# Underwrite a hotel acquisition like an operator

Harbor by Signalry · hotel job `underwrite-acquisition`
https://harbor.signalry.ai/jobs/underwrite-acquisition

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 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.

**Outcome the catalog names:** A buy-side memo: rebuilt income, named NOI definition, PIP, ground lease, affiliation, sensitivity, and a written no.

**Desk:** owner
**Urgency on the catalog:** This deal
**Typical budget band (catalog, not a quote):** $25–80k desk, more if counsel-heavy
**Typical timeline (catalog, not a promise):** 3–6 weeks

## 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.

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. **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. **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. **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.

## 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.

## Provider shortlist

- [Sable Underwriting Desk](https://harbor.signalry.ai/providers/sable-desk) — people · Boutique acquisition underwriting. Catalog score 8.9 (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).
- [Vale Street Capex](https://harbor.signalry.ai/providers/vale-street) — people · Rooms vs public-space capex. Catalog score 8.3 (post-job shape, not a verification).
- [Ledgerlight Accounting](https://harbor.signalry.ai/providers/ledgerlight) — software · Hotel accounting & night audit export. Catalog score 7.8 (post-job shape, not a verification).
- [Yield Fraction](https://harbor.signalry.ai/providers/yield-fraction) — people · Fractional revenue analyst. Catalog score 8.5 (post-job shape, not a verification).

## Success the brief names

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

## Pitfalls

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

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