Property Acquisition Break-Even Revenue: Month 30 Target

Fixed costs $18.0K/mo Core overhead

Contribution margin 95% After variable costs

Break-even revenue $18.9K/mo Revenue target

Break-even timing Month 30 First breakeven

Break-even calculator

Test whether monthly property revenue covers transaction fees, due diligence, and fixed overhead.

Lean Base Full

Monthly revenue Revenue from property sales or lease income sets the pool that covers direct costs and overhead. $ Low sales High sales Variable expenses Use direct costs that move with each deal, mainly transaction fees and due diligence. $ Low direct High direct

Money available to cover fixed costs $95,500 $100,000 revenue - $4,500 variable expenses

Margin ratio

96%

Covers fixed costs

Yes

Fixed monthly costs Use the monthly overhead that must be covered, including payroll and operating costs. $ Lean setup Full team

Break-even chart Revenue Total costs

Which expenses are fixed, and which move with property sales?

Cost classification

Break-even gets unreliable when monthly overhead and deal-driven cash are blended. Fixed overhead is $18,000/month before payroll; purchases, construction, and transaction fees should follow property timing and sale activity.

Expense	Cost	Break-Even Treatment	Common Mistake
Office Rent	Fixed	Hold at $8,000/month from Month 1 through Month 60.	Tying rent to acquisition or sale volume.
Software Subscriptions	Fixed	Keep at $3,500/month as recurring platform overhead.	Dropping it during months with no property sale.
General Legal & Accounting	Fixed	Model $2,500/month as baseline support, separate from deal work.	Blending baseline support with due diligence fees.
Operating Salaries	Semi-fixed	Step payroll up when roles start in Month 19 and Month 31.	Using the mature team from Month 1.
Transaction-Related Fees	Variable	Apply to transaction volume at 3.0%, 3.0%, 2.5%, 2.5%, and 2.0% by year.	Parking deal fees inside monthly overhead.
Professional Services & Due Diligence	Variable	Apply to deal activity at 2.0%, 2.0%, 1.5%, 1.5%, and 1.0% by year.	Treating all legal review as fixed support.
Acquisition Purchase Amounts	Variable	Trigger cash outflow only when owned properties are acquired.	Smoothing purchase cash across all months.
Property Rental Obligations	Semi-variable	Start rent when Office Park and Coastal Villa obligations begin.	Charging rented properties before their active months.

How does break-even shift from lean to base to full acquisition timing?

Scenario table

Break-even shifts from fragile in the lean case to workable in the base case and much safer in the full case. The lean plan has no sale proceeds before Month 30, while the full case gets a 97% margin and a better cushion.

Planning assumptions only; sale prices are not supplied, so exit value can change the result.

Scenario	Monthly Revenue	Variable Costs	Fixed Costs	CM Ratio	Operating Profit	Break-Even Signal
Lean acquisition ramp	$159,000	$8,000	$572,000	95%	-$421,000	Far below the about $602k break-even line, and sale proceeds do not start until Month 30.
Base acquisition case	$1,057,000	$53,000	$652,000	95%	$352,000	Month 30 is the turn, and Year 3 is profitable with payback in Month 57.
Full scale acquisition case	$5,237,000	$157,000	$838,000	97%	$4,242,000	Higher margin and later exits create the widest break-even cushion.

What breaks the break-even plan for this real estate acquisition business?

Stress test

Annual break-even is just over $721k in the base case, but delay, payroll, and fee creep push it up fast. The cash trough still lands at -$9.404M in Month 50.

Stress Case	Changed Assumption	Break-Even Revenue	Revenue Gap	Risk Signal
Current plan	No change.	$721,053	$0 cushion	Month 30 is the first clean break-even point.
Revenue shortfall	No sale-driven revenue closes before Month 30.	$721,053	$721,053 gap	Cash burn stays open until the first exit.
Fixed-cost increase	Pull Year 4 headcount and overhead into Year 1.	$1,058,947	$337,895 gap	Payroll and overhead lift the hurdle fast.
Margin pressure	Raise transaction and diligence fees from 5% to 7%.	$737,634	$16,582 gap	Small fee creep still raises the hurdle.
Combined pressure	Delay the first sale, pull Year 4 payroll forward, and raise fees to 7%.	$1,081,720	$360,668 gap	This lines up with the -$9.404M Month 50 cash trough.

What should you verify before you lock office rent and start buying properties?

Founder checklist

Don’t lock the office, hire ahead, or spend on platform build until the deal pipeline can support the Month 30 break-even path. Check capital, reserves, and seller flow first, because the cash trough lands in Month 50 and the early burn is already heavy.

1Seller Flow8 assets

Verify the eight target categories have live seller interest and timed entries from Month 2 to Month 23 before you sign office rent, because the model only works if qualified leads are flowing.

2Offer CompsComps set

Check market comps before each offer, so you do not overpay and stretch the capital stack beyond the Month 30 break-even path.

3Contribution Margin95% CM

Contribution margin, the cash left after variable costs, stays at 95% in Year 1 if transaction-related fees and due diligence hold at 5.0%.

4Burn Load$100.2K/mo

Track the full monthly burn once Office Park and Coastal Villa are live, because the base $57.2K overhead rises by $43K from the $25K and $18K rental obligations.

5Hiring RampMonth 19 / 31

Stage the Asset Manager and Investor Relations Associate at Month 19 and the Development Manager at Month 31, so headcount only steps up after the deal machine is already working.

6Capital Buffer$27.32M + $9.4M

Confirm access to $18.7M of owned purchases plus $8.62M of construction budgets, and keep enough cash to survive the Month 50 trough of about negative $9.4M.