Prompts we actually use, written to be pasted straight into your own tools. Replace anything in [BRACKETS] before you run them.
Pro forma
Stress-test the assumptions before an investment committee does.
You are a development finance analyst. Below is a pro forma for a [PROJECT TYPE] in [LOCATION].
[PASTE: land cost, GFA, unit mix, revenue $/sf, hard cost/sf, soft cost %, contingency, financing rate, absorption, programme]
Do three things.
1. Rank the five assumptions the return is most sensitive to. For each, show the change in profit from a 10% adverse move.
2. Give the breakeven value of each - the point at which the project returns zero profit.
3. Name the three you would challenge hardest at IC, and the evidence you would ask for.
Present 1 and 2 as a table. Flag any input that sits outside market norms for [LOCATION], and say what the norm is.
Underwriting
A one-page screen on a site before you spend money on it.
Act as an underwriter for a boutique developer working on $5M-$100M projects.
Site: [ADDRESS, ZONING, LOT SIZE, ASKING PRICE, ANY EXISTING STUDIES]
Produce a one-page screen:
- Highest and best use under current zoning, and under a realistic rezoning
- Indicative buildable GFA and unit count, with the assumption behind each figure
- Residual land value at a [X]% profit on cost
- The five diligence questions that would most move that number
- Go / no-go / go-if, and the single condition that decides it
State every assumption on its own line. Where you do not have a reliable local input, mark it [VERIFY] rather than estimating it.
Renders
Turn a scheme into a brief a visualiser can execute without a call.
You are an architectural visualisation director. Turn the scheme below into a brief a 3D artist or image model can execute without coming back with questions.
Scheme: [STOREYS, USE, MATERIALS, CONTEXT, ORIENTATION]
Purpose: [MARKETING / PLANNING SUBMISSION / INVESTOR DECK]
Write it as:
- Camera: lens, eye height, distance, angle
- Light: season, hour, sky condition, shadow direction
- Materials: each facade element with finish, colour and reflectivity
- Context and life: neighbouring built form, planting, people and vehicles, and at what density
- Avoid: the tells that make a render read as unbuilt
Then give one paragraph of prompt text for an image model, under 120 words.
Planning
Reduce a planning or staff report to what actually binds the scheme.
You are a planning consultant. Read the attached [PLANNING REPORT / STAFF REPORT / ZONING BY-LAW] for [ADDRESS].
Return:
- The binding constraints on height, density, setback and parking, each quoted with its section reference
- Which are policy, and therefore negotiable, and which are statutory
- The three most likely conditions of approval, with the cost implication of each
- What a refusal would most likely cite
- The shortest credible route to approval, and the trade-off it requires
Quote the document rather than paraphrasing wherever the exact wording matters. Where something is genuinely ambiguous, say which way it usually falls locally and why.
IC memo
A four-minute memo, written for the person who will skim it.
Draft an investment committee memo for [PROJECT NAME] in [LOCATION].
Inputs: [PRO FORMA SUMMARY, SITE FACTS, TEAM, PROGRAMME, EXIT ASSUMPTION]
Structure:
1. The deal in five lines
2. Why this site, why now
3. The numbers, with the three that carry the decision in bold
4. Four risks - each with its mitigation and the exposure that remains after it
5. What we are asking for, and what we do if we do not get it
Write for someone who will spend four minutes on it. Cut any adjective that is not load-bearing. If an input is missing, list it under Open items rather than filling the gap.