Multifamily Property Development Break-Even at Month 25

Fixed costs $59.5K/mo Month 1 base

Contribution margin 100% No variable cost

Break-even revenue $59.5K/mo Cover fixed costs

Break-even timing Month 25 Model break-even

Break-even calculator

Use this calculator to test monthly revenue, direct costs, and fixed overhead against break-even for a multifamily development pipeline.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue is the money available to cover fixed overhead after direct costs. $ Early ramp Full portfolio Variable expenses Direct lease and operating costs that move with active property revenue. $ Lean direct costs Heavy direct costs

Money available to cover fixed costs $100,000 $135,000 revenue - $35,000 variable expenses

Margin ratio

74%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs Monthly overhead the contribution margin has to cover. $ Lower overhead Higher overhead

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which multifamily development expenses are fixed and which move with rental or sale volume?

Cost classification

For this model, break-even gets fragile if you mix fixed overhead, site carry, and unit-linked expenses. Here’s the quick split: $23,700/month of listed fixed overhead and about $35,833/month of first-year core salaries sit differently from rented-site carry and occupancy-driven charges.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Corporate office lease	Fixed	Use $7,500/month from Month 1 through Month 60 as baseline overhead.	Tying office rent to occupied units or sales volume.
Legal and professional retainers	Fixed	Use $4,000/month in fixed overhead unless the retainer scope changes.	Moving recurring retainers into one-time project fees.
Real estate management software	Fixed	Use $1,200/month as a stable operating platform charge in the base case.	Scaling software spend with rent before the model shows a usage tier.
Core salaried payroll	Fixed	Use $430,000/year, or about $35,833/month, for first-year executive, project, acquisitions, and admin roles.	Allocating all salaried payroll into construction instead of monthly operating break-even.
Portfolio property manager payroll	Semi-fixed	Add $75,000/year per full-time employee starting Month 13, then step up as coverage expands.	Spreading Year 5 staffing across Month 1.
Rented-site carry	Semi-fixed	Layer in $15,000, $20,000, and $25,000/month as rented sites start; full carry reaches $60,000/month.	Burying $60,000 rented-site carry inside the $8.4 million construction budget.
General utilities and maintenance	Semi-variable	Use the listed $2,500/month as the base charge, then separate any occupied-unit usage if entered later.	Treating every utility and maintenance dollar as fixed.
Occupancy-linked operating expenses	Variable	Keep separate from fixed overhead; the current model lists no variable expense amount.	Forcing missing unit-level expenses into fixed overhead.

How does break-even move from lean launch to Month 25 base case and full stabilization?

Scenario table

As more assets come online, monthly revenue rises faster than the fixed load. Variable costs are blank in the model, so the margin stays at 100% and the break-even swing comes from rent roll growth versus fixed carry.

Planning assumptions only; lease-up timing and staffing can move break-even.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Early lease-up	$0.800m	$0	$1.245m	100%	-$0.445m	Still short by about $445k a month, so break-even is not reached yet.
Month 25 base case	$1.830m	$0	$1.495m	100%	$0.335m	About $335k above break-even, so the model has a modest cushion.
Full stabilization	$3.500m	$0	$1.495m	100%	$2.005m	Large cushion now, but later staffing step-ups can narrow it.

What breaks the Month 25 break-even plan?

Stress test

Month 25 has a $335k cushion, but it’s thin. A 10% revenue miss cuts it to $152k, a 10% cost increase cuts it to $186k, and both together leave about $3k.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$1,830k	$335k cushion	The plan clears break-even, but the buffer is only 18% of revenue.
Revenue shortfall	Revenue drops 10% to $1,647k.	$1,647k	$152k cushion	A small lease-up miss cuts more than half the buffer.
Fixed-cost pressure	Fixed carry rises 10% to $1,644k.	$1,644k	$186k cushion	Overhead inflation still leaves room, but not much.
Margin pressure	Concessions and slower collections trim effective revenue 10% to $1,647k.	$1,647k	$152k cushion	Rent softness plus concessions can wipe out most of the cushion.
Combined pressure	Revenue drops 10% and fixed carry rises 10%.	$1,644k	$3k cushion	One more miss pushes the plan to the edge.

What should the founder verify before the next multifamily land, build, and lease-up commitment?

Founder checklist

Before you lock in land, construction, or lease-up, test whether the project can carry $83.7K a month of total monthly burden and still reach Month 25 break-even. If Month 60 sales have to cover monthly losses, the plan is too thin.

1Site ControlMonth 1-21

Confirm each site is locked before its acquisition month, because the owned purchases total $11.5M and the pipeline runs from Month 1 through Month 21.

2Carry Load$83.7K/mo

Verify monthly carry stays in range, because $60K of rented-site fees plus $23.7K of fixed overhead hits cash every month before any sale proceeds arrive.

3Upfront Spend$8.78M

Here’s the quick math: construction budgets total $8.4M and corporate capex adds $380K, so lock scope before contractor commitment and liquidity gets tight.

4Manager RampMonth 13

Verify property management readiness before the Month 13 payroll step, because the team has to shift from build mode to operating mode on time.

5Demand CheckMonth 25

Make sure lease-up can support Month 25 break-even, because Years 1 and 2 EBITDA are negative and Month 60 sale timing should not carry the operating plan.

6Cash Trough-$12.979M

Hold enough reserve to survive the Month 43 minimum cash point of -$12.979M, or the project can run out of room before it reaches stabilized performance.