Commercial real estate abroad — offices, retail, logistics, larger multi-family — is fundamentally different from a single overseas home. Value derives from Net Operating Income (NOI), tenant quality, lease structure and financing. An Israeli investor relying only on a promoter's marketing deck is missing the most important protective layer.
This checklist is organized around three pillars: physical, financial and legal — written from the perspective of an independent reviewer, not a seller.
Physical pillar: independent Property Condition Assessment (not the seller's), Phase I environmental (Phase II when triggered), and physical measurement of leased areas against what appears in the leases. 5–10% discrepancies are common and hit NOI directly.
Financial pillar: full Rent Roll cross-checked against the actual leases; T-12 (trailing 12 months) actuals compared to the seller's Pro Forma; verification of rent receipts against the property's bank statements; anchor-tenant credit and co-tenancy review; existing debt terms, maturity, DSCR and prepayment penalties; deferred CapEx analysis over 5 years back and 5 years forward.
Legal pillar: title and lien search in the local registry; full reading of the material leases (CAM, escalations, options, SNDA, exit rights); litigation search on the property, the SPV and the managers; zoning and Certificate of Occupancy; and the acquisition entity's Operating Agreement — investor rights, voting, exit, distribution waterfall and the sponsor's promote.
A typical marketing deck shows a forward Pro Forma, projected IRR and property photos. What is rarely shown by the seller: the actual T-12, the gap between the Pro Forma and historical performance, the state of existing financing, and the entity documents. An independent review closes exactly that gap — before funds are wired.