He spent six weeks on it and the answer was basically just go buy VNQ. I could have read that on Reddit in 20 minutes. What does a legitimate engagement actually produce that I couldn't get from a fund comparison on my own?
A legitimate one looks at YOUR tax situation, your existing basis, depreciation carryforwards if you have them, and tells you whether direct ownership actually pencils after your bracket. VNQ doesn't get you cost segregation or a 1031 runway. If he didn't ask for your Schedule E and your K-1s in week one, he was never actually consulting on your deal.
The $3,200 answer also tells you something: he probably wasn't a real estate guy who does consulting, he was a financial planner who tolerates real estate questions.
The thing that doesn't show up in a fund comparison is the liability stack. A decent engagement maps how a specific acquisition sits inside your existing structure, entity type, debt position, cross-collateralization risk, what happens to your other assets if that deal goes sideways. VNQ doesn't care about your balance sheet. A real analysis does, and it changes the answer.
What I'd want to know before paying anyone again is whether they modeled an actual exit. Not IRR in the abstract, but the specific tax drag on a sale in year five given your basis and your state. If the deliverable doesn't have a number attached to your situation, you bought an opinion, not an analysis. Six weeks and no scenario modeling is the tell.
