dumbing things down; making the $250,000 appraisal to be just $230,000. Using a 3% per-year appreciation model, instead of my standard 5% appreciation.

In the end, I decide to be completely transparent with the numbers. We did buy it for $190k. The renos were just over $25k, and it does rent for $1,500. The mortgage will be 4.5% or less, with interest only payments, and I’ve included the CHMC fees for doing a 90% mortgage. I may post the spreadsheet in the future.

Here you go!

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