Why there is no price list
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.
What moves the fee
Seven things account for nearly all of the variation between one engagement and the next.
Asset class
A car wash and a 200-bed continuing-care campus are not the same analysis. Demand method, benchmark availability and the number of revenue lines to model drive most of the difference in hours.
Project scale and cost
Larger project budgets bring more scrutiny, more scenarios and, usually, more stakeholders to satisfy — the report has to hold up against a bigger downside.
Program
B&I, Community Facilities, REAP and Water & Waste files each place the analytical weight somewhere different. A REAP project turns on energy production and the contracts behind it; a Community Facilities project turns on the service area and the sponsor's revenue base.
Number of sites
Multi-site or phased developments multiply the market work: each site needs its own trade area, competitive set and capture analysis.
Data availability
Where published data is thin — rural trade areas, novel processing technologies, emerging asset classes — the answer comes from primary research: operator interviews, competitor inspection and site work.
Deliverable set
A study alone costs less than a study plus a full financial model, a lender presentation or an investor prospectus. We quote the pieces separately so you buy only what the file needs.
Timeline
Standard delivery is 10 to 15 business days from a complete data room. Compressed schedules mean reallocating senior analyst time, and that carries a premium.
What the fee includes
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.
What it does not include
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.
Why the cheapest study is usually the expensive one
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.
How to get a number for your project
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.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a USDA feasibility study cost?
It is quoted per project, because scope genuinely varies — asset class, project scale, program, number of sites, how much primary research the market requires and which deliverables you need. We give you a fixed written fee within one business day of understanding the project, and it does not change with the finding.
Is the fee contingent on a favorable determination?
No, and it cannot be. USDA requires the study's author to be independent with no financial interest in the outcome. A contingent fee would compromise that on its face and give the reviewer a reason to set the report aside.
Who pays for the study, the borrower or the lender?
Usually the borrower, as a third-party report cost inside the project budget, even though the report is written for the lender's credit file and the Agency's reviewer. Lenders occasionally engage us directly; either way the analysis and the independence are identical.
Can the study cost be financed inside the loan?
Third-party report costs are often treated as an eligible project cost, but that is your lender's and the Agency's call under the program rules, not ours. Ask the loan officer before you commission the work.
How long does it take?
Ten to fifteen business days from a complete data room is standard. The clock starts when the information request is satisfied, not when the engagement is signed, which is why we send the data request the same day.
Why are some quotes so much lower?
Because they are priced for a template. A study that omits a required component, or whose projections do not tie to its own market findings, comes back from the reviewer with comments — and the delay costs the sponsor far more than the fee difference.
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