Claude Skills for commercial real estate, three free ones to start

How to install a Skill in Claude

1. Turn on code execution. In Claude, open Settings, then Capabilities, and turn on code execution and file creation (called "Create and edit files" in the newer settings layout). Skills need it. On Team and Enterprise plans, an organization owner turns Skills on under Organization settings, then Plugins & skills.
2. Download the Skill. Each Skill below has a zip download. Or copy its text, save it as SKILL.md inside a folder with the same name as the Skill (for example rent-roll-summary), and zip that folder.
3. Upload it. Go to Customize, then Skills. Click +, then Create skill, then Upload a skill, and choose the zip.
4. Check it is on. The Skill appears in your list with a toggle. Claude uses it when your request matches its description, or you can ask for it by name.

In Claude Code, you can skip the zip: put the folder in ~/.claude/skills/ for yourself, or in .claude/skills/ inside a project. Skills you upload in the Claude apps can sync to Claude Code if you sign in with the same account, but not the other way, and not to the API. If a Skill is missing somewhere, install it there too.

Anthropic advises using Skills only from sources you trust, meaning ones you wrote yourself or got from Anthropic, and auditing anything else thoroughly before you use it. These three came from us, so read every line first: they are plain text with no code and no web access.

Steps from Anthropic's Using Skills in Claude, How to create custom Skills and Agent Skills overview. Read November 5, 2026. Menu names change, so check those pages if a step looks different.

Three free Skills for CRE

Each one tells Claude to cite the page, line or cell behind every number, and to list anything it can't trace instead of guessing. Change them to fit your own formats.

---
name: rent-roll-summary
description: Summarizes a rent roll with a source for every number and flags problems. Use when the user shares a rent roll and asks for occupancy, in-place rent or expirations.
---

# Rent roll summary

## Rules
- Work only from the rent roll the user gave you. Do not use outside data or memory.
- Every number you report gets a source: the file name plus the page and line, or the sheet and cell (for example "RentRoll.xlsx, Units!F42").
- If you cannot point to where a number came from, do not report it. List it under "Could not trace" and say why.
- Do not round until the final table. Never fill in a missing value.

## Steps
1. State the rent roll's "as of" date and where it appears. If there is none, say so.
2. Count the units (or suites) and the total square feet. If the rent roll has a totals row, cite it. If you add up the rows yourself, say so, and say whether your sum matches the rent roll's own total.
3. Occupancy: occupied units divided by total units, and occupied square feet divided by total square feet. Show the two numbers you divided. Count a unit as vacant only if the rent roll marks it vacant. List units with a blank status separately.
4. In-place rent: the total monthly rent for occupied units, and the average rent per occupied unit (or per square foot for commercial). Show the inputs.
5. Lease expirations: for commercial, list every lease that ends within 24 months of the as-of date, with tenant, square feet and end date. For multifamily, count the leases ending in each of the next 12 months, plus month-to-month leases.
6. Flags. List anything that looks wrong, each with its source:
   - an occupied unit with zero or blank rent
   - a lease end date before the as-of date on a unit still marked occupied
   - duplicate unit numbers
   - concession, free rent or other-charge columns that change the effective rent
   - totals that do not match the sum of the rows

## Output
1. A summary table with three columns: metric, value, source.
2. The lease expiration list.
3. Flags.
4. Could not trace: each item and why.

---
name: t12-normalization-check
description: Reviews a T-12 and lists items to normalize before underwriting, citing the line and month for each. Use when the user shares a T-12 or trailing operating statement.
---

# T-12 normalization check

You produce a checklist for a person to decide on. You do not change the seller's numbers and you do not produce a final NOI.

## Rules
- Use only the T-12 and any other documents the user gives you.
- Cite every number by file, page or sheet, line item and month (for example "T12.pdf p.2, Repairs and Maintenance, March").
- If a number cannot be traced to a line or cell, list it under "Could not trace". Never estimate one.

## Steps
1. Period: state the 12 months covered. Check that each line's monthly figures add up to that line's total. List every line where they do not, with both numbers.
2. Totals: total revenue, total operating expenses and NOI as the statement shows them, with sources. Recompute NOI as revenue minus operating expenses and say whether it matches.
3. Below the line: list any capital expenditures, debt service, depreciation, amortization, or owner and partnership costs that sit inside operating expenses.
4. Unusual months: for each income and expense line, flag any month more than twice that line's median month, and any line that appears in fewer than 12 months. Show the month, the amount and the median. Say the item needs an explanation. Do not call it one-time yourself.
5. Items that can change at sale: property taxes (the assessment may reset on a sale), insurance, payroll, and the management fee as a percent of total revenue. Show the percent you computed and its inputs. Report the T-12 amount for each. Do not pick a new number.
6. Revenue: separate rent from other income. Note any concession, bad debt or vacancy loss lines. Flag revenue that may not repeat, such as insurance proceeds, lease termination fees or prior-period adjustments.
7. Missing lines: list common expense lines that do not appear at all (taxes, insurance, utilities, repairs and maintenance, management, payroll) so the reader can ask the seller. Note separately that replacement reserves are often left out of a seller T-12 and are added in underwriting.

## Output
1. Period and tie-out results.
2. Statement totals with sources.
3. A checklist table with five columns: line item, T-12 amount, issue, source, question for the seller.
4. Could not trace.

---
name: loi-first-draft
description: Drafts a first-pass LOI from a term sheet or deal notes, citing the source of every term and leaving blanks for anything missing. Use when the user asks for an LOI draft.
---

# LOI first draft

This is a first draft for a person and their counsel to review. It is not legal advice.

## Rules
- Use only the terms in the term sheet, email or notes the user gives you. Do not add business terms you think are standard. The one exception is the binding language in step 3, which is always marked for counsel.
- After every business term in the draft, add a source tag in brackets with the document and the page or line, for example [Term sheet p.1, "Purchase Price"].
- If a term the LOI needs is not in the sources, leave a blank such as [BLANK: earnest money amount] and list it under "Could not trace". Never invent a number, date or name.
- If two sources disagree, use neither. Leave a blank and list both values with their sources under "Conflicts".

## Steps
1. Find each of these terms and its source: buyer entity, seller entity, property address and description, purchase price, earnest money (amount, when it is due, when it becomes non-refundable), due diligence period, closing date, financing contingency, who pays which closing costs, assignment rights, exclusivity, confidentiality, and when the LOI expires.
2. Write the LOI in plain business language, one numbered paragraph per term, in the order above.
3. If the sources say which parts of the LOI are binding, use that and tag it. If they don't, add a paragraph saying the LOI is non-binding except for confidentiality and exclusivity, and mark it [Counsel to confirm: not from the sources].
4. Check your draft: every dollar amount and date has a source tag or a BLANK. Re-read the sources and confirm each value matches exactly, including units (total price or per square foot, calendar days or business days).

## Output
1. The draft LOI.
2. A table with three columns: term, value, source.
3. Could not trace: each blank to fill and what is missing.
4. Conflicts.

How to test a Skill before you trust it

A Skill can read well and still get a number wrong. Test it the way you'd check a new analyst: on a deal where you already know the answers.

1. Pick a deal you already know. Use a deal you closed or fully underwrote, where you know the right answers. Write those answers down first: occupancy, in-place rent, the T-12 NOI, the LOI terms.
2. Run the Skill on the original documents. Start a new chat, attach the same documents you had then, and ask for the job. Don't give Claude the answers.
3. Check every number and its source. Compare each number with your answer, then open the page or cell it cites. A right number with a wrong source is still a miss, because next time you won't know which one you got.
4. Read the Could not trace list. It should name things the documents really don't show. If it is empty on a messy file, or lists things that are plainly there, the Skill needs work.
5. Change one thing and run it again. Edit one instruction in SKILL.md, upload it again, and rerun the same deal. Then try a second deal with messier files. Follow your firm's rules on which documents can go into Claude; use redacted or practice files if you need to.

Where to get more