Most Deals Don’t Break All at Once

Most deals don’t fall apart all at once.

They usually start with something small.

A rent assumption that’s a little optimistic.
A lease-up timeline that’s a little too clean.
Costs that come in slightly tighter than expected.

Individually, none of these are deal-breakers.

But they rarely show up alone.

They stack.

And when they do, the margin that looked comfortable at the start begins to disappear.

What I’m usually looking for isn’t the obvious issue.

It’s where multiple small assumptions are leaning in the same direction.

That’s where deals get fragile—long before it shows up in the numbers.