Equity in a DealWorthIt construction analysis answers two questions: how much is committed, and in what order it funds. It's deliberately a simpler model than the multifamily syndication engine — one sponsor-side equity position, measured whole — so the returns you see are the project's, before any investor structuring you might layer on elsewhere.
The two pools
- Primary commitment — hard-committed capital, drawn first. Inside it you can reserve an operating-deficit earmark: the slice held back to cover operating shortfalls before stabilization. It's part of the primary commitment, not additional capital, and once reserved it never releases back to general uses.
- Additional available — an optional second pool, drawn only if the primary runs out. Declaring it obliges you to say two more things: its eligible uses (which of the cost rows it may fund — ordinary costs, cash-paid interest, the fees, operating deficit, equity-only lines), and that it's confirmed as committed and available. Silence is never permission — additional money the model can't place is a declaration error, not a guess.
When equity goes in
Contributions are as-needed: the ledger draws equity in the month a permitted use requires it, in the declared order — there's no contribution schedule to type, and the engine refuses one rather than approximating it. The draw order choice controls equity's timing relative to debt on ordinary costs: Equity first (the default) spends equity before the loan draws; Pro rata funds each month's eligible costs proportionally at the loan share you declare. Equity first shows a smaller peak loan balance and more early equity; pro rata the reverse — same project, different carry.
What comes back
Distributions are un-split: a month's positive NOI is distributed to equity in that month, and net sale proceeds are distributed in the exit month. One equity stream in, one distribution stream out — which is exactly what the IRR and the equity multiple are computed from. There is no GP/LP split, preferred return, promote or distribution waterfall in the construction model; if you syndicate the deal, those economics live in your operating agreement, and the multifamily syndication tools in DealWorthIt are a separate engine for a different deal shape.
Reading the capital picture
- Peak equity and equity contributed — the most capital at work at once, and the total that went in. Peak equity is the number your capital plan has to survive.
- Loan to cost and the share of sources split — how the capital stack actually landed, measured from funded amounts rather than intentions.
- On an all-equity project the panel says exactly that — All-equity — rather than showing a zero loan.
Common questions
- "Where do I model my investors' preferred return?" — Not here: construction returns are project-level, one equity position. The construction model won't split them, so pref-and-promote math belongs to your syndication documents.
- "The earmark didn't cover my management fee." — By design: the operating-deficit earmark funds operating shortfalls, and the management fee is excluded from what it may pay.
- "Why is the model refusing my additional equity?" — Check the two declarations: eligible uses must be selected, and the pool must be confirmed. An additional pool with neither is an incomplete document, not sponsor equity by default.
