Description

A focused course, tailored for you

The Affordable Housing Deal Cycle Playbook

Run a 9 percent LIHTC, a 4 percent bond deal, a CDBG-DR file, and a council displacement memo without losing predevelopment.

A QAP scoring change, a CDBG-DR NOFO, a syndicator underwriting kick-back, and a council displacement memo all land in the same week. The predevelopment calendar has no slack. The question is which document gets written first and what it has to say to survive the audience it is going to.

$199 one-time

Tailored to your situation. Access within 24 hours. 30-day money-back.

Includes a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access, generated for your specific situation.

Why this course

Affordable housing executives running a redevelopment book do not lose deals on big issues. They lose them in the gap between four documents that have to be consistent: the 9 percent LIHTC application narrative, the syndicator underwriting memo, the CDBG-DR or HOME or Housing Trust Fund layered-funding application, and the displacement-mitigation note the council aide actually reads before the rezoning hearing. When the QAP changes mid-cycle, when the HUD NOFO drops with a 45-day window, when neighborhood contact meetings produce a written objection, those four documents have to move together. The course teaches the discipline of moving them together. It does not teach LIHTC from scratch. It teaches the cycle.

What you walk away with

Rebuild a 9 percent LIHTC tie-breaker score against a mid-cycle QAP change without delaying the syndicator package.
Write a council displacement-mitigation memo a council aide can carry into a rezoning hearing without further translation.
Land a CDBG-DR or HOME application that lines up with the LIHTC capital stack instead of fighting it.
Run a syndicator underwriting package that gets returned with notes, not kicked back to the queue.
Coordinate a neighborhood contact meeting so the written objection that arrives afterward is the one you can actually answer in the application.

The 12 modules

Module 1. Reading a QAP scoring change mid-cycle

What a Qualified Allocation Plan amendment from the state housing finance agency actually changes for a 9 percent application already in underwriting. How tie-breakers shift, which set-asides become live, what the syndicator will re-price, and the exact rebuild order so the application narrative, the underwriting memo, and the supporter letters move together rather than in sequence. Worked example from a Texas-style QAP cycle, transferable to other state QAPs.

Module 2. The application narrative that survives scoring committee

Writing the 9 percent LIHTC application narrative around the scoring criteria, not around the project description. Where committee readers actually award the soft points, how the site control evidence and the development team experience pages are read together, the specific phrasing that loses points in opportunity-index scoring, and a template narrative file you can adapt section by section. Includes a checklist for the most common deduction reasons in the last three QAP cycles.

Module 3. Underwriting the syndicator will not kick back

Building the LIHTC underwriting model the syndicator can take to investment committee without sending it back for rework. Hard-cost and soft-cost line discipline, contingency placement, the difference between gross and net credit pricing in current market conditions, deferred developer fee construction, and the operating pro forma stress tests that get asked about every cycle. Includes an underwriting template with the line items syndicators flag most often.

Module 4. The CDBG-DR, HOME, and Housing Trust Fund stack

Layering federal disaster recovery dollars, HUD HOME funds, and local housing trust fund commitments under a LIHTC capital stack without triggering subsidy-layering review failures or environmental review delays. Sequencing the funding commitments, the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage trigger map, the URA relocation obligations, and the NEPA Tier I and Tier II decisions that change the schedule. Worked example with a four-source stack.

Module 5. The 4 percent bond and tax credit deal that pencils

When the 9 percent application does not score and the deal has to move to 4 percent with private activity bonds, the underwriting changes. Bond sizing, the minimum 50 percent test, the inducement resolution timing, the volume cap allocation request, and the syndicator pricing differences that decide whether the 4 percent deal still pencils. Includes a 4 percent feasibility template and the questions a state bond board asks at the inducement hearing.

Module 6. Site control, environmental, and the predevelopment month

The predevelopment-month critical path: site control evidence the application requires, Phase I and Phase II environmental sequencing, NEPA Tier I categorical exclusion versus environmental assessment decision, the FEMA flood determination, the HUD environmental review record file, and the radon and lead-based paint determinations on existing-building acquisitions. Why losing one week here costs the application cycle.

Module 7. Neighborhood contact meeting and the written objection

Running the statutorily required neighborhood input meeting so that the objection letter that follows is the one you can answer in the application narrative. Which concerns predict a council member opposing the resolution of no objection, how to document the meeting in a way that scoring committee accepts as resident support, and the difference between an objection that costs scoring points and an objection that kills the deal. Includes a meeting facilitation script.

Module 8. The displacement-mitigation memo a council aide actually reads

Writing the one-page displacement-mitigation memo a city council aide carries into the rezoning hearing and reads in the elevator on the way in. Naming the specific units being preserved, the specific income bands, the right-to-return commitment language, the relocation timeline, and the public-investment offset. Includes three sample memos at different project scales and the questions aides have asked at the dais in recent hearings.

Module 9. Rezoning, density bonus, and the council resolution

Running the rezoning case alongside the funding application so the public hearing schedule does not collide with the application deadline. Density bonus program eligibility, affordability covenants the planning department will accept, the Planning Commission staff report that supports rather than undermines the case, and the resolution of no objection that the state agency requires. Includes the hearing-day briefing pack for the developer at the dais.

Module 10. Construction closing, draw schedule, and prevailing wage

Closing a layered affordable-housing transaction so construction starts on schedule. The order in which equity, bond proceeds, soft-source commitments, and construction debt close. Davis-Bacon prevailing wage compliance when HUD funds are layered, the Section 3 economic opportunity plan, the construction draw schedule that matches the syndicator funding pace, and the placed-in-service deadlines that govern the back end.

Module 11. Lease-up, compliance, and Year One reporting

Lease-up to LIHTC compliance: the tenant file, income certification, set-aside compliance, the first-year IRS Form 8609 timing, and the asset manager handoff. The compliance differences between LIHTC, HOME, NHTF, and Project-Based Section 8 when they layer in the same property. Includes a lease-up readiness checklist for the property manager and a Year One reporting calendar for the asset team.

Module 12. Year 15 exit, refinance, and Year 30 affordability

Planning the Year 15 LIHTC compliance period exit during predevelopment, not in Year 14. Right-of-first-refusal versus qualified-contract decisions, the recapitalization and resyndication option, the preservation refinance, and the long-term affordability covenant that runs to Year 30 or 40. How early decisions in the application narrative and the partnership agreement constrain or unlock Year 15 options.

How this addresses your situation

Specific modules that map to what you said you are dealing with.

QAP scoring change mid-cycle → Module 1, then Module 2 to rewrite the narrative section by section.

Syndicator returns the underwriting with notes → Module 3 for the underwriting rebuild, Module 4 if a soft-source layer needs re-sequencing.

Council rezoning hearing scheduled the same week as application close → Module 8 for the displacement memo, Module 9 for the hearing pack.

Year 14 approaching on an existing property → Module 12 for the resyndication versus qualified-contract decision.

What you get with this course

Twelve written modules in the Art of Service learning environment, each 40 to 80 minutes of focused reading.
Downloadable templates: 9 percent application narrative skeleton, syndicator underwriting model line list, displacement-mitigation memo, neighborhood-contact meeting facilitation script, 4 percent feasibility template, construction draw schedule template.
Worked examples drawn from recent state QAP cycles, anonymised.
The hand-built implementation playbook tuned to the specific deals on the buyer's desk, delivered alongside course access.
Thirty-day money-back guarantee.

What you will have in hand by Day 1, Week 1, Month 1

Within 24 hours of purchase: account in the Art of Service learning environment, all twelve modules and templates available, hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside.

Week one: read modules one through four, draft the rebuild of one live document.

Weeks two through four: work the remaining modules in the order the deal calendar requires.

Before and after

Before

Four documents move in sequence: the application narrative, the underwriting memo, the council memo, and the layered-funding application each get rebuilt when the prior one changes. The predevelopment month disappears. The syndicator package arrives late. The council aide is briefed by an email written at midnight.

After

The four documents move together. A QAP scoring change rebuilds the narrative, the underwriting, and the council memo in the same afternoon. The syndicator package arrives clean. The council aide carries the displacement memo into the hearing and reads it in under two minutes. The predevelopment month holds.

What happens if you do not address this

An affordable-housing executive who runs the cycle document by document instead of together loses 9 percent applications on tie-breaker points, loses syndicator turn-time on underwriting rework, and loses rezoning cases on a displacement memo the council aide could not use. Each loss is a year on the schedule and a unit count on the production target.

Who it is for

Senior affordable-housing executives running predevelopment, acquisitions, and capital stacks at community-development corporations, mission-driven developers, public housing authorities, and redevelopment authorities. People who write the application narrative, sit at the syndicator table, brief the council aide, and own the schedule.

Who this is NOT for. Not for analysts learning LIHTC mechanics for the first time. Not for property managers. Not for asset managers. Not for general-contractor estimators. Not for anyone who is not personally signing the application narrative and the syndicator package.

How it arrives

Text-based course in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable templates and worked examples for every module, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.

Time investment. Eight to twelve hours of focused reading across the twelve modules. Template adaptation runs another four to six hours per live deal. Most buyers work the course in parallel with a live application cycle.

Why $199 is the right number

A NAHB or Novogradac LIHTC training teaches the mechanics. A council-affairs consultant writes one memo at a time at consultant rates. A syndicator-side webinar covers underwriting from the investor side. This course is the only one that ties the application, the underwriting, the council memo, and the layered-funding application into one cycle the executive runs personally.

FAQ

Is this Texas specific?

The worked QAP example draws from a Texas-style QAP because the scoring structure and the neighborhood-contact-meeting requirement are well documented. The principles transfer to any state QAP. The CDBG, HOME, and HUD modules are federal.

Will this help on a 4 percent bond deal?

Yes. Module 5 covers the 4 percent and bond deal underwriting, the inducement resolution, the volume cap allocation request, and the feasibility differences.

What is the format?

Written modules in the Art of Service learning environment, downloadable templates for each module, and the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access. Self-paced, no live sessions.

Will the implementation playbook reference my specific deals?

Yes. After purchase the implementation playbook is hand-built around the deals on the buyer's desk, named in the playbook by the framing the buyer provides.

30-day money-back guarantee. If after a week of working through the materials this is not what you needed, reply to the receipt email and a full refund is processed. No questions, no forms.

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.