FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Frequently Asked Questions About
HAUTE CRE Advisory
Independent answers to common questions about our work, our three service paths, and how an engagement begins.
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Questions By Topic
Choose the question that fits your situation. Each answer is concise, with the service pages available for more detail.
01/05 About HAUTE CRE Advisory
What does HAUTE CRE Advisory do?
HAUTE provides independent commercial real estate analysis for consequential decisions, disputes, and ownership challenges. Clients engage us through three service paths: Litigation Support and Consulting Expert, Pre-Decision Review™, and Specialized CRE Advisory. The last path includes focused projects and ongoing Fractional CRE CFO oversight.
Who works with HAUTE?
HAUTE works with attorneys and litigants, owners, investors, lenders, capital providers, servicers, and other stakeholders facing a material commercial real estate question. Gregory J. Laskody personally leads the analysis. The right engagement depends on the decision, the financial stakes, and the expertise required.
What does “independent” mean at HAUTE?
HAUTE is paid for its analysis and advice, not for closing a transaction or reaching a particular conclusion. We do not broker properties, originate or syndicate capital, or earn transaction commissions or referral fees. We review potential conflicts before accepting an engagement.
02/05 Litigation Support and Consulting Expert
What is the difference between a consulting expert and a testifying expert?
A consulting engagement supports counsel with CRE analysis, review of evidence, and evaluation of the issues in a dispute. A testifying engagement may also require disclosed opinions, a written report, deposition, or testimony. The role is defined with retaining counsel at the outset. A consulting engagement does not assume testimony.
What kinds of disputes can HAUTE analyze?
HAUTE may assist with disputes involving valuation, transaction economics, underwriting, financing, lender relationships, damages, partnership interests, ownership decisions, and commercial real estate industry practice. We first review the specific issues and materials to determine whether the requested work fits our experience.
When should an attorney involve a CRE consulting expert?
Early involvement can help counsel identify the financial questions, test assumptions, assess available records, and determine what further analysis may be needed. HAUTE can also enter a matter later for a defined assignment, including review of an opposing opinion. Scope, conflicts, deliverables, and the expert’s role are agreed before work begins.
03/05 Pre-Decision Review™
What is a Pre-Decision Review™?
It is an independent review of a specific commercial real estate decision before you commit capital, sign, refinance, dispose of an asset, or take another consequential step. HAUTE tests the relevant assumptions, economics, financing, market evidence, and risks against your objectives, then provides a written recommendation.
When is the best time to request a Pre-Decision Review™?
Before a material decision becomes difficult or costly to reverse. You do not have to wait until every document is final. An early discussion can identify what information is available, what remains missing, and whether the decision is ready for independent review.
Does a Pre-Decision Review™ replace an appraisal, inspection, environmental report, or legal review?
No. HAUTE examines the decision and its commercial real estate economics. When a matter calls for a formal appraisal, physical inspection, environmental assessment, title work, tax advice, or legal opinion, the appropriate specialists perform that work. HAUTE can review their findings and connect them to the decision at hand.
What do I receive from a Pre-Decision Review™?
You receive written findings and a clear recommendation, which may be to proceed, proceed with conditions, renegotiate, restructure, investigate further, delay, or walk away. The agreed scope determines the analysis and supporting work. The purpose is to make the decision clearer, not to validate a conclusion already reached.
04/05 Specialized CRE Advisory
What falls under Specialized CRE Advisory?
This service addresses a defined CRE issue or a continuing need for independent oversight. Work may involve valuation reviews, underwriting, financial modeling, debt and equity analysis, due-diligence findings, asset and portfolio performance, workouts, feasibility, or another ownership-related question. HAUTE selects the relevant expertise for the assignment rather than selling a standard bundle.
Can I hire HAUTE for one project without entering an ongoing relationship?
Yes. A focused advisory project begins with a defined question, scope, and deliverable. An ongoing Fractional CRE CFO relationship is a separate option for owners who need continuing financial oversight. A one-time assignment does not obligate you to retain HAUTE afterward.
What does a Fractional CRE CFO do?
Within Specialized CRE Advisory, a Fractional CRE CFO provides continuing senior-level guidance on the financial decisions affecting an asset or portfolio. Depending on the agreed scope, that may include performance reporting, cash-flow and capital-structure analysis, debt-maturity planning, deal screening, valuation reviews, and direct consultation. Reporting cadence, access, and deliverables are set at the outset.
Why would I need ongoing oversight when I have no active transaction?
Important ownership decisions continue between acquisitions and sales. Lease expirations, debt maturities, operating variances, capital expenditures, covenant exposure, and changing market conditions can alter an asset’s position. An ongoing engagement provides an agreed process for reviewing those issues and acting before a transaction forces the decision.
How does HAUTE work with my CFO, CPA, attorney, or property manager?
HAUTE adds commercial real estate analysis to the work of your existing advisers. A CPA, attorney, CFO, or property manager may already cover an important part of the picture; HAUTE focuses on the CRE economics, risks, and decisions within its agreed scope. Where specialist work is needed, HAUTE reviews or coordinates it rather than claiming to perform every discipline.
What size assignments are usually a fit?
For owner and portfolio advisory, HAUTE generally focuses on individual assets or portfolios valued at $10 million or more. Litigation and Pre-Decision Review™ matters are assessed according to their financial stakes, complexity, and scope. Routine small-property assignments are generally not a fit.
Can HAUTE build or review a commercial real estate financial model?
Yes. HAUTE can build a custom Microsoft Excel model for an agreed CRE question or review and stress-test a model supplied by another party. The model should make assumptions, sensitivities, and decision points understandable to the people who will use it. Complexity follows the assignment; it is not a goal in itself.
05/05 Engagements and Getting Started
How are HAUTE engagements structured?
Each engagement begins with a defined question and written scope. HAUTE may be retained for a focused project, a litigation matter, or ongoing Fractional CRE CFO oversight. The deliverables, timeline, responsibilities, and engagement terms are agreed before work begins.
Is there a minimum commitment for Fractional CRE CFO oversight?
Usually, yes. The initial commitment is generally three to six months, depending on the assets, setup work, and agreed scope. The engagement terms specify the reporting cadence, deliverables, access, and what happens after the initial period.
Does HAUTE work outside South Florida?
Yes. HAUTE is based in South Florida and considers commercial real estate assignments elsewhere in the United States. Fit depends on the matter, the available information, and any professional requirements that apply to the requested work.
How do I get started?
Contact HAUTE for a confidential, no-obligation conversation about the decision or dispute you face. We will identify which service path may fit, discuss the likely scope and fee, and complete a conflict review before an engagement begins. If HAUTE is not the right fit, we will say so.
