Real Estate Due Diligence & Acquisition Advisory

In commercial real estate, you only close once—then you live with the outcome for years.

Every deal comes down to one question: what are we really buying, and what could change the result? Price, cap rate, and the pro forma aren’t enough. You need a clear view of financial, technical, legal, environmental, entitlement, and execution risk—before you sign or fund.

HSE delivers institutional-grade real estate due diligence for investors, developers, lenders, and public agencies across assets, portfolios, land, and development sites. Led by Jeffrey S. Davis, RA ($5B+ managed), we act as your capital-side advisor to help you proceed, renegotiate, restructure, or walk away—early and confidently.

Comprehensive Due Diligence Services

Our real estate due diligence services go well beyond a standard checklist. We integrate commercial, technical, legal, and entitlement workstreams into a single view of risk and opportunity, tailored to how your investment or credit committee actually makes decisions.

Investment and Acquisition Due Diligence

• Stress-test income and cash flows under realistic downside scenarios
• Validate underwriting assumptions: rents, absorption, capex, timing
• Review tenant/sponsor/market and capital stack risk
• Deliverable: clear thesis support vs. issues—and where price/terms should move

Technical and Environmental Due Diligence

• Coordinate and review PCA/engineering and Phase I/II findings
• Assess systems, structure, life-safety/code issues, and remaining useful life
• Convert findings into capex timing, reserves, and risk-adjusted cash flows
• Deliverable: technical risk translated into capital decisions (price, reserves, covenants)

Legal, Title, and Lease Review Integration

• Synthesize title/survey, easements, encumbrances, and use restrictions
• Review key leases, options, and side letters affecting economics and flexibility
• Align counsel + internal teams so issues aren’t discovered at the last minute
• Deliverable: prioritized legal issues with actions (conditions to close, structure, protections)

Due Diligence by Transaction Type

Our real estate due diligence services are structured to adapt to the transaction type, not just the asset class.

• Commercial Property and Portfolio Acquisitions
  • Income-producing assets across office, industrial, multifamily, hospitality, retail, mixed-use, and mission-critical
  • Checklists tailored to your strategy and risk tolerance
  • Portfolio-level analysis of rollover, capex clustering, concentration risk, and market exposure
  • Outcome: a clear, comparable evidence base for IC or credit decisions
• Land and Pre-Development Due Diligence
  • Zoning and allowable uses: what can realistically be approved
  • Entitlement path: approvals, timelines, and political/community risk
  • Site constraints: access, utilities, off-site infrastructure, environmental limitations
  • Early feasibility inputs supporting pre-development planning and entitlement strategy
  • Outcome: confirm the site supports the business plan within acceptable time, capital, and risk parameters
• Public–Private and Structured Transactions
  • Review of risk-sharing, incentives, and performance obligations
  • Governance, approval rights, and milestone frameworks
  • Alignment of technical, financial, and policy objectives across stakeholders
  • Outcome: clarity on viability and structure—not just price

Our Due Diligence & Acquisition Advisory Process

We treat due diligence as a phased, decision-support process, not a box-ticking exercise.

#1.Pre-Screening and Go/No-Go Criteria

• Align on strategy, return targets, and risk tolerance
• Identify red flags and gating issues that change the deal thesis
• Set go/no-go criteria and decision checkpoints before major third-party spend

This prevents over-investing in deals unlikely to close—or moving forward without enough clarity.

#2.Detailed Deal Analysis and Risk Identification

• Coordinate financial, technical, legal, environmental, and entitlement findings
• Perform downside testing and validate key underwriting assumptions
• Identify structural, execution, and counterparty risks
• Integrate results into a clear risk-and-value narrative

We don’t just list issues—we prioritize them and show how they affect returns, structure, and timing.

#3.Recommendations, Negotiation Inputs, and IC Support

Frequently Asked Questions About Real Estate Due Diligence Services

Give Us a Call Today!

If you’re underwriting a commercial acquisition, recapitalization, or land deal, you don’t need more reports—you need clarity on what you’re buying and what could change the outcome.

Share your deal with us, and we’ll help you:

• Validate the deal thesis and set clear go/no-go criteria
• Surface financial, technical, legal, environmental, and entitlement risks early
• Translate findings into actionable pricing, terms, reserves, and conditions to close