I have.

Not just as a witness, but firsthand when our family business faced this devastating reality.

(We didn’t have LP’s in those deals, but the lesson was clear: protecting capital is sacred)

This unfortunate financial pain happens when developers skip the feasibility study phase.

They saw a piece of land, fell in love with their vision, and immediately started making promises to investors.

But here’s the brutal truth:

That “perfect” downtown property had unexpected environmental issues that added $2M to their budget.

That “ideal” multifamily site had zoning restrictions that cut their unit count in half.

That “amazing” opportunity was amazing… for someone else’s business model.

At GIS Companies, we’ve developed a 7-step feasibility process that saves our partners from costly mistakes:

1. Initial back-of-napkin analysis
↳ Is this even worth exploring?
2. Detailed site analysis
↳ What can realistically be built here?
3. Market research
↳ Will people actually buy/rent what we build?
4. Preliminary financial modeling
↳ Does the math work?
5. Expert validation
↳ Are our assumptions realistic?
6. Risk mitigation
↳ What could go wrong and how do we prepare?
7. Final decision making
↳ Go/No-Go with confidence

This methodical approach isn’t sexy. It doesn’t make for exciting LinkedIn posts about “crushing it” in real estate.

But it’s the difference between sustainable success and spectacular failure.

Because in development, what you don’t know absolutely will hurt you.

What critical step do you see people rushing past in your industry?