USDA feasibility study fees are quoted per project, fixed in advance and never contingent on the finding. Here is exactly what moves the number.
Every firm that answers this question with a single number is either quoting a template or planning to change the price later. A feasibility study prepared under 7 CFR Part 5001 is scoped to the project: a rural clinic in a county of nine thousand people and a 40-million-gallon renewable fuels plant both need the same five components addressed, and they need vastly different amounts of work to address them honestly.
What we will commit to before you spend anything is the structure of the fee. It is fixed, it is quoted in writing within one business day, and it is never contingent on the determination. USDA's independence requirement makes contingent pricing a defect in the report itself, not just a business practice — an author paid more for a favorable finding is not an independent author.
Seven things account for nearly all of the variation between one engagement and the next.
A complete, independent study addressing every component the program requires: the market and demand analysis with its evidence, the technical review, the financial projections and coverage testing, the management assessment, the economic-impact discussion where the program calls for one, and a stated determination. It includes the underlying financial model, the source citations behind every material number, delivery in the format your lender files, and the analyst's availability to answer the lender's or the agency's questions after delivery — a study that nobody will stand behind is worth nothing to a credit file.
A feasibility study is not an appraisal, an environmental report, a market study prepared for the appraiser's use, a business plan written to persuade, or a loan package. Those are separate work products with separate standards, and we will tell you plainly which one your lender is actually asking for — borrowers are frequently quoted for the wrong document.
A report that comes back from the reviewer with comments costs the sponsor far more than the difference in fee: weeks of delay, a re-underwrite, sometimes a rate lock or a construction window lost. The common causes are structural — a required component missing, projections that do not tie to the market findings, data outside the recency window, or an author whose independence cannot be established. Studies priced far below the market are usually priced for a template, and a template is exactly what gets returned.
We quote a fixed fee within one business day of understanding the project. The fee is set before work begins and does not change with the finding — it cannot, because a fee contingent on a favorable determination would destroy the independence the lender is relying on. Tell us the asset class, the location, the approximate project cost, the program and the date your lender needs the report, and you will have a written fee and a delivery date, with no obligation.
Legal disclosure. Wert-Berater, Inc. offices are mailing addresses only. Following the COVID-19 pandemic the firm has elected to work remotely; its office locations receive mail and are not staffed for visitors or in-person meetings. Headquarters mailing address: 1968 South Coast Hwy, Ste 2382, Laguna Beach, CA 92651.
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.