Prepared for lenders, CDCs, and federal agencies to SBA SOP 50 10 8, USDA 7 CFR Part 5001, and conventional underwriting standards. Fiduciary duty runs to the lender and the agency, never the borrower. 4,000+ engagements since 1998 covering $41.2 billion in evaluated project value. So far in 2026: 41 engagements and $1.54 billion evaluated — 17 SBA, 11 USDA.
Condominium feasibility differs from rental multifamily in kind, not degree: the question is velocity, not yield. The study models pricing by unit type against verified resale and new-product comparables, monthly absorption against the market's demonstrated depth of qualified buyers, and sell-out duration against the development loan's term and carry. Unit-count optimization receives explicit treatment — the firm's methodology tests alternative configurations because the base plan is frequently not the feasible one — and presale requirements, HOA economics, and construction-defect reserve realities are addressed plainly.
The firm maintains a dedicated condominium sell-out methodology, codified in its production manual, carrying optimized unit-count scenarios, monthly absorption modeling, price-elasticity testing, and total-development-cost screens. Comparable evidence is verified at the closed-transaction level, and the model presents the development lender's exposure month by month through sell-out.
Every Wert-Berater financial model is fully linked with no hardcoded values, so any reviewer can stress any input. Deliverables comprise a complete narrative report and the linked Excel model, with ten-year pro forma, sensitivity analysis at ±5, 10, and 15 percent, interest-rate stress from +0.5 to +3.0 percent, and ratio analysis benchmarked against RMA and IBISWorld data.
SBA engagements are prepared to SOP 50 10 8, including its debt-service-coverage minimums of 1.15x operating and 1.00x global. USDA engagements follow RD Staff Instruction 5001 across the Business & Industry, Community Facilities, REAP, and Value-Added Producer Grant programs. Conventional engagements are built to the lender's stated coverage standard, typically 1.20x. Condominium programs are conventionally financed; the study is built to construction-lender underwriting standards with the coverage and release-price analysis that structure requires.
The reference engagement is a 184-unit Class A sell-out in Winter Haven, Florida, where the 170-unit base plan was determined infeasible at $60,250,000 and the optimized 184-unit configuration favorable with conditions at $48,456,000 — a determination pair that demonstrates the value of independent configuration testing. Independence is non-negotiable: determinations follow the evidence and are not revised under pressure, and studies are built to pass lender, agency, and third-party review without exception items.
A condominium sell-out feasibility study addresses a fundamentally different set of questions than a stabilized-income analysis. The lender needs to know not whether the project will produce a yield, but whether it will sell through completely — at defensible prices, within the loan term, and without requiring a release-price structure that leaves the lender under-collateralized on the back half of the sell-out. Every deliverable is designed to answer that question with specificity.
Condominium demand analysis is not apartment demand analysis with a different label. The qualified-buyer pool is materially smaller than the renter pool in any market, and the study must count it with corresponding precision. The methodology begins with household-income data from the American Community Survey, cross-referenced against prevailing mortgage qualification thresholds at current interest rates, to establish the universe of households that can finance a unit at the projected price points — before any consideration of whether those households want to own rather than rent.
Competitive-supply evidence is drawn from county property-appraiser records, state condominium-declaration filings, and building-permit databases, which together reveal both existing inventory and projects that have received entitlements but not yet broken ground. Declaration filings are particularly useful because they capture the legal creation of a condominium regime before a certificate of occupancy issues, providing earlier visibility into pipeline supply than permit records alone.
Resale velocity is measured from MLS closed-transaction data, filtered to the subject's submarket, price tier, and unit type. New-product absorption is documented from sales-office traffic reports, broker co-op records, and, where available, escrow-deposit filings required under state condominium-disclosure statutes. The study distinguishes between gross contracts written and net contracts held after rescission, because rescission rates in pre-construction condominium sales are a material variable that a lender's exposure model must reflect.
Four inputs account for the majority of variance in a condominium sell-out feasibility study's conclusions. Each is tested explicitly rather than held at a point estimate, because the lender's real question is not whether the base case works but how much deterioration the project can absorb before the loan is impaired.
Construction lenders underwriting condominium projects carry a risk profile that differs from permanent mortgage lending: the collateral is a partially completed building whose value depends entirely on a sell-out that has not yet occurred. The lender's review of the feasibility study is therefore focused on the release-price schedule, the presale covenant, and the adequacy of the absorption timeline relative to the loan maturity date. A study that cannot demonstrate sell-out completion within the loan term — including reasonable extension options — will not support a credit approval regardless of how favorable the base-case economics appear.
SBA engagements present a structural complexity: condominium projects are conventionally financed, and the SBA 7(a) and 504 programs are not typically used for speculative condominium construction. Where SBA exposure exists — for instance, in a mixed-use project with a commercial condominium component — the study is prepared to SOP 50 10 8, including the 1.15x operating and 1.00x global debt-service-coverage minimums, and the sell-out analysis is appended as a discrete module.
USDA Business & Industry and Community Facilities programs occasionally intersect with condominium development in rural markets. In those engagements, the study follows RD Staff Instruction 5001 and addresses the agency's requirement that the project serve a demonstrated community need, which in a condominium context requires documentation of the qualified-buyer pool's depth relative to the rural market's total household count.
Conventional construction lenders consistently focus on three items beyond coverage: the identity and financial capacity of the general contractor, the adequacy of the construction-defect reserve relative to state statutory minimums, and the enforceability of the purchase contracts held as presale evidence.
The engagement begins with a fee quote, delivered within one business day of the initial inquiry. The fee is fixed, stated in writing before any work begins, and is not contingent on the study's finding. A favorable determination and an unfavorable determination carry the same fee. The quote reflects the project's complexity — unit count, number of configuration scenarios to be tested, and the number of agencies whose standards the study must satisfy — not the desired outcome.
Work begins when the client assembles a complete data room. For a condominium sell-out engagement, the data room typically includes the site plan and unit-mix schedule, the architect's floor plans with gross and net square footage by unit type, a construction cost estimate from the general contractor, the project's pro forma as the developer has modeled it, the purchase-and-sale agreement or ground lease for the land, and any executed presale contracts. Incomplete data rooms are the primary cause of delayed delivery; the firm identifies missing items at intake rather than mid-engagement.
Standard delivery is ten to fifteen business days from a complete data room. Rush delivery is available and is quoted separately. The completed study — bound narrative report and fully linked Excel model — is published to a secure client portal. The financial model remains live in the portal: when a lender's credit officer changes an input — a lower absorption rate, a higher cost estimate, a different interest-rate assumption — every output recalculates immediately, without requiring a revised report or a new engagement. That transparency is deliberate; it reflects the firm's position that the analysis should withstand any reviewer's scrutiny without exception items.
Condominium sell-out and subdivision sell-out share the same underlying discipline — absorption measured against carry — but the products behave differently. Attached condominium inventory delivers in whole buildings, so unsold units accumulate against a fixed delivery, while a subdivision can phase lot releases and slow its exposure. Both fail the same way: the programme sells out eventually and the carry consumes the margin. Where the land under consideration would carry detached lots or homes instead, see the residential subdivision feasibility study; where the same units would be retained and rented rather than sold, see the Build-to-Rent community feasibility study.
The fee is fixed and quoted in writing within one business day of inquiry. It is not contingent on the study's finding and does not change based on whether the determination is favorable or unfavorable. The quote reflects project complexity — unit count, number of configuration scenarios, and applicable lending programs — so the most accurate way to get a number is to submit a brief project description for a same-day quote.
Standard delivery is ten to fifteen business days from receipt of a complete data room. Rush delivery is available and is quoted separately at intake. The most common cause of delay is an incomplete data room; the firm identifies missing items at the start of the engagement rather than mid-production, so sponsors who assemble documentation in advance consistently receive studies at the short end of the window.
The collateral does not stabilize — it liquidates. A construction lender's exposure is highest at completion, when the building is finished but unsold, and declines only as individual units close. That means the lender must underwrite the velocity of a retail sales process, not the durability of a lease-up, and must structure release prices so that partial sell-outs do not leave the loan under-collateralized. No other multifamily product type requires that combination of absorption modeling and release-price engineering.
The study uses closed resale transactions from MLS records, verified at the deed level through county property-appraiser databases, and documented new-product absorption from active competing projects. Pre-construction contract data is sourced from escrow-deposit filings and broker records where available. All comparables are filtered to the subject's submarket, price tier, and unit type; regional or metro-wide averages are not used as primary evidence.
Yes, when the project structure creates exposure for more than one source of capital. The study is built to the most demanding standard that applies — typically the construction lender's release-price and absorption requirements — and the SBA or USDA compliance modules are appended as discrete sections that satisfy SOP 50 10 8 or RD Staff Instruction 5001 respectively. A single engagement covers both audiences without requiring a separate report.
The study issues a determination on the base plan and, where an alternative configuration is feasible, issues a separate favorable-with-conditions determination on the optimized plan. The sponsor and lender receive both determinations in the same report, with the financial model structured so each scenario can be reviewed independently. The firm does not revise an unfavorable determination to accommodate a preferred outcome; the analysis follows the evidence.
Qualify a project. Tell us about the project and the program. We will tell you the truth about it — scope, timeline, and fee confirmed before work begins.
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Wert-Berater, Inc. is an independent provider of feasibility studies and other related services. The firm does not provide financing or equity investment advice, and does not arrange, broker, or place debt or equity capital of any kind.
All appraisal assignments are performed by Bruce E. Jones, MAI, ASA-GC, BCA, CMEA, a member of the Appraisal Institute since 2006, a staff member of Wert-Berater, Inc. and owner of Special Purpose Realty Valuation.