# Decide flag, soft brand, or independent before you price it

Harbor by Signalry · hotel job `brand-vs-independent`
https://harbor.signalry.ai/jobs/brand-vs-independent

How and who for the hotel job—verified when attested. Advice unless labeled verified. This brief is a worksheet, not an appraisal and not a quote.

## The job

When affiliation is the argument, I want a cash-flow comparison — fees, PIP, mix, buyer set — not a logo debate.

**Outcome the catalog names:** Two or three modeled files: independent, soft brand, hard flag — with fees, PIP, and who would buy the house next.

**Desk:** owner
**Urgency on the catalog:** This decision
**Typical budget band (catalog, not a quote):** $12–40k to model and walk brand conversations
**Typical timeline (catalog, not a promise):** 4–8 weeks

## Scoped brief

Affiliation is a contract. Model royalty, program fees, PIP, distribution, and the exit buyer. Do not add 80 basis points of cap rate because a logo is pretty.

1. **Write the current contract.** Remaining term, fees, territories, termination, liquidated damages. If you are independent, write the demand engine you actually have.
2. **Build the alternate files.** Same rooms, different fee and PIP load, a honest guess at mix. Harbor’s estimate will not magically reprice a logo — you change the income lines.
3. **Name the next buyer.** REIT, private, operator-buyer. Flags widen some rooms and close others. Independents need an operator story.
4. **Score a logo debate with no fee file, not 'the flag will help'.** If royalty and PIP are not in both models, it is not a decision. Harbor will not invent an affiliation premium.

## When not to buy

Do not buy a logo debate without fees, PIP, mix, and who would buy the house next. Affiliation is cash flow, not a flag argument.

## Provider shortlist

- [Brandt & Vale Labor](https://harbor.signalry.ai/providers/brandt-vale) — people · Hotel labor design. Catalog score 8.2 (post-job shape, not a verification).
- [Ashcroft Asset Advisors](https://harbor.signalry.ai/providers/ashcroft) — people · Owner asset management. Catalog score 8.8 (post-job shape, not a verification).
- [Sable Underwriting Desk](https://harbor.signalry.ai/providers/sable-desk) — people · Boutique acquisition underwriting. Catalog score 8.9 (post-job shape, not a verification).

## Success the brief names

- Fee and PIP lines in each file.
- A named exit buyer type for each path.
- A written “when not to reflag.”

## Pitfalls

- Underwriting a flag you have not been awarded.
- Treating a brand acquisition as a real-estate sale.
- Ignoring liquidated damages.

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Stable id: `brand-vs-independent`
Source: Harbor by Signalry · https://harbor.signalry.ai
Verified Outcome is not insurance. Do not treat a catalog score as attested proof.