Affordable Housing Investors Council
Affordable Housing Investors Council Investor Knowledge Base
LIHTC Decoded · Investor Lens Series

A curated library of short, practical explainers designed for equity investors in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) transactions. Use this hub to onboard new staff, deepen your understanding of LIHTC risk and return, and connect to AHIC tools, worksheets, and best practices.

Series: LIHTC Fundamentals
Status: 2 explainers · more coming

Differences in Underwriting LIHTC vs Market-Rate Properties

What investors review differently
Highlights key ways LIHTC underwriting diverges from conventional apartments, including equity structure, lower-tier vs upper-tier pricing, construction and permanent debt expectations, developer fees, sponsor guarantees, layered financing, rental assistance, and exit dynamics over a 15+ year compliance period.
Underwriting Equity Structure Debt & Guarantees Exit Strategy

Understanding LIHTC Internal Rate of Return (IRR) / Yield

Measuring investor performance
Learn how IRR is used to evaluate projected investor performance in LIHTC funds and direct deals, how timing of capital calls and benefit schedules influence returns, and why extended IRR functions (XIRR) are typically used to capture real-world cash flow timing.
IRR / Yield Investor Benefit Schedule Pricing & Losses

Capital Accounts & Liquidation Waterfalls

Tracking economics through the life of the deal
Planned explainer on how partner capital accounts are maintained, how tax losses and contributions affect balances, and how capital accounts interact with liquidation waterfalls and investor gain/loss at exit.
Capital Accounts Waterfalls Exit Economics
In development

Underwriting Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)

Risk considerations for investors
Planned explainer on PSH underwriting from the investor perspective, including service funding stability, staffing, rent assumptions at very low income levels, and long-term operating risk.
PSH Operating Risk Service Funding
Planned topic

What topic should we cover next?

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