First filter: does it fit the mandate
Before any analysis, an opportunity is checked against the mandate: strategy, asset class, region, lot size, risk category, currency, and whether the vehicle is currently investing at all. This takes minutes and eliminates most of what arrives.
It is also why a targeted approach outperforms a broad one. A document that does not make the fit obvious in the first paragraph is usually not read further, however good the asset is.
The cash flow is rebuilt, not accepted
Serious buyers do not adopt a seller’s model. They rebuild it from the underlying documents: leases, indexation, incentives, break options, operating costs, non-recoverables, vacancy assumptions and reletting periods appropriate to the actual location.
Where the rebuilt model differs materially from the one presented, the difference is rarely resolved in the seller’s favour. It is better to present the defensible case than the flattering one.
Three cases, not one number
Institutional analysis works with a base case, a downside case and an upside case. The downside case usually decides: what happens if the anchor tenant leaves, if letting takes twelve months longer, if exit yields are wider, if CapEx runs above plan.
An opportunity that only works in the base case is not a weak opportunity — it is one that needs a structure to make the downside bearable. Presenting it without that structure invites a no.
CapEx and the plan behind it
Capital expenditure is examined as a plan, not as a figure: what is required in the next three years, what is deferred maintenance versus improvement, what is driven by regulation, and how it is scheduled and financed.
Energy performance and regulatory requirements have moved from a side issue to a pricing factor. Where the documentation cannot support the position, buyers assume the more expensive one.
Financing and exit are underwritten together
The buyer models the debt alongside the equity, because the achievable return depends on both. In parallel they ask the exit question: who buys this in five to ten years, on what income, and what has to be true by then.
An asset with no plausible next buyer is difficult to underwrite regardless of current yield — which is why exit logic belongs in the presentation rather than being left to the buyer to invent.
The investment committee reads a file, not a pitch
The final decision is taken in a committee that has not met the seller and will not see the building. It reads a written case: sourcing, analysis, assumptions, sensitivities, risks and the recommendation of the person responsible.
That person is, in practice, the seller’s real counterparty. Preparation should be aimed at making their internal case easy to write — which is precisely what disciplined preparation and a complete data room deliver, as described under capital and investor access.
This article describes general market practice. It is not legal, tax or investment advice and does not replace an assessment of the individual case.
