Joe DownsCEO & Co-Founder, Belrose Storage Group. Founder, Storage Moguls.

The Biggest Red Flag in Deal Due Diligence

11 Apr 2026 · 1 min

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In this advisory segment, the speaker outlines three critical red flags for real‑estate deal due diligence. First, a seller who cannot provide 24 months of monthly performance data should be treated as a risk; the speaker recommends making that data a due‑diligence condition before releasing earnest money. Second, if a property’s summer occupancy falls below 55%, the investor must determine whether the shortfall is due to a market‑wide downturn or a facility‑specific operational issue, using competitor performance as a diagnostic tool. Third, the speaker warns that closing a deal without a qualified attorney familiar with vehicle lien law is unsafe; unresolved lien‑law matters should be treated as a delay rather than a reason to walk away.

Chapters

A seller who can't or won't provide 24 months of monthly data is either disorganized or maybe hiding something. Negotiate harder and make that data a DD condition before you release your earnest money. If the summer occupancy is below 55%, investigate before you walk. Is this a market-wide issue or a facility-specific problem? Competing facilities performing better in the same market tells you it's operational. Competing facilities equally soft tell you it's a market problem. And then vehicle lien law without a qualified attorney— don't, don't close without one. It's not a walk, it's a delay.