A 200-page study has a twenty-minute spine. Read it in the right order and the document either earns the deep read or saves you one.
Start at the determination and its conditions — they are the study’s risk register pre-converted into closing requirements, and they tell you in two minutes what the analyst actually worries about. Then find the coverage curve, not the coverage number: the year-by-year DSCR trajectory against your program minimum, because the binding year is almost never the stabilized one. A study that reports only blended or stabilized coverage is hiding the early years, deliberately or not.
Third, locate the capture rate or its equivalent — penetration, utilization, absorption pace — and read its derivation. This is the assumption the whole pro forma multiplies; if it arrives benchmarked against named comparables and adjusted from fair share with reasons, the market section probably holds. If it arrives in a single sentence, the market section is decoration.
Spot-check three expense lines against the ratio tables’ benchmarks — deviations should carry explanations. Confirm the sensitivity work shocks revenue against a realistic cost structure and states the break-even decline. Check that the rate stress matches the actual proposed facility, tranche by tranche. And scan for the ramp: does year one look like an opening year or a brochure?
What earns the deep read is internal consistency — the staffing in the management section matching the labor line in the pro forma, the budget in the technical section matching the sources and uses. What earns the wastebasket is advocacy: a study with no stated risks has either analyzed nothing or reported less.
President, Wert-Berater, Inc. — independent feasibility study consultants since 1998. More than 4,000 feasibility studies completed across all 50 states and internationally, evaluating $40.2 billion in project value for SBA, USDA, EB-5, conventional, and institutional financing decisions. Fiduciary duty runs to the lender and agency in every engagement.
+1 310-857-2443 ext. 800 · email · 1968 South Coast Hwy, Ste 2382, Laguna Beach, CA 92651 · 111 Town Square Pl Ste 1238 PMB 657834, Jersey City, NJ 07310 · 539 W. Commerce St #8486, Dallas, TX 75208
Schedule a ConversationIndependent feasibility studies since 1998 — 4,000+ engagements, $40.2 billion in evaluated project value. Standard delivery in 10 to 15 business days. Fiduciary duty to the lender and agency.