Pre-Funding Asset Review
Before valuation, credit and legal momentum builds
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Most lending problems don’t start with finance.
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They start with assumptions about the property that haven’t been properly tested, then get locked in as time, fees and credibility build around them.
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DCRE is typically brought in before a valuation, credit paper or legal work is instructed, when there is still room to challenge the fundamentals without consequences. This is the point where a deal can still be reshaped, paused or walked away from without reputational or financial damage.
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Our role is to establish what the asset can realistically support, based on evidence rather than optimism, before momentum makes that harder to do.
When this is used
Clients usually involve us when something looks workable on paper, but doesn’t feel settled underneath.
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That often includes situations where the asset is non-standard, mixed-use, listed, adapted, development-led or constrained in a way that will attract scrutiny later. It can also be where leverage is tight, timelines are compressed, or the exit relies on assumptions that haven’t been properly grounded in the market.
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In many cases, nothing is obviously “wrong”. The concern is that if something is wrong, it will only become clear once valuation, credit or legal costs have already been committed.
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This work is about finding that out earlier.
What we actually do
We carry out an independent, asset-led assessment of the property as it stands today.
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The focus is not on selling a structure or pushing a deal forward. It is on understanding how the asset is likely to perform when tested by a lender, valuer and future buyer, before those parties are formally engaged.
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Depending on the situation, this typically involves assessing value within realistic ranges, stress-testing exit routes and buyer demand, and identifying planning, use, title, condition or market risks that are likely to surface later.
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We distinguish between issues that are structural and those that are fixable. That distinction matters. It informs whether a deal should proceed as proposed, be reshaped, or be stopped altogether.
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Where appropriate, we will peer-review specific elements with experienced valuers, planners, quantity surveyors or legal specialists. Those inputs inform our judgement, but the assessment and conclusions remain ours.
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We do not produce valuations and we do not replace lender due diligence. The purpose is to make sure the case is ready for those processes, not to shortcut them.
Acquisitions and pre-purchase support
Pre-funding asset reviews are often commissioned in the context of a purchase.
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In those situations, our role is not to act as a buying agent or negotiate for the sake of it. It is to assess whether the property genuinely supports the decision to buy, and on what basis.
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That can include reviewing pricing against realistic value ranges, testing assumptions around condition and future obligations, sense-checking surveys and technical reports from a property perspective, and helping clarify what ownership will actually involve day to day.
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Where necessary, we support negotiations by grounding discussions in evidence rather than sentiment, and by making clear which issues are material and which are not.
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The aim is not to find reasons to walk away. It is to ensure the buyer understands exactly what they are committing to before that commitment becomes difficult to unwind.
Development viability and strategy
In many cases, a pre-funding review leads directly into development viability or strategy work.
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Once the asset is properly understood, the question often becomes what it can realistically do, rather than what it was assumed to do at the outset.
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This might involve reassessing layout, scale, specification, phasing or end use, or stepping back from a scheme that relies too heavily on best-case assumptions. It can also mean identifying a more credible route that aligns better with market demand, planning reality and funding appetite.
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This work is practical rather than theoretical. It is about aligning the asset, the strategy and the likely buyer or lender, before capital is committed and expectations harden.
How it works in practice
We work proportionately.
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Some cases require a focused desktop review to establish whether the fundamentals stack up at all. Others justify deeper work, including site visits, market analysis or specialist input.
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Depth increases only where risk justifies it. Not every case needs every layer.
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In some situations, the conclusion is that proceeding without a fundamental change in structure or expectations would be unwise. We will say that early.
What this delivers
By the time valuation, credit or legal instruction is made, clients should have a clear understanding of where the real risks sit, which assumptions are robust, and what needs to be addressed before further costs are committed.
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If a deal is weak, that becomes clear early.
If it is workable, it goes forward on a sounder footing.
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Either outcome is better than finding out late.
How this fits with brokers, valuers and solicitors
We don’t replace brokers, valuers or solicitors.
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We work upstream of them, so that the case they are asked to progress has already been tested more rigorously than standard process allows.
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In practice, that leads to fewer aborted valuations, stronger credit submissions, fewer late surprises, and better use of professional time and fees.