Deal Killers in Commercial Real Estate: The 4 Mistakes That Quietly Wreck Returns

Criterion breaks down the four silent deal killers that derail commercial real estate investments—bad debt, bad locations, bad assumptions, and bad partners—while walking through real retail deal examples and the underwriting red flags Criterion won’t ignore. Time Stamps: 0:00 - Introduction 1:03 - Denver is in contract and the equity raise CTA 2:34 - Other pipeline deals (Humble, San Antonio, “downtown”) and total volume 3:02 - Game: live deal review from OMs—would you submit an offer? 3:22 - Deal 1: Chattanooga retail center (price, cap rate, occupancy, visibility) 6:14 - Deal 2: Humble, TX center (traffic counts, tenant mix, rent levels) 11:05 - Today’s topic: “deal killers” that silently wreck deals 11:09 - Deal killer #1: bad debt (floating, short term, forced refi, IO, overleverage) 13:57 - Deal killer #2: bad location (why “cheap” is usually the warning) 16:26 Deal killer #3: bad assumptions (exit cap, rent growth, vacancy realism) 19:22 - Deal killer #4: bad partners (character, controls, and trust) 22:00 - Outro Visit thecriterionfund.com for more information 💻 commercialrealestate #realestateinvesting #cre #underwriting #dealflow #syndication #netlease #retailrealestate #investoreducation #wealthbuilding commercialrealestateinvestor #realestatepodcast #valueadd #assetmanagement #capitalraising #duediligence #debt #bridge loans #floatingrate #riskmanagement creinvesting #realestatesyndication #investmentstrategy #marketanalysis #tenantmix #trafficcounts #locationmatters #exitcaprate #partnerships #realestatebusiness