11 Tips for Successful & On Time Portfolios

With thousands of reports delivered and a 99.9+% reliability rate, we’ve learned a few things about what it takes to get deals done on time. Below are the top 11 Tips our Clients have found most helpful for their portfolio projects.  Enjoy!

1)      ADVANCE NOTICE. Give your third party Consultant as much advance notice of the deal as possible. How many properties? Where are they? When do you expect to start the deal? What is the timeline? The more time the Consultant has to prepare, the better chance that your deadlines will be met, especially for very large projects.
 
2)      KICK-OFF. Hold a kick-off call with all of the key members of your team and your Consultant’s team to review all project details and make sure the project starts on the right foot. 
→ Special Tip: Ask your Consultant to provide an agenda in advance with key topics to review on the call.
 
3)      TIMELINE. If you have certain milestone dates that impact the deal, advise the Consultant up front. This might mean signing a letter of intent, going hard, closing, etc. Bring the Consultant into the loop so they can be a more effective partner. 
→ Special Tip: Advise the Consultant regarding the data you need at each milestone date.
 
4)      PARTIES. Identify all parties involved in the deal. Specific parties may have specific reliance language, addressing requirements, or scope requirements (see below), which your Consultant would need to include in their process.
→ Special Tip: Make sure all parties have agreed on reliance language to be used.
 
5)      CONFIDENTIALITY. If the deal is confidential, be sure to advise the Consultant of the details of that confidentiality. Who can they talk to? What can they say or not say?
 
6)      SCOPES. Which scope will be required? The Consultant will need to understand if additional data collection is required during site inspection and/or if there are special report formatting requirements. 
→ Special Tip: If multiple lenders are involved, make sure they have communicated with one another as to the final scope to be used.
 
7)      SAMPLING. For Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, is sampling required? What is the scope?
 
8)      RESERVE TERM. For Property Condition Assessments, identify the Reserve Term up front, and confirm with all parties involved. 
→ Special Tip:  Reserve Term is typically the loan term plus 2 years. 
 
9)      COMMUNICATION. Establish proper lines of communication for issues.  In case of significant issues identified at the properties, who is the proper person for the Consultant to speak with?  How frequently do you want to have status calls for the deal to review data?
 
10)   PROPERTY ACCESS. To the extent possible, work out access to the properties in advance. Who will be the primary contact for the third party Consultant to schedule site visits? Will it be one point of contact, or multiple points of contact (by region or by property)? Who should the Consultant contact in the event of an access-related issue?
→ Special tip: Access letters can be very helpful to avoid issues.
 
11)    DATA DISTRIBUTION. Confirm how data will be distributed. To whom? How? (Dataroom? Dropbox? CD?)