MODULE 18
Full due diligence is essential, but not every listing deserves full due diligence. A rapid screen checks owner openness, rough economics, guest fit, obvious strata/planning issues and operational practicality before significant time or professional fees are committed.
Complete a rapid screen before expensive due diligence.
Identify fatal flaws and missing evidence.
Issue a clear proceed, investigate or reject decision.
Use a short sequence: owner openness, accurate use description, building and council red flags, guest and operational fit, rough conservative economics, setup exposure and alternative-use fallback. The purpose is not approval; it is deciding whether deeper work is justified.
Time-box the screen and record assumptions. A quick calculation can eliminate a property, but it should not be used to authorise launch.
A fatal flaw is a failed non-negotiable condition, such as refusal of informed consent or economics that remain unacceptable under any realistic term. An open item is evidence that can be obtained, such as written strata rules or an insurer response.
Assign each open item to a person, source and deadline. Too many unresolved high-impact items may justify pausing even when none has failed yet.
Summarise the property, proposed model, preliminary strengths, risks, assumptions, open items, rough financial range and recommendation. State what must be true for the recommendation to change.
This memo creates an audit trail and helps prevent later optimism from rewriting the facts.
A low-rent apartment appears attractive, but the owner cannot provide strata documents, single-fob access complicates turnover and the downside case barely covers fixed costs. The operator pauses and requests the documents rather than paying a holding deposit to preserve the opportunity.
Complete a disciplined first-pass review before professional fees or commitments.
Record assumptions, open items, fatal flaws and the decision rule.
Decide whether deeper due diligence is justified—not prove final suitability.
An open item can be verified or resolved; a fatal flaw fails a non-negotiable gate.
It creates a clear evidence threshold and limits emotional decision drift.
Owner and agency openness
Indicative revenue and rent relationship
Obvious jurisdiction or building constraints
Guest-demand fit
Operational blockers
Unknowns requiring formal verification
Confirm the owner may consider the use
Calculate a conservative monthly revenue range
Check obvious registration, cap or building issues
Estimate major fixed costs
Classify the property as reject, hold or progress
Rapid screen form
Comparable snapshot
Preliminary risk list
Decision note
Treating a rapid screen as final approval
Using best-case rates
Ignoring setup capital
Progressing because the property is emotionally appealing
Paying holding money before formal checks