Organizing CRE Portfolio engineering data – Someone must do it

Brokers are in the best position to create accurate underwriting submission packages, because they have the opportunity to reconcile a client’s data directly with the client.  Real estate portfolios are particularly difficult to organize due to voluminous engineering data and ever-changing property lists. Good submissions stand out with one definitive property list, and every document associated to a property. Best in class submissions provide even more.

Over five years, we have worked for brokers and underwriters on hundreds of real estate portfolios. We see the effort on both sides of the transaction. We are either helping brokers prepare their engineering data for market, or helping underwriters/risk engineers make sense of incoming submissions. In either case, both sides benefit from accurate reconciled engineering data.

“Data Dumps” indicate a broker forwarded engineering data sans reconciliation; they didn’t cull documents, associate documents to properties, nor straighten out property lists. They likely passed down the line meaningless file names (Phase I XYZ.pdf, anyone?). Data dumps commonly have multiple property lists, properties on multiple lists, duplicate docs and documents that do not match up with any property.  Such deficiencies force underwriters to ask brokers for clarification.  “Pretty Good” submissions have one property list and docs that pretty much match up.   Best in class or “A Pleasure” submissions provide precise locations on a clean, easily downloadable excel spreadsheet, distinct folders containing documents associated to each property, and a disclosed document list with original file name and a new descriptive name (report title, author and report date). Best submissions also provide a simple data overview highlighting # of documents, a list of properties without documents, and general document ages.

Someone ends up organizing submission data to some degree. Brokers are best positioned to do it up front, but often underwriters/engineers are forced to do it on the back end.  In any case, using our own tech-assisted software, we can quickly reconcile your property lists and engineering data in a clear and logical way. It’s a choice to ever work with data dumps again!

Find out about our SORT engineering service and let us provide you accurately reconciled submission data.