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Harborby Signalry
0
Owner / assetThis deal

Job brief

Underwrite a hotel acquisition like an operator

How and who for the hotel job—verified when attested.

When I am about to buy, I want a memo that rebuilds the T12 from ops evidence, names the basis risk, and is allowed to kill the deal.

Usable on this screen

Scoped brief

Treat the CIM as literature. Rebuild rooms from the PMS. Walk the house. Price the next operator. Shock cap ±50 bps and ADR ±10%. Write permission to say no.

Outcome
A buy-side memo: rebuilt income, named NOI definition, PIP, ground lease, affiliation, sensitivity, and a written no.
Catalog budget band
$25–80k desk, more if counsel-heavy. A worksheet range, not a quote.
Catalog timeline
3–6 weeks. Not a promise.

  1. Step 1

    Rebuild rooms revenue

    Occupancy, ADR, channel, segment — from the PMS. If you cannot have a month of night audits, that is a finding. Harbor’s estimate is a worksheet, not this memo.

  2. Step 2

    Name the NOI

    After reserve or not. After incentive fee or not. After ground rent or not. Two buyers arguing cap rates are often arguing definitions.

  3. Step 3

    Price the PIP and the lease

    Brand-required scope if it exists; a conservative reserve if it does not. Ground-lease remaining term and reset. These are not footnotes.

  4. Step 4

    Write the kill-switch

    The memo must be allowed to end the deal. If the desk is paid only to close, it is not underwriting.

Provider shortlist

  1. People

    Sable Underwriting Desk

    Boutique acquisition underwriting

    Catalog score 8.9. A post-job shape, not a verification. Stable id sable-desk.

  2. People

    Ashcroft Asset Advisors

    Owner asset management

    Catalog score 8.8. A post-job shape, not a verification. Stable id ashcroft.

  3. People

    Vale Street Capex

    Rooms vs public-space capex

    Catalog score 8.3. A post-job shape, not a verification. Stable id vale-street.

  4. Software· demo

    Ledgerlight Accounting

    Hotel accounting & night audit export

    Catalog score 7.8. A post-job shape, not a verification. Stable id ledgerlight.

Download markdownFull who listRecord a result

Leave a record

The next hotel starts from what you leave

Harbor by Signalry stays hotels only. A description, a claim, and a reported result each leave a stable id behind. Nothing here is a price, a customer, or a verification.

  • Buyer

    Describe your job

    No account. Harbor by Signalry opens the closest catalog brief, when not to buy, and a shortlist. A weak sentence stays on the catalog.

    Open a brief

  • Supplier

    Join as a supplier

    Company, jobs served, regions, and a hotel reference. The packet is queued as unverified pending. The form cannot mark it verified.

    Start a claim

  • Hotel

    Record a result

    A metric, before and after, and the dates. It is shown as reported until a person checks the evidence. Verified Outcome is not insurance.

    Record a result

AdviceRebuild the T12 from ops evidence, or do not price it.

VerifiedMercer House: 19% NOI adjustment before LOI; $1.4M basis reduction.

Name a verified-outcome priceSit a 30-minute pilotHow ranking works

Situation

What is actually on fire

The CIM is handsome. The night audit has not been sampled. The IC wants a number by Friday.

Approaches

Two or three paths — with the give

Independent buy-side desk

When. A memo that can say no

You give. Time and a fee that is not success-only

In-house plus Harbor worksheet

When. Speed and a transparent first pass

You give. Blind spots a walk would have found

Who to involve

  • · Owner / buyer
  • · Buy-side desk
  • · GM of the target if access exists
  • · Counsel

First 7 days

YAML-shaped: day / theme / tasks / owner / risk / exit. Advice until a case is verified.

  1. day: 1

    Write the fail in one sentence

    • · Write the fail in one sentence. Job: Underwrite a hotel acquisition like an operator.
    owner:
    Owner / asset manager
    risk:
    The exit is not written down
    exit:
    A note the next shift can open

  2. day: 2

    Pull the last 7 days of the live number

    • · Pull the last 7 days of the live number. If it is missing, that absence is the finding.
    owner:
    Owner / asset manager
    risk:
    The exit is not written down
    exit:
    A note the next shift can open

  3. day: 3

    Name who owns the workaround today (desk,

    • · Name who owns the workaround today (desk, HK, night audit, owner).
    owner:
    Owner / asset manager
    risk:
    The exit is not written down
    exit:
    A note the next shift can open

  4. day: 4

    Walk one peak hour

    • · Walk one peak hour. Write what the system claims vs what the floor did.
    owner:
    Owner / asset manager
    risk:
    The exit is not written down
    exit:
    A note the next shift can open

  5. day: 5

    Ask vendors the worksheet questions

    • · Ask vendors the worksheet questions. Discard anyone who cannot answer with a caveat.
    owner:
    Owner / asset manager
    risk:
    The exit is not written down
    exit:
    A note the next shift can open

  6. day: 6

    Pick one approach

    • · Pick one approach. Write when-not-to-buy on the same page.
    owner:
    Owner / asset manager
    risk:
    The exit is not written down
    exit:
    A note the next shift can open

  7. day: 7

    Run the smallest test that would change Mo

    • · Run the smallest test that would change Monday. No annual contract yet.
    owner:
    Owner / asset manager
    risk:
    The exit is not written down
    exit:
    A note the next shift can open

Decision worksheet

Questions, red flags, bands

Take this to a vendor call. Budget bands are Advice — a Harbor shape, not a quote.

Ask the vendor

  1. 1. Who types the status / number — a person, or your product?
  2. 2. What would have happened anyway in 90 days without you?
  3. 3. Show a property of this size and stack. Demo-labeled categories do not count as proof.
  4. 4. What can your agent never do (folio post, mark clean, change a rate)?
  5. 5. What is the kill-switch if guest comments move?

Red flags

  • · Capitalizing a CIM.
  • · Using a hotel-casino PPK on a boutique.
  • · Underwriting a flag you have not been awarded.

When not to buy. Do not buy a CIM walkthrough if you have not sat the night audit. A cap rate the floor cannot support is fiction. A kill is a successful job.

Do it in-house

Time and a named owner. No vendor. Use the 7-day plan first.

$25–80k desk, more if counsel-heavy

Typical Harbor band for this job — advice, not a quote.

Full program

People + system + 90-day proof. Only if the 7-day plan already failed.

Vendor checklist

Score the call. Keep it on this browser.

Weighted questions — yes/no, scale, or text. Must-pass ids persist on this browser. Pass threshold 70. A no on a must-pass is a walk-away — not a maybe.

Brand
Stack shape — not a partnership

  1. property context · weight 2 · must pass

    Can they name your key count and whether you are independent, soft-brand, or major — without a discovery theater?

  2. property context · weight 2 · must pass

    Do they treat your PMS as a shape (Opera-class / Mews-class / Cloudbeds-class) — not a fake partnership slide?

  3. control · weight 3 · must pass

    Who types the status / number — a person, or your product?

  4. vendor · weight 2

    What would have happened anyway in 90 days without you?

  5. vendor · weight 2

    Show a property of this size and stack. Demo-labeled categories do not count as proof.

  6. vendor · weight 2

    What can your agent never do (folio post, mark clean, change a rate)?

  7. vendor · weight 2

    What is the kill-switch if guest comments move?

Does not clear

0 / 100

must_pass: underwrite-acquisition-ctx-rooms, underwrite-acquisition-ctx-stack, underwrite-acquisition-q1

A must-pass failed. Walk away.

How

The brief

Treat the CIM as literature. Rebuild rooms from the PMS. Walk the house. Price the next operator. Shock cap ±50 bps and ADR ±10%. Write permission to say no.

  1. Step 1

    Rebuild rooms revenue

    Occupancy, ADR, channel, segment — from the PMS. If you cannot have a month of night audits, that is a finding. Harbor’s estimate is a worksheet, not this memo.

  2. Step 2

    Name the NOI

    After reserve or not. After incentive fee or not. After ground rent or not. Two buyers arguing cap rates are often arguing definitions.

  3. Step 3

    Price the PIP and the lease

    Brand-required scope if it exists; a conservative reserve if it does not. Ground-lease remaining term and reset. These are not footnotes.

  4. Step 4

    Write the kill-switch

    The memo must be allowed to end the deal. If the desk is paid only to close, it is not underwriting.

Tradeoffs

  1. Independent buy-side desk

    You get. A memo that can say no

    You give. Time and a fee that is not success-only

  2. In-house plus Harbor worksheet

    You get. Speed and a transparent first pass

    You give. Blind spots a walk would have found

Pitfalls

  • · Capitalizing a CIM.
  • · Using a hotel-casino PPK on a boutique.
  • · Underwriting a flag you have not been awarded.

Success criteria

  • · T12 rebuilt from ops evidence.
  • · Sensitivity table in the IC pack.
  • · Written permission to kill the deal.

Who

Ranked for this job

Rank is post-job score, then listed order. Not for sale. Software marked demo is an archetype.

Agencies & contractors

Systems

AI agents

None ranked in AI agents yet. Harbor will not invent a provider.

Loading the compare table…

Compare

When to pick whom

People do the work beside the desk. Software is a system — demo-labeled when it is a category shape. Agents draft; they do not post money or mark a room clean.

ProviderKindScoreFeePick whenWalk away when
Sable Underwriting DeskPeople
8.9
$35–75k buy-side memoFirst-time or small-fund buyers of a single boutique.Institutional portfolios with an in-house desk.
Ashcroft Asset AdvisorsPeople
8.8
$25–60k engagement or $8k/month retainerOwners who want a second set of books that is not the manager's.Branded flags looking for a PIP vendor.
Vale Street CapexPeople
8.3
$20–45k study; implementation bid separateOwners choosing between a pretty lobby and rooms that book.Full PIP execution for a 400-key flag.
Yield FractionPeople
8.5
$3.8–6.2k / monthOwners who cannot staff a full-time analyst honestly.Large branded hotels with a cluster RM already in place.
Ledgerlight AccountingSoftware· demo
7.8
Demo · $250–600 / monthOwner-operators tired of a generic bookkeeper file.Multi-brand portfolios with a shared-service finance team.

Open graph

Hotels on this job

This job is not pinned to a house yet. Open the graph to place it on a building, or the investment desk if the work is a sale file. Harbor will not invent a house.

Open hotelsBuy / sell desk

Evidence

Peer case studies

Owner / asset
9.1

A kill is a successful job

Pine Court (pass) · 88 keys · Flagstaff, AZ

Claim.
A kill is a successful job.
Evidence.
Night-audit sample vs CIM T12; unbooked comps; capex in the basis.
Caveat.
A later, smaller deal closed. This memo was not a ‘never Flagstaff.’

Read the case

Verified

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