The Path a Deal Takes
Six stages, imagined on paper, from first read to a stated posture.
The proposed model imagines six stages. Each names what such a process might do and what it might need — a classroom sketch, not a service anyone can use.
On the stages · in my own voice
Six stages, and nothing hidden between them.
The owner should always know which one they are standing in.
Six Stages
The path a deal might take, on paper.
Stage 01
Conversation
You describe the asset and the situation in your own words. A real lender would say whether it fits; this coursework cannot before you assemble anything. No documents required.
Stage 02
Read the Asset
Location, submarket, brand or independence, physical condition, and the story of how it got here. The sketch would read the hotel as an operating business, not a line item.
Stage 03
Normalize
Operating statements are stripped of owner anomalies, one-time credits, related-party charges, and under-reserved FF&E. What is left is the asset's real earning power.
Stage 04
Structure
Terms are drafted around the business plan and its timing. You see the logic behind each condition, not just the condition.
Stage 05
Stress-Test
The structure is run against a hard downside: occupancy troughs, wage inflation, capital cost overrun, and a slower ramp than anyone wants to model.
Stage 06
Commit
A documented decision with the reasoning attached. If it is a no, you get the reasons in full — they are usually worth more than the loan would have been.
No stage advances until the prior one is documented. That is what makes the last one fast.
What a file would include
The documents the sketch leans on, in order.
Nothing exotic, and nothing before it is relevant.
At the conversation — Nothing. A few sentences about the asset, the situation, and what you are trying to accomplish.
Reading the asset — Trailing operating statements, current STR or comparable performance data if you have it, and the franchise or management agreement.
Normalizing — Detail behind unusual lines — owner compensation, related-party expenses, deferred maintenance, and recent capital spend.
Structuring — Your business plan and its timing, the capital stack as it stands, and the constraints you are actually working under.
Commitment — Standard third-party diligence. Nothing is requested before it has a purpose.
Send a note
A student's note, not a scenario submission.
Stage one costs you an email and a short description.